Lady's Holster

Hopefully some of the ladies will wade in with some real advice, but until then...

I wouldn't recommend "off-body" carry - purse, shoulder bag, back pack, fanny pack, Day timers, etc. Too, too often, one good bumb and a jerk and it's gone - or in an office or informal social situation they get set down and attention lapses. If you're pretty anal about where your purse is, that may be an option. Beyond that I'll give my (admittedly uninformed) opinion about options for on body carry.

As mentioned some makers market belt holsters designed form women. How well these work I do not know. The pictures I see would seem to require rather loose covering garments in a fairly heavy fabric.

For women who wear skirts I've seen thigh holsters advertised (worn inside the thigh on the off side). While these might work and would certainly be concealable, even the baby .45s slip pretty close to 2 pounds loaded, and I can't believe that that would be comfortable - or even something that someone would want to get used to.

The bra holsters I've heard about (including their cousin, the "undershirt" holster) would seem suitable for lightweight j-frames or smaller. Again, unless you're one of the ex-athletes from East Germany, I'd think the baby .45s would be a bit too heavy to make those practical.

For a belt holster that would be reasonably concealable with an over garment, I understand that cross draws work much better for women than they do for men as a concealment holster.

Otherwise, I'd suggest trying one or more of the belly band type of holsters. With light dress I suspect this might be your best bet for "on body" carry. Some work better than others, so I hope some of the ladies here who have had experience will weigh in with recommendations. While they are called "belly bands", they can also be worn higher on the body (on the rib cage).

Shoulder holsters (of proper design) can be more concealable for women than for men. Still - a two pound lump of metal requires a pretty substantive cover garment (do-able in rather formal business attire or in the cool season).

The advantage of cross draw, shoulder holsters and belly bands for women is - as I understand it - when properly designed, they can take advantage of the curves that women have that men don't.

I hope you'll get some good feed back from female members and I'll be really interested in their expertise.

Good luck.

------------------
Jim Fox

Blue Angel.....As a woman and a gun carrier you have but one choice and it is the same choice that men who carry have....you have to dress to the gun. Tight pants and skimmpy tops look great but are not 1911 compatable. You might be able to hide a KelTec .32 but even the smallest 1911 will make you look like you have a groath if you have any kind of figure at all. Most of the women who carry guns that I know have gone to wearing vests. No not the "Ranger" type that scream "GUN" but the fashionable kind that many women wear. The "Small of the Back" holster does well with some women as do some to the very light weight "Speed Scabards". Would also invest in a small second gun for when you just can't carry. Several of the ladies who I shoot with have bought the KelTec .32. At 9 oz. loaded and with it's belt clip there isn't much of anywhere you can't hide it.....Bob

Blue Angel, RJM is correct about dressing to the piece.

As for quality ladies holsters; try Aker Leather, DeSantis, Kramer, or in concealex/kydex it has to be Blade-Tech.
My wife is a carrier of a 1911, OM and has tried all of these and the work well.

Steer clear if SOB holsters as the chance of injury is high. There are numerous horror stories of folks that have fallen on their piece and fractured the spinous process of the vertebrea.

Of body carry, there are many quality purses available. A good fanny pack, Eagle or Blackhawk come to mind.

An often overlooked piece of the equation: a GOOD PISTOL belt. Not a good leather belt, there is a vast difference. A pistol belt is generally two ply leather, or high grade ballistic nylon rigging. Check out Gunsite's webpage gunsite.com, again makers like Aker, Kramer, etc. If you wear a crappy belt, all is moot.

Good luck.