An Elegant Ladies Gun Holster: The Looper Marilyn

May 13, 2013 By Tom Leave a Comment

Here’s a gun holster specifically for the ladies. It’s featured in my most recent book, The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters.

When you’re going to dress like a movie star, you ought to have a holster named after one.

The Marilyn is designed for access from the top, rather than the bottom like the Flashbang. So those long, flowy evening gowns are appropriate carry garments after all!

The Looper Marilyn uses both a strap and clip to mount to the bra.

It’s a little bit like a shoulder holster in that it rides underneath your arm. The difference is that it’s designed to be worn attached to the bra, but on the side. Access is through the collar, so The Marilyn is best when worn with scoop or v-neck tops or dresses. You need a little room in the collar to be able to quickly access your gun.

The Looper Marilyn mounts like this.

Like the Flashbang, the holster pocket is made from Kydex and relies on a pressure mount. Pull the gun outward to release it from the tension grip of the holster.

The Marilyn is available for a wide variety of .32, .380 ACP, 9mm, and .38 Special handguns. Think of models in the size range of the Beretta Nano, Kahr models, Ruger LC9 and LCP, Kimber Solo, Sig P238, Smith & Wesson Bodyguard, Smith & Wesson Shield and Walther PPK. Plenty of other models are available so check with Looper Brand for the latest list.

The Marilyn is a great option for longer dresses and sports bras. Whether going for a jog or a night on the town, The Marilyn will make you feel like a well-protected star.

El Paso Saddlery Pocket Max Gun Holster

May 7, 2013 By Tom Leave a Comment

Here’s another fine holster featured in The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters…

El Paso makes an excellent pocket holster. Here’s why.

A pair of El Paso Pocket Max Holsters. Note the points that help the holster stay in your pocket during the draw.

The El Paso Pocket Max is constructed from horsehide, which tends to be stronger and more rigid than cowhide. It uses an inside-out construction so the rough side of the leather “grips” the interior of your pocket. This helps ensure that the holster stays in the pocket when you draw the gun. Not only is pulling a holstered gun out of your pocket less intimidating to most experience street thugs, it can be downright embarrassing. Talk about a total loss of street cred…

Another unique feature about the El Paso Pocket Max is the pointy leather tip at the very top edge of the holster. El Paso calls this the “grip tip” but that’s just a complex engineering term for “pointy thing.” The grip tip has an important purpose. It tends to catch on the inside fabric of your pocket when you pull the gun and holster upwards. This is a second feature (in addition to the roughed up surface) to help ensure that your holster stays in your pocket, where it belongs, as you draw your gun.

One last thing that we really like about the El Paso Pocket Max is the design of what you might call a stability flap. Note the “wing” that extends from underneath the barrel position. It’s made from a double layer of horsehide and helps to keep the gun in the proper upright position. This is particularly important for semi-auto pocket pistols where there is a lot of weight riding up high in the grip of the gun in the loaded magazine. With less sturdy pocket holster designs, this can allow your gun to torque, twist and turn while you’re going about your daily activities. Next thing you know, your pocket gun is completely upside down just when you need it most. The leather “wing” tends to keep things oriented in the proper direction — upright.

We highly recommend the Pocket Max. It’s functional, durable and reasonably priced for what you get.

The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters – Now available at Amazon.com

Filed Under: Holster Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: ccw, concealed carry, El Paso, el paso saddlery, Gun Holster, gun holsters, Guns And Holsters, holsters, Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters, insanely practical guides, Pocket, pocket holster, Pocket Holsters, Self-Defense

Even A Fart Has Benefits: Dealing With Gun Control Arguments

April 24, 2013 By Tom Leave a Comment

Now that civil debate has gone the way of Sony Walkman cassette players, just remember this:

Even a fart has benefits.

In fact, it’s hard to imagine something that has no benefit whatsoever. Mosquitos? Yeah, they’re part of the food chain and they keep the OFF! Deep Woods people employed. Former Congressman Anthony Weiner? Why he singlehandedly made Twitter interesting for at least a month. And apparently he’s going to be the gift that keeps on giving now that he wants to run for Mayor of New York.

