# The One Thing That You Really Need to Know...



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

I've published some new information about choosing a concealed-carry holster.
It's on the GunToters' Blog.
Read it at: The One Thing That You Really Need to Know? | Guntoters

Please feel free to add your own comments.


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## Craigh (Jul 29, 2016)

Great blog, as is usual from you. Good information there. I just wish to add whichever holster we end up using for our EDC, we need a huge amount of practice with that holster and our presentation. I see so many people I know, buying a brand new holster, putting it on and carrying the first day with it, never really practicing its use. I think, in the privacy of your home with a cleared and empty handgun, we should practice at least 200 and probably closer to 500 draw and presentations over a period of several days, but more over the weeks and months following. After we're fairly comfortable, we should also practice draw and presentation on a live private outdoor range. Start very slow and be very precise. Move faster over time. Never be cocky about it. You never want to shoot yourself in the foot. We want good safe muscle memory. Like you say in your article, when the stress hits, you want to be able to go into auto-pilot as much as possible. The more I practice precision shooting, defensive shooting, draw and presentation, as well as the rest of it, the more confident I'll hopefully be when I need to use it.


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## Philco (Apr 17, 2012)

Nicely done Steve. You raise several important issues for anyone who carries.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Thank you.
We endeavour to please, sir.

One of the difficulties-of-choice which confronts the holster buyer is: "How high above the belt should it be?"
This is a very difficult, gun-size- and joint-capability-related decision, which only gets more difficult as we age and our joints begin to ache.

I have two different OWB ultra-high-ride holsters, both by the same maker. One is for a full-size 1911 and one (well, two, actually) is for a shortie 1911. These holsters keep the gun's entire trigger-guard well above the belt.
But the holster for the full-size 1911 is all but unusable, because I haven't been able to raise my elbow high enough to clear the gun's slide from this holster since I was 63 (16 years ago). To get the gun out, I have to bend quite a distance to my left, and even then it's difficult. It certainly isn't quick.

On the other hand, the same ultra-high-rise configuration works perfectly well with the shortie. Its slide is brief enough to put the required elbow lift well within my normal, everyday capability.
I'm practicing to try to go back to carrying a .45 — the shortie in question — and I'm not having any trouble at all with the holster to which I refer.

All of the OWB and IWB good-design examples presented in my Blog essay keep the grip of the pistol well above the belt, but in no case would the gun be lifted so high as to make the draw-stroke difficult for aging joints.

(Yes, the difference could be as little as two inches!)


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## Blackhawkman (Apr 9, 2014)

Good article with valuable info Steve! I have as many holsters as I have guns. It comes down to what works best for you. Practice doesn't hurt either. fwiw


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