Concealment is a very important part of concealed carry duty and there are several ways we can accomplish this task. The most traditional way is via a concealment garment - typically a shirt or a jacket. When worn in combination with a holster, a concealment garment can completely conceal your firearm while allowing you to maintain more of a citizen-like appearance rather than a tactical Timmy. However, something I’ve noticed over the last decade or so is a stronger affinity for off-body carry methods, specifically fanny packs. Whether this is due to new fashion trends, or the emergence of more complex CCW firearms we’ll probably never know. Instead of dismissing the fanny packs and off-body carry altogether, I’d like to examine it today and compare it to the more traditional holster route to see what each carry style offers, and where some of its real drawbacks can be.
Pros
Traditional Holsters first and foremost offer the best retention possible. Holsters are almost always custom fit to the gun and light combo and are further held in place by adjustable tension. This not only keeps your pistol in a safe position while you go about your business, but it also allows for your concealed carry firearm to maintain a constant position, so you know where to draw it from if the need arises. Related to that, traditional leather, and Kydex IWB holsters allow you near-instant access to the firearm, with the only limiting factor typically being how fast you can clear your concealment garment.
Fanny Packs on the other hand allow for a broad variety of handgun, light, and optic combos, and will typically allow you to carry a much larger firearm without adding any additional cues that you’re carrying around a firearm. Fanny packs are also pretty versatile in that they can go with a lot of outfits that you’d never be able to conceal a traditional holster in. Some examples are at the beach in swimwear and in summer clothing like shorts and t-shirts. Fanny packs are also fairly common daily accessories even by non-firearm owners and thus they don’t project a threatening appearance any more than a handbag, or backpack would.
Cons
Traditional holsters can be quite uncomfortable, especially with larger or heavier firearms. Even with lighter firearms, there is no real way outside of more rigid CCW belts to distribute the weight evenly without adding a bunch of other stuff on your belt to balance the weight of the firearm out. Clothing options are also much more strict, particularly during the summer months when traditional concealment garments would look out of place, or impractical to wear. Traditional holsters are also only worn in a select few positions, typically at the 4 or 3 o'clock position, or appendix in the waistband - even with the best concealment garments, these positions can still allow for a significant amount of printing on smaller individuals, or when tighter clothing is worn.
Similarly, fanny packs have their drawbacks too. The most significant to me is the difficulty of getting the firearm out and ready to fire. Fanny packs often have zippers that can be difficult to rip away quickly, and even designs that have a quick open feature take much more practice to master than a traditional holster design. Fanny packs also tend to shift around your waist, which can lead the pack and firearm in an unexpected position if you should ever need to draw it - this is suboptimal for defensive purposes.
Adapt and Survive
After over a decade of carrying around a firearm daily, I’ve learned that you have to be more flexible than your gear. While it would be nice to have a one-size-fits-all solution for all of your carry needs, the truth that is a variety of guns, clothing, gear, and methods need to be selected daily to truly optimize your carry situation. You should try both methods out, and see where each one fits within your carry rotation or toolset - I’m sure there are situations where one works way better than the other. We’d like to hear what you think about this topic! Are you a fan of the fanny pack carry method or are traditional holsters truly the only way to go when it comes to daily concealed carry? Let us know in the comments.
