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This is the first week of the winter that many of us have had to wear coats. Please get out there and practice drawing wearing a coat. The results might be surprising.

Jackets with elastic waistbands are problematic, and I suppose the belted jackets that are currently in fashtion for the ladies might be, too.

Any recommendations or experiences to share?

- Jim

I'm glad you started this thread. Yesterday while walking my dog in 35 degree weather and wearing a heavy coat, I thought, how long would it take me to present my pistol if the need arose....
As it turns out, not very long.
I like medium length coats with buttons, not zippers. I leave the bottom 2 buttons undone, this makes weapon aquisition no more difficult than drawing from under an untucked t-shirt.
It also allows me to get in and out of the truck without flashing while still being comfortable when in a seated position.

This is things a lot of people never consider. I never thought much about the change to winter until one night while wearing gloves I needed to draw my revolver on a traffic stop - guess what my finger would not go into the trigger guard I learned. This is a great topic. Looking forward to learning from others.

I wear a fleece jacket type dealie, quite lightweight. I usually wear it unbuttoned and drawing my pistol is largely unaffected.

I wear a Nike sport jacket and I have never had a problem drawing it but to re-holster it is a bit on the hard side.

Carlson1 I know how that is ,Iwent to a pair of hunting style gloves that has the trigger finger that is open on the end and it wasn't a problem after that.

I hope everyone takes the time to work on this as its a good idea to know what works and what doesn't before the OMG I have to draw time comes.


300Shooter

cyphur wrote:I wear a fleece jacket type dealie, quite lightweight. I usually wear it unbuttoned and drawing my pistol is largely unaffected.

picked up one of these at Academy yesterday. Works great. It hangs straight down and has no elastic. $12.00 on a rack just inside the doors.

One reason I like the USP is cause they made it to be used with gloves :)

Wonderful topic....I actually did some winter wear, long-sleeve t-shirt draw and fire today. I agree that the clothing can present challenges...I am not a person to wear gloves. Thank God for Texas!

Paladin wrote:One reason I like the USP is cause they made it to be used with gloves :)

SIG trigger guards are big enough for André the Giant's thumbs. Those pistols were designed for the European LEO market. I never thought about it til now.

- Jim

I've found a pretty neat, down and dirty trick. I use a left handed kydex paddle style as a shoulder holster.
Just turn the left handed holster backwards and stick the paddle down the sleeve of the jacket. It works like a shoulder holster with no other rigging necessary. The paddle fits teh curve of my arm, and the paddle a couple gripper cleats that hold on to the seam in the jacket.

I'm using a Houston Holster for this, as they make one for my Compact Bersa 9.

The third picture panel down on this site ( http://www.yourgunparts.com/ ) shows a back image (top left) and the front image (bottom right) of the plastic Houston.
I'm sure a Fobus would probably work as well. fwiw, I loosened my holster a little with a heat gun.

I don't know how much folks here consider off-body concealment, but one can drill the rivets out of these holsters to remove the paddle.
Then attach the holster to nearly anything, in any position with a few screws. Just think ahead to decide if you need a right or left hand holster for the application.

for instance,, inside the spare tire wheel well, top of the trunk, side of the center console, under the table, behind the night stand, inside the top of the bookcase headboard, on the back of the closet door, inside the top of the entertainment center, where ever you can safely hide one.

edit: to add shopping source http://www.firestorm-sgs.com/holsterpts.htm

i have a really good 5.11 jacket (actually 2 jackets in one). it has zippers on the sides to allow access to your weapon. it also has velcro pockets on the front where you can keep guns. for a little bit more, it has this back up belt system where you can buy holsters that fit in the hidden pockets to hold guns. in the front pockets, there are pouches specifically made to hold magazines.

then you never have to worry about digging for a gun. plenty of ways to access one.