For the past several weeks, the hysteria over gun control has exceeded that of the first nine rows of floor seats at a Justin Bieber concert. And its only going to get worse as Congress has (at least temporarily) shelved Hypocrite of Epic Proportion Feinstein’s new gun and magazine ban legislation.

You’ll continue to hear “common sense” arguments, mostly from Piers Morgan, but also from some of the other Mouseketeers on NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and CNN.

What you won’t hear, however, is the other side of these “common sense” arguments. After all, someone smart and famous, like New Boy King Bloomberg once said something like “every action has a reaction.” Or maybe it was Bill Nye the Science Guy. In any case, things tend to have two sides. Arguments, decisions, discussions, 45 single records and of course, politicians.

In other words, every decision has pros and cons to consider. Drawbacks and benefits.

LIke a 45 record (for those of you younger folks, 45 records are kind of like harpsichords) every “common sense” gun control talking point has two sides.

Side A: If a gun control measure can save just one life, isn’t it worth it?

Side B: What if some measure saves one life, but results in thousands more being lost? Oh never mind, that’s not a “what if” question. Somewhere north of one million people per year use guns to protect themselves from a violent crime.

Side A: Guns killed (fill in the number of your choice) people last year!

Side B: Yeah, but most of them were bad. In fact, numerous studies find that upwards of 75% of gun related murder victims have previous criminal records. Perhaps that ought to be factored into the debate? You can also factor in the previous discussion point here. How many people were saved by using a gun last year?

Side A: Guns only have one purpose! To kill people!

Side B: Seriously? Well it’s good to know that police carry guns for the sole purpose of killing people! Obviously this is not the case. But just for discussion’s sake, let’s suppose that’s true. Isn’t it intellectually dishonest to assume that a gun’s only purpose if to kill innocent people? Do you not consider the scenario of a gun killing someone who is trying to kill an innocent person?

Side A: You want teachers to be able to carry a guns? What if one goes off???

Side B: Guess what? When teachers with concealed carry permits are disarmed at the front door, bad things DO happen. Can we have a rational discussion that considers evidence of “accidents” or concealed carry permitees suddenly going crazy versus documented uses that stop violent attacks?

We could go on all day about gun control arguments. The important thing is to insist on considering all sides of an issue before forming opinion, and especially policy.

Because everything has at least one benefit.

Even a fart.

Filed Under: Life, Politics Tagged With: Anthony Weiner, ccw, concealed carry, Fart, gun control, Gun Control Debate, Justin Bieber, politics, right to keep and bear arms, Second Amendment, Self-Defense, Sony Walkman Cassette Player, The Gun Control Debate, Walkman Cassette Player

Half-Cocked: Off-Body Concealed Carry…

April 3, 2013 By Tom Leave a Comment

Learn about all sorts of off-body concealed carry methods in our new book – The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters!

Filed Under: Half-Cocked Tagged With: Body, concealed carry, Concealed Carry Methods, Gun Holster, gun holsters, half-cocked, holsters, insanely practical guides, new products, off body concealed carry, Self-Defense

The Real Story Behind The Invention Of The Flashbang Holster…

March 5, 2013 By Tom 1 Comment

Filed Under: Half-Cocked Tagged With: buyers guide, cartoons, ccw, concealed carry, half-cocked, holsters, reviews, Self-Defense

The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters – How To Carry A Gun In Your Underwear And More!

March 4, 2013 By Tom 4 Comments

At long last, we’ve just published The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters! You can keep up to date with our forthcoming series of Insanely Practical Guides at InsanelyPracticalGuides.com.

Here’s the scoop on The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters:

The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters – Now available at Amazon.com

Let’s face it. Choosing the best way to carry a gun can be a daunting task. Whether you’re new to guns or have been shooting since you were a wee tot, this book can help you understand concealed carry methods, how to carry a gun safely, and the relative pros and cons of over 120 specific gun holster models. We’ll even teach you several ways to carry a gun in your underwear.

This book will help you make the right gun holster choice – saving you time and money – while offering a dose of humor while you learn.

“Leather sixgun holsters became popular when a series of low budget spaghetti western films are produced like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Early design ideas are scrapped when it is determined that spaghetti does not ride well in leather holsters. And it makes many holsters soggy.”

