I'll admit I'm not a spring chicken and no longer have the health nor physique of one.

As such, with my old belly, my belt doesn't really lie in a horizontal plane. Rather, it angles downward from the back to the front.

I like a straight draw, especially between 1:00 and 3:00 holster locations. I have a holster which allows for cant adjustments. It seems that canting the holster in the opposite direction of 'fbi cant' results in the holster being more vertical in orientation. Otherwise, the holster is canted forward a bit.

Any reason not to do this? Or it's okay to cant "backwards" (opposite of fbi forward cant) to compensate for belt angle?

quote:

my belt doesn't really lie in a horizontal plane. Rather, it angles downward from the back to the front.

It could be worse. I have a belly that pushes the front down and a flat butt that doesn't hold it up.

Seems to me that nobody can answer the question better than the individual who is the only one who can judge how the fit, concealment, and draw all work together, and, if there has to be a compromise, which to sacrifice.

Whatever fitment you end up with, practice the draw and safe presentation until it is second nature.

Two words: Shoulder Holster.

Comfortable, easy to conceal, and easy to draw from (especially sitting down, in a car etc).

Unless you’re in a job or otherwise have an obligation to run towards gunfire, a shoulder holster is an often overlooked option for little good reason for the average citizen.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
I'll admit I'm not a spring chicken and no longer have the health nor physique of one.

As such, with my old belly, my belt doesn't really lie in a horizontal plane. Rather, it angles downward from the back to the front.

I like a straight draw, especially between 1:00 and 3:00 holster locations. I have a holster which allows for cant adjustments. It seems that canting the holster in the opposite direction of 'fbi cant' results in the holster being more vertical in orientation. Otherwise, the holster is canted forward a bit.

Any reason not to do this? Or it's okay to cant "backwards" (opposite of fbi forward cant) to compensate for belt angle?

So long as where the gun sits is at 0 degrees I don’t think it’s bad. But there are a lot of variables. How your pants/belt sit at time of draw, do you have to adjust your belt to get it back to 0 degrees? Overall I would say move to about 4-4:30 and have a little can’t. Or, you could go with a holster that isn’t quite so tight against the body. A high ride holster that still conceals well but has 1/4” separation off your belt.

Like someone else said, none of us know what your typical garments are or what you’re doing. So it’s hard to say.

When I’m on my property or family’s property I don’t worry about concealment. If I go into town I can tuck one in pretty close on my right hip. It’s not the same position when I’m home but I have a firearm and it conceals well. What I’m getting at is a compromise may be required when you’re away from home.

Years back I discovered that a belt alone no longer does the job, especially when I carry a full sized pistol especially one that has a large capacity magazine.
Answer; Suspenders to go along with a GOOD stiff belt.
I like the fact that I can then loosen the belt and actually be comfortable.

I fully echo the sentiments that body type and firearm are truly individual to the person.

I CCW a Shield and through experimentation with holsters, the one that is ideal for me, comfortable and unobservable to even deep looking, is a Milt Spark SS2 but instead of behind the hip, I wear it at 2 O'clock. It's just invisible. I also replaced the leather loops with the DCC Monoblock.

It fits me better than anything else but I'd never have figured it out if I tried to "force" the SS2 into the recommended or traditional 3:30 or 4 O'clock positions.

Redundancy-- stiff gun belt and suspenders... Personally prefer the 3 point attachment... But each must decied for themselves... ....drill sgt.

From a body mechanics standpoint, I want the holster canted in a way that induces the least torsion in the shoulder and the least articulation of the wrist.

Forward cant tends to adhere to these principles best when the gun is worn behind the hip. Forward cant has the arguable benefit of decreasing printing from the butt of the gun since it ends up rotated forward.

If you look at what is going on in the tactical and competition world, you are seeing a big shift towards negative cant and wearing the gun forward of the hip. This tends to allow a more neutral wrist position and less torsion in the shoulder.

On the tactical side, products like the Blackbox Customs Negative Cant Plate, True North Concepts Modular Holster Adapter, RDR Gear MH2, Bladetech Tek Mount, and others exist to enable cant adjustment and a lot of that is based around Safariland's terrible default forward cant.

In the practical shooting world, the BSPS Boss Hanger, Henning Group T-1000, and a variety of products from companies like Double Alpha, Black Scorpion Gear, CR Speed, and others I am surely forgetting are doing the same thing.

My method for determining proper cant for any given position on the belt is to get a good grip on the gun and look at the hand, wrist, and arm. I adjust the cant to neutralize the angle of the wrist. From there I may go a couple degrees either direction if there is a reason (often access to retention devices), but nothing severe. Overall I'm looking to have the arm in its strongest orientation for the entire draw.

Does it fit? (the gun)
Is it secure?
Can you get to it quickly?
Is it comfortable?

If the answer is "Yes", well...


Me? I carry a duty gun on a duty belt / holster at the 3:00. Concealed is roughly the same 3:30 - 4:00. Extra mags are always 10:00 - 11:00.

I don't like switching from hip to appendix, back to hip, shoulder...