This question refers to carrying a backup handgun in an ankle holster. It is not about carrying your only firearm in an ankle holster.

“Inside” means on the side between your legs. “Outside” means on the side not between your legs.
“Dominant” side means the side with your hand that you’d usually use to shoot with; “nondominant” side is the opposite.

Question:
Where do you position the holster and backup gun on your ankle?
.

Choices:
Dominant, outside.
Nondominant, outside.
Dominant, inside.
Nondominant, inside.

 

When I carried an ankle rig, it was in a Bianchi holster and held a P230. I made some mods to it so I could secure it to my boot. I also had the leg of my uniform pants split and then had velcro sewed to the split so I could access the holster.
I always enjoyed seeing my do it on the cheap buddies kicking their BUGs down the road during foot chases when their El Cheapo holsters failed.
Some interesting searches for lost guns too.
If i went that route today, it would be with an Ankle Glove.

Same as Yooper, Galco Ankleglove, S&W Model 60 for the past 15 years...great combo for a secondary weapon.

If you're right handed, an ankle holster should always go on the inside of the left leg. Left handed, inside of the right leg.

quote:

Originally posted by houndawg:
If you're right handed, an ankle holster should always go on the inside of the left leg. Left handed, inside of the right leg.

I was wondering if anyone would respond with a description.

My philosophy is the opposite: A backup handgun in an ankle holster should go on the inside of the dominant side leg: right handed, inside of right leg. My thinking is that if a backup is being drawn, one very likely reason is that the dominant hand is disabled. In that situation it’s much easier to draw with the nondominant hand (e.g., left) if the weapon is on the inside opposite, i.e., dominant side (e.g., right).

If, however, neither hand is disabled, then drawing with the nondominant hand is easily followed by transferring to the dominant hand as the shooter comes up to engage the target.

And the third possibility is that the nondominant hand is disabled. In that situation drawing with dominant hand from the inside of the dominant side leg will be a little awkward, but it will likely be surer and easier than drawing with the nondominant hand from the inside of the nondominant side leg.

Got all that?

Note that I am referring only to a backup handgun in an ankle holster. If it’s the primary handgun then it should go on the inside of the nondominant side leg for easiest access by the dominant hand.

Thanks for the responses.

quote:

Originally posted by houndawg:
If you're right handed, an ankle holster should always go on the inside of the left leg. Left handed, inside of the right leg.

This was how I carried. My rationale was that when I was seat belted in the cruiser, my ankle rig was easier/ quicker to access than my service pistol which was at my side, jammed between me and the seat, at an odd angle.

When I carry in an ankle rig today, it is still in the same location. It's what I'm used to.

^^ +1

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by houndawg:
If you're right handed, an ankle holster should always go on the inside of the left leg. Left handed, inside of the right leg.

I was wondering if anyone would respond with a description.

My philosophy is the opposite: A backup handgun in an ankle holster should go on the inside of the dominant side leg: right handed, inside of right leg. My thinking is that if a backup is being drawn, one very likely reason is that the dominant hand is disabled. In that situation it’s much easier to draw with the nondominant hand (e.g., left) if the weapon is on the inside opposite, i.e., dominant side (e.g., right).

If, however, neither hand is disabled, then drawing with the nondominant hand is easily followed by transferring to the dominant hand as the shooter comes up to engage the target.

And the third possibility is that the nondominant hand is disabled. In that situation drawing with dominant hand from the inside of the dominant side leg will be a little awkward, but it will likely be surer and easier than drawing with the nondominant hand from the inside of the nondominant side leg.

Got all that?

Note that I am referring only to a backup handgun in an ankle holster. If it’s the primary handgun then it should go on the inside of the nondominant side leg for easiest access by the dominant hand.

Thanks for the responses.

You're overthinking it. Ankle carry as a backup is meant as a New York reload. The most efficient place for a right hander is the inside of the left leg. It's easiest to draw from there.

When ankle carrying, I wear mine on the inside of my left leg (I’m right handed).

