Beginner's Guide To Concealed Carry For Bigger Guys - Alien Gear Holsters

hey everybody I'm Tim for mailing your holsters and this is Maxwell and we are gonna give you a beginner's guide to carrying for heavy people all right so I'm here with Maxwell Maxwell is the director of the customer service department at alien gear holsters how long have you been working with alien gear max I started as a regular CSR in 2014 March 2014 coming up on my five-year anniversary and that is a customer service representative right that's why I started and I moved on up through the ranks to mentor manager value stream leader and director so you are every day doing what exactly taking amazing care of our wonderful customers and why do you guys do that because what we do is important on a hundred different levels you know we want to make sure people are carrying comfortably and safely and that they get what they need so that they wear their holster everyday and use it so that it works for them when they need it how often do you guys get calls from heavier people looking to find maybe the best choice of holster or how to make their holster more comfortable you know not every customer really discloses their size but the ones that we hear about most that do disclose their size are larger people because it has it's either pinching or not working and they we know they want tips on how to adjust it where to wear it how to wear it how not to wear it and we like to help them through that nice okay so today we are gonna go through a whole bunch of the alien gear holsters and give you advice on what's best for carrying if you're heavier wear to carry it and maybe some pro tips on how to make it more comfortable and maybe some things that you might not have considered if you're looking to buy a holster this is great video for you to watch watch to the end we're gonna cover all sorts of our holsters and we're going to start with our most popular holster the inside the waistband gun holster right now our our best bet to go with is the 4.0 shapeshift holster and it looks like this right here also looks like this right here yeah once you go ahead and turn around so the camera can see here maxwell's got one on right here what position are you wearing this at today worried about 3 33 35 and I'm wearing mine at 4:30 right now and I wear mine right here because it sits against the flat of my back and it doesn't hang on my hip mm-hmm so I find that the most comfortable I see you've got yours in a little different spot let's say you turn a little better yeah so I