Why do you need a book to choose and buy a gun holster? A few reasons really.

At last count, there are 4,187,237 different holsters on the market. Well, that might be an estimate, but there are a lot. If you had a dollar for each of those holsters, you could almost cover the Kardashians’ weekly clothing budget. So how do you choose the right holster with all those choices?
Hardly any stores carry a wide selection of holsters. Sure they might carry a couple of brands, but will they have a brand right for you and the model specific to your gun? It’s kind of like trying to find just the right shade of Morning Tropical Ocean Breeze Sunrise interior house paint at your local convenience store. It’s just not likely to happen. And that leaves you the option of having to search and buy from… the internet. And we all know that you can’t always believe everything you read on the internet. Well, except Youtube comments. Those are almost always true and thoughtful.
You can’t really try holsters out before you buy. Especially those underwear holsters. Gun store sales staff tend to get a little cranky when you start shedding clothes next to the ammunition aisle.
There are many different styles of concealed carry. Every day, innovative gun folks are inventing new ways to safely and discreetly carry guns. The variety of options is great, but how do you know which style of carry is right for you?

The editors at MyGunCulture.com have painstakingly documented all the holsters we’ve tried over the years and provided helpful commentary about pros and cons of different holster styles. In other words, we’ve tried just about everything. We’ve had great successes. We’ve experienced colossal failures. We’ve listened to so many gun show huckster sales pitches that the late Billy Mays would be impressed. And the result? The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters.

“Hugging Aunt Martha can be really weird if you’re not careful. If you carry the gun on one side of your body or the other, you can adjust your hugging style to be more angular. If you carry a gun on one side, and spare magazines on the other, then you have to quickly develop a serious case of Aphenphosmphobia. That’s fear of being touched, which should cover the bases for most hugging encounters.”

The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters topics Include:

A brief, entertaining and not entirely true history of holsters
Weighing concealment versus accessibility
Open or concealed carry? How to start a good bar fight.
Ladies only gun holster solutions
Belt carry gun holsters – inside, outside and underneath?
Body carry solutions. Undershirts, belly bands and harnesses.
Ankle holsters. You think your ankles were swollen before?
Pocket gun holsters. Don’t worry, we keep things PG rated.
You too can carry a gun in your underwear!
Stashing guns in your clothing. Pants, shirts and jackets.
Off premises parking. Ways to carry a gun not attached to your body.
Home, office and car holster options.
Magazine carriers and pouches. Ways to easily carry spares.

Loaded with pictures and the occasional comedic illustration, The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters will tell you just about everything you need to know regarding styles of carry and the pros and cons of dozens and dozens of gun holsters from numerous manufacturers.

“As famed concealed carry and armed combat instructor Mayor Michael Bloomberg likes to say, “beware the person who only has one gun, for they likely know how to use it.” Hang on a sec, we may have attributed that quote incorrectly. On second thought, Mayor Bloomberg might have said “beware the person who has a gun, for they scare me to death as I am a panty-waisted, elitist, wimp who relies on others to provide security for me while depriving you little people of your basic rights.” We’ll get that quote straight and report back later.”

Holsters are expensive. And important! The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters will help you make the right choice for your needs and lifestyle without breaking the bank.

Enjoy!

Remember to keep you with new guides at insanelypracticalguides.com!

Filed Under: Concealed Carry, General Tips, Shooting Tips Tagged With: buyers guide, Carry Gun, Carry Holster, concealed carry, Concealed Carry In The United States, Concealed Carry Methods, Guide To Gun, Gun Holster, gun holsters, gun safes, Holster Model, holsters, insanely practical guides, new products, Pocket Gun Holsters, reviews, Self-Defense

Holster Review: 5.11 Tactical Holster Shirt

February 20, 2013 By Tom 5 Comments

We’re just days away from the release of our new full-length book – The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters. We hope you enjoy this excerpt:

Some thoughts on Holster Shirts

5.11 Tactical Holster Shirt – Note the reinforced and padded pockets on both sides.

There’s something sexy about those spandex-y undershirts that are all the rage now. Whether you’re cut like The Situation from Jersey Shore, or built more like Paul Blart, Mall Cop, wearing one of these shirts improves your self-rated body mass index by 92.4%.