However, several years ago I attended a LE Firearms Instructor seminar and one quest instructor gave a very enlightening talk.

He recommended carrying on the inside, strong side....however, the butt of the gun was forward. His theory was in physical fights or assaults, the good guy will be struggling with a bad guy, probably on the ground with the bad guy on top.

In his method, it was very easy for the good guy to be able to reach the inside of his dominant leg and draw the gun. As I recall, this was a ground fighting class for LE. We ran this drill many, many times with inert training guns and he was right.

It’s an interesting concept.

I don't use an ankle holster (but am open to it), but this jumped out and bit me.

quote:

He recommended carrying on the inside, strong side....however, the butt of the gun was forward. His theory was in physical fights or assaults, the good guy will be struggling with a bad guy, probably on the ground with the bad guy on top.

That sounds very "situation-specific." In almost any other scenario but that one, the gun would be inaccessible, would it not?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

quote:

Originally posted by houndawg:
You're overthinking it.

Yeah, you’re right: We certainly wouldn’t want to actually think about these things.

Whenever I hear the term “New York reload” I cannot but wonder if the person using the term has any real experience with the technique. The term was coined way back when law enforcement officers were all but universally armed with revolvers, as in New York when they were the only duty handguns permitted to the NYPD. Based on the photos I’ve seen of the era, the backup revolvers were also often carried in a readily accessible manner, sometimes dangerously so in belt holsters with butts forward. Carried like that when revolvers were involved and spare ammunition was carried in loops or dump pouches, having a backup gun to continue the fight is certainly faster than reloading.

With modern autoloading pistols and higher capacity detachable magazines, however, the advantages of dumping one’s primary weapon and going for a backup are significantly less, assuming they exist at all. Having an inquiring mind myself, I have conducted my own actual experiments to examine the issue. I determined that with practice, actually switching guns is about as fast as, and perhaps a tiny bit faster than reloading a pistol with an accessible magazine. But that’s true only if the backup handgun is also readily accessible.

A gun worn on the ankle, however, is hardly readily accessible most of the time. That requires remaining in one place rather than moving at speed, bending down, pulling up the pants leg, drawing, and rising up to try to find and then engage the target. And then there’s the issue of the type of handgun that most people can wear on their ankles as a practical matter. I cannot imagine wearing a backup P229 down there, and in the unlikely event I needed to reload that carry gun, I’d much rather have another 12 rounds in my primary weapon than whatever I could drag off my ankle.

And as a last point, I disagree that most backup guns are, or should be, carried on the ankle for the purpose of switching guns. During my study of the question, I have read of a number of incidents in which officers have had their dominant hands disabled in gunfights. I don’t recall any in which one ran out of ammunition with his/her primary duty weapon, discarded that gun, and went for an ankle backup rather than just reloading the primary. I don’t even know of any officers or agencies that teach and practice that method—unlike the conventional reloading drills that are taught and practiced over and over.

But thanks for offering up that idea. It gave me something else to think about on an early Sunday morning.

Added: I will of course readily admit that there are few choices more personal than how and why we carry self-defense weapons. I have my views, and others have theirs. The reason I posted this poll was to get some idea of what others think, and I appreciate any response.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigfreund,

To clarify the reasoning for my response above, I tried IWB appendix carry but it dug into my abdomen and wasn't comfortable at all.

I have had people approach my cruiser while I was seat belted in and I didn't feel comfortable with their approach. I wouldn't have been able to exit the vehicle prior to them getting to my door and they were in an advantageous position before I could have drawn my duty pistol.

With my BUG in an ankle holster (I'm right handed and my BUG was on the inside of my left leg), I was able to covertly draw my BUG and have it concealed under my left arm, ready to use, without them being any the wiser.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I don't use an ankle holster (but am open to it), but this jumped out and bit me.

quote:

He recommended carrying on the inside, strong side....however, the butt of the gun was forward. His theory was in physical fights or assaults, the good guy will be struggling with a bad guy, probably on the ground with the bad guy on top.

That sounds very "situation-specific." In almost any other scenario but that one, the gun would be inaccessible, would it not?

