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So maybe this should be in the ladies section, but being this is a pretty general question, I felt men's opinions would be helpful too.
Anyhow, I'm typically anti purse carry for myself. I don't like the delays that come with a purse draw, and having two young children I don't like the idea of my weapon being in my purse. Plus, since it's not the usual way I carry, I feel it will add extra delay as its not my "norm".
The problem is that while I have plenty of holsters, including my leather iwb, and a flash bang among others, I have yet to find a thigh holster that will work with dresses and such. That leads me to the possibility of purse carry. Regardless of how much I dislike it I would rather have my gun with me in a purse than not have it with me at all.
The only time I wear dresses is really on Sunday at church and I always have my purse with me. I have also considered getting a mini revolver (yes I know, close distance defense with a small caliber is not ideal) that I could easily carry in a thigh holster instead of resorting to purse carry.
So here's my question: do I need a specified carry purse marketed for carry or can I get a basic purse with a separate compartment I designate for a gun only? If I have to get a marketed carry purse most of those will run me around $100 at a minimum as opposed to the $25 I usually am willing to spend on a regular purse. And to be honest, I'd rather put the $100+ towards a mini revolver for novelty purposes if not carry purposes.
I usually carry a Sig P238 on body.

When I carried off body, it was in a holster mounted inside the bag.

remind me tomorrow to post pics of my thigh holster, you should easily be able to make one. heck, you made your leather holster. (it's almost 1am, I'm off to bed!)

as for the purse, I carry my LCP in a purse occasionally, I have a few "gun" purses that I have picked up at crazy good prices on ebay and I have some regular purses that I will use that have pockets or zipper compartments that I can easily use to put a pocket holster with my gun and an extra mag in. and that is all that goes in that space.

There are nice purses designed for carry but this device lets you adapt other purses with the same type of retention you IWB holster does...

http://www.crossbreedholsters.com/PurseDefender.aspx



As for making you a thigh holster, I will post pics if I remember tonight of one I made to wear under cargo shorts...

So for those of you that have made thigh holsters, how do you keep it from sliding down? I made a leather one with elastic straps that are adjustable, but unless I cut off circulation I just don't trust it to stay up.

asbandr wrote:So for those of you that have made thigh holsters, how do you keep it from sliding down? I made a leather one with elastic straps that are adjustable, but unless I cut off circulation I just don't trust it to stay up.

Gain weight.

Just kidding!

I did the following:

• cut the portion of the leg out of a pair of jeans that coincides with where I want the holster to ride.
• hemmed the edges so it wouldn't fray.
• bought a nylon dog collar at Fred's and cut it in half leaving the fastener and adjustment thingy intact.
• sewed one end to the denim.
• punched a hole in the other end to fasten one of the clips from an AlineGear hybrid holster.
• fastened the hybrid holster to the denim using the screws and grommets that came with it.

Pull the denim up your leg and bring the other end of the dog collar up and fasten it to your belt where the clip would normally go. The clip is intact so, if you so choose, you can disconnect from the clip when you drop 'em to go to do the number 2. It stays on your thigh when you unclip it or you can drop it down your leg with your shorts and pull the holster back up with everything else.

The cargo pocket masks the print of the gun but you can adapt this to the inside of the leg for under a skirt. I am going to cut the pocket out of one of my shorts sometime and see if the gun can be brought out through there but have not done this yet.

asbandr wrote:So for those of you that have made thigh holsters, how do you keep it from sliding down? I made a leather one with elastic straps that are adjustable, but unless I cut off circulation I just don't trust it to stay up.

Same way you keep your stockings from sliding down - garter belt.

That is, if you are old enough to remember when ladies wore stockings. Or garter belts.

My wife carries in a purse almost all the time and the best purses she's found are those by Galco. She doesn't like all of their product line, but the ones she likes she likes a lot!

Gun purses should be heavy leather and they should have a separate pocket for the gun that keeps it from being visible when you open your purse at the store, etc. A side-entry gun pocket is preferred over one you enter through the top of the purse.

Chas.

Another option besides a thigh holster would be a smartcarry. Similar to a belly band they can be slung pretty low. You'd probably still have to access it from above, which might work if you have a skirt on that you can access through the waistband. Another option might be the kangaroo carry. Again, a hybrid of the belly band it carries under your arm. You could go through the neck of the dress.

I don't envy ladies and the methods they must seek to carry. My wife is a traditional purse carrier and neither one of us likes it. It is just such a pain to try to figure out how best to carry on any given day. Throw into the mix that she is a teacher and the gun is in her trunk most of the time.

My wife carries the same gun with this holster
http://www.thewellarmedwoman.com/holste ... hunderwear" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
When she can't wear her crossbreed.

She doesn't use one, but they have a large selection of purses.

http://www.thewellarmedwoman.com/ccw-purses" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ok, I just took some pics of my thigh holster. I'll put them up in the ladies forum, cause that seems like the place to do it?

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=LNL5pqn3Eng[/youtube]

This lady has several videos on concealed carry for women. In at least one, she gave her size as 5'4" and 120 pounds. She's hardly large, yet she can conceal handguns quite well.

Chas.

Check out can can concealment they have a few options i have a "Big She Bang" very comfortable and they also make a thigh aand a garter belt

http://www.cancanconcealment.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

company is woman ownwed small business