Superman shirt holsters are a great idea on the surface, especially if you’re exceptionally paranoid about being outed as a concealed carrier. It offers deep concealment as your gun is held along your side in a pocket built into the undershirt. Which also means the odds of you getting your gun out quickly are about as good as Nancy Pelosi speaking at the next NRA Annual Meeting. Well, in fairness, the odds are better than that, you just need to practice and carefully consider your choice of outer shirt.

With that said, undershirt holsters can be a great option when you absolutely, positively, have to conceal your gun and wearing a photographers vest would be considered inappropriate. Or at least un-stylish.

About the 5.11 Tactical Holster Shirt

The 5.11 Tactical Holster Shirts aren’t cheap. However, like most other 5.11 Tactical gear, they are exceptionally well made. We’ve been using the 5.11 Tactical Holster Shirts for years and have yet to wear one out. And that’s here in the humidity pressure cooker of America.

The 5.11 Tactical Holster Shirt is a polyester / spandex blend — so they are very sexy looking. More importantly, the holster pockets are sewn in as a padded mesh system on both sides. This provides full ambidextrosity (my word.)

The holster sections are supported by material looping all the way over the top of the shoulder, so carrying full weight handguns is not a problem. We do it all the time.

The pockets are closed with two velcro patches, so weapon retention is good. One thing we like about this model is that accessibility is good as the carry pockets are a little lower and more forward than other makes and therefore a little easier to reach. Another benefit to dual pockets is that you can store a spare magazine or two on the other side.

By the way, the material is anti-microbial to keep the, umm, odor, down to manageable levels.

The Good

The level of concealment would make a tax-evading Congressperson proud. Folks will find your Swiss bank accounts and campaign staffer romances long before they find your concealed gun with this carry method.

With most body carry methods, gun security is fantastic. You feel it. You know its there. There’s very little chance that your gun will tumble out of your control without your notice.

The Bad

Drawing your gun is kind of like removing your underwear while keeping your pants on. For those of you not quite following, that means that drawing your gun from a deeply concealed body carry location will be slower than drawing from your hip. Practice is a must with this carry method.

The Ugly

Hugging Aunt Martha can be really weird if you’re not careful. If you carry the gun on one side of your body or the other, you can adjust your hugging style to be more angular. If you carry a gun on one side, and spare magazines on the other, then you have to quickly develop a serious case of Aphenphosmphobia. That’s fear of being touched, which should cover the bases for most hugging encounters.

We highly recommend the 5.11 Tactical Holster Shirt. We own about a half-dozen of them and they’re well used.

Read about more carry styles and over 120 different gun holsters in The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters – available at Amazon.com! Learn more about our Insanely Practical Guides!

Filed Under: Holster Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: 5.11 tactical, 5.11 Tactical Gear, 5.11 Tactical Holster Shirt, concealed carry, Concealed Carry In The United States, handgun, holster reviews, holster shirts, holsters, reviews, Shirt Holster, shirts, Tactical Holsters, Undershirt, Underwear

Shooting Tip of the Day: Is That A Laser In Your Pocket?

February 18, 2013 By Tom 1 Comment

Are you a neon pants packer? Have you ever seen one in public?

If you do happen to see someone cruising around with a steady or intermittent glow emanating from their pants pocket area, it means one of two things:

They have a really, really, really serious urinary tract infection.
The laser on their concealed pistol is going on by accident.

Sound farfetched?

Nope, this has happened to us. The right pistol, laser, activation button placement and holster combination can in fact do this. In our incident, it was a combination of side-activated laser grip buttons and a common inside-the-waistband holster. Overall pressure from love handles and the gun resulted in a glowing crotch. While not continuous, certain body movements would cause the laser to activate on and off throughout the day.

In addition to looking really strange, it’s hard on the laser batteries.

Do you have a laser on your carry gun? If so, be sure to check it out to make sure it’s not lasering things inside your pants!

Filed Under: Concealed Carry, Shooting Tips Tagged With: A Laser, ccw, concealed carry, crimson trace, laser, Laser Batteries, Laser Grip, laser grips, shooting 101, shooting tips

Holster Review: N82 Tactical Concealed Carry Holster

February 5, 2013 By Tom 2 Comments

Let’s clear something up right off the bat. How do you say “N82 Tactical?” The “tactical” part is pretty easy, so we’ll focus on the “N82” part.