Not really. Quite easy drawing with the dominant hand. You just have to turn your wrist so the palm is facing your ankle. After you’ve done it several times, you see that it can be done quite easily.

You can still draw it with your non-dominant hand, just takes some practice.

We tried multiple scenarios having to draw with each hand and it wasn’t that bad. I have tried carrying that way, but I’ve carried on the inside of my non-dominant leg for so long, I just revert to that way of carrying.

Just threw it out there because someone might find it works better for them.

Back in the long long ago I carried a shield on my left ankle on the inside. It worked reasonably well but I moved to cargo pockets a bit ago when we changed wardrobes at work. It worked but got noticably dirtier than now. Far more pocket lint however.

I like that I don't have to worry about it flying out on me. It happened to two guys I know who carry on their ankles. Fortunately both recovered them but one was in a fight, thankfully with a guy who wasn't interested in going that far with it.

Deleted. In an area with poor reception, I managed to submit two near-identical posts.

My poll reply was non-dominant, inside, but is actually more complex than that. I started with the ankle holster on the inside of my left leg, because my left leg was more accessible while operating a motor vehicle, as my left foot was not operating the brake or accelerator. I could reach the weapon with either hand; “dominance” was not a significant factor.

I seem to be able to draw a revolver, with normal-sized grips, from an Alessi ankle rig, on the inside of either leg, with either hand. Some ankle rigs, and/or fat grips, and-or other pistols, might be more restrictive in freedom of acquisition. My skinny fingers may be a factor.

I could actually reach my snub-gun, on the inside of my left ankle, with my right or left hand, easily, while driving, and would sometimes have my hand on the grip, while driving slowly through a particular blighted neighborhood, with very short sight-lines. IOW, ambush territory.

Actually, I am left-handed, but right-armed. (Short version: I write left, and throw right.) I chose to carry on the right hip, for better accessiblity while seated in the driver’s seat of patrol cars; the earliest I could legally carry was my sworn date. I prioritized learning the long-stroke DA pull with both hands, from the beginning.

For a while, I got away from routine ankle carry, and when I re-started, I switched to the inside of my right leg. Creeping slowly through a blighted neighborhood was no longer a factor, due to gentrification pushing the pharmaceutical business away, and a change of patrol vehicles meant that my left foot no longer had a nice perch, by the door. The new ankle gun was a G26, and, I shoot small Glocks better lefty than righty. So, in a way, inside the left leg was still “non-dominant, inside,” even though my “primary” weapon was still at 0300, because my “dominant” side for the G26 was not the same as my primary handgun side.

In retirement, now, I rarely use ankle carry, except for special, unusual occasions. I have not given-up the second gun, but tend to keep my weapons closer to belt/chest level. I might return to more-frequent use of ankle carry, when I sort-out which gun to carry at ankle level. Probably, it will be a revolver, with reversion to J-Snub or SP101 being the most likely, and a lefty rig inside the right leg being the more probable option.

Thanks for the additional comments. Additional things to think about.

I carry my model 60 inside my right ankle because my left leg has damage and I cant wear the elastic on it. Seems to work just fine, just have to have real mans pants... no skinny anything here.

Howdy all, my 2 cents. I have tried it all and as mentioned above, find that dominant leg, grip forward was my best option as I could easily reach it with either hand (I'm right handed). It was kinda awkward at first as I would reach for it thumbs in with either hand but with a little practice it was ok. My biggest challenge was getting a quality holster. I had a leather guy rig one up for me which worked great but I have since stopped ankle carry and gave the holster away to a friend who needed it. Now I'm looking to get another bug (g42/g26/J frame undecided) I will either carry it non dominant cross draw or pocket.

I finally got an ankle holster when I wanted to carry a backup a in plain clothes role. I’m right handed, and I wore the holster on the inside of my left leg. Having had to qualify with the holster in a timed drill, I found it to be intuitive enough to adapt to, dropping to a knee for a smooth draw and firing position. Like any other holster, getting a high quality holster is what made it work.