Yesterday I found myself in an all-too-familiar situation. Casually dressed in shorts and a t-shirt and needing to make a quick run to the grocery store to get supplies for my latest endeavor at making a huge mess of the kitchen.
I don’t live in Stockton CA, Baltimore MD, or Rockford IL. I don’t think my town is on any top one-thousand lists for violent crime rates but that doesn’t mean that bad things can’t happen. There was a random carjacking and knifing just blocks from my humble abode last week.
Well, what are my options…?
Put on a belt. – No can do in these shorts. The belt loops just aren’t big enough for a gun belt. And all of my belts are 1.5″ thick leather gun belts.
Pocket Carry. – Not really going to work with these shorts. The pockets are really small. I could stuff my little NAA .22 Mag revolver in there but I’d never be able to get it out.
The little mini-revolver is also really just my “church gun”. It’s the gun I carry when there is just no other available method.
IWB without the belt. – Yeah, I’ve tried that before. My Glock 36 carries fine that way and is well concealed but when you try to draw it ends up looking something like this…
“Please stop stabbing me while I get this holster off my gun.”
OWB without the belt. – This actually does work with my Serpa CQC Paddle Holster! Unfortunately, despite its marketing, the Serpa is not a concealment holster and open carry is still illegal in Florida. I’m not interested in earning a free ride in a police car so the XD remains in the nightstand until winter.
Running out of options. – Since I don’t have a belt that will work and I am required to remain in the closet about my self-preservationist orientation and rights, my only remaining option may be to change my pants. But it’s laundry day!
Well, let’s see what Eric Larsen, Kel-Tec, and some Velcro® can do about this…
Hey, we might be on to something here.
The PF-9 is light enough that it will not rip out the belt loops and it’s a 9mm so it has more terminal ballistic oomph than most guns in its size and weight category.
The belt loops are very well stitched on these shorts but I would like to find an easy way to reinforce them on other pants.
This holster was a prototype that Eric Larsen of H.B.E. LeatherWorks made for the PF-9. It is intended to sit under your belt and outside your pants. It’s one of my favorite holsters for casual dress.
The Velcro strap is a little nylon luggage strap that’s intended to just wrap two bags’ handles together for a rolling carry-on. Not surprisingly, this could also be improved.
No duct tape was harmed in the fastening of this holster to my side.
I asked a Jackalope, who referred me to a Chupacabra, who said that there used to be a Sasquatch that made a great beltless holster that was something like this. But no matter how hard I try, I just can’t find that old squatch.
So for now, the perfect Beltless Sasquabralope [sas-kw-brah-lohp] Holster remains as elusive as its namesake(s); but I’m closing in.
This is a great case,and i like it because leather holster fits up to an 8″ barrel length.It is open at the bottom and has adjustable leather suspension straps. The belt loop also is adjustable.