En – eight – two? Nope.

En – eighty two? Nope.

Nate two? Nope.

It’s “Nate Squared.”

N82 Tactical Professional Series Concealed Carry Holster

We know this because we met a whole slew of Nates at this years SHOT Show – and they were all holster makers. In fact, it seemed that the whole booth was full of Nates. Well, at least two, and that’s plenty for most legal uses. We’re not going to get into the political ramifications of whether high-capacity Nate’s should be legal, but common sense will indicate that two is plenty. Can’t we all just agree on that?

Fortunately, we got the name thing cleared up pretty quickly and one of the Nate’s gave me a thorough rundown on their concealed carry holster designs.

It’s a good thing, because we had previously only seen these holsters in advertisements and from (an admittedly very unfair) first glance, we had a bit of a ho-hum reaction.

And, as frequently proven by our readers and former math teachers, we were very, very wrong. Here’s why.

The N82 Tactical holsters have come interesting innovations. Spurred on to entrepreneurial enterprise by the belief that holsters should be both comfortable and comforting, the dynamic Nate duo and a rental squad of Oompa Loompas created a basic design that makes for an inherently wearable, yet solid and secure inside the waistband holster.

The N82 is a multi-layer affair. A large backing panel goes between the gun and your tender midsection skin areas. The panel is large enough to completely cover the gun and all or most of the grip – depending on the specific model. This keeps sharp and abrasive metal and wood stuff away from your belly. A belt clip is affixed to the gun pocket so the whole holster with gun is tucked inside the waistband with the clip securing to your belt. Pretty simple.

Here’s where the layering comes in.

The body side of the panel is made from soft suede. N82 Tactical chose suede for several reasons. It’s a natural material, so it allows your skin to breathe and feel cool – even in hot and humid climates. Another reason for the suede lining is that it has a friction coefficient. Yeah, I told you we wouldn’t get into quantum physics in this article, but hang in there for a second. Since the whole suede area has some “grip” it serves to spread the weight of the gun over a broader area. Not that we’re calling your area broad or anything. OK, Enough of the fancy science.

Sandwiched in the middle is a layer of neoprene. If you saw the movie Jaws, or have been to Sea World, you’ll know that this is the stuff that diver’s wetsuits are made of. It’s waterproof. While you probably won’t be diving with your N82 Tactical holster, the neoprene barrier does in fact create a moisture barrier between your sweaty broad area and your expensive gun. Even if you sweat, your gun stays dry. Within reason of course. The other reason behind the neoprene moisture barrier is to prevent the leather portion of the holster from becoming mushier and mushier over time. All of the Nate’s believe that leather doesn’t break in to the right point and then stop breaking it. It continues to get softer and softer over time, especially with exposure to moisture.

The outer layer is leather. This provides structure, stability and a safe backing for your gun – whether it be steel or polymer.

For the gun pocket itself, N82 Tactical offers a couple of separate options – the Standard and Professional Series.

The original model, or Standard Series, utilizes a stetchy material to secure the gun to the leather holster panel. N82 got a lot of feedback from law enforcement customers. They loved the comfort of the tuckable design with its stretch band holster pocket, but needed additional positive retention for more active situations.

On the Professional Series models, the gun pocket is made from a polycarbonate material. Yes, the same material that is used to make impact resistant glasses, bulletproof glass and Justin Bieber CD’s. The polycarbonate is molded to that it protrudes slightly into the trigger guard of the gun to provide positive retention. When wearing the holster, your body presses the gun even more into the trigger guard mold. To draw the gun, use a rotating motion along the axis of the barrel. This releases the trigger guard and allows the gun to exit the holster. It sounds complicated, but when you wear this holster just behind the hip bone, your natural draw motion tends to rotate the gun exactly as needed to release the gun. After a couple of tries we had it down pat.

We were pleasantly surprised at the engineering involved in this concealed carry holster. While it looks simple, there’s a lot under the covers. So to speak.

Read about more carry styles and over 120 different gun holsters in The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters - available at Amazon.com! Learn more about our Insanely Practical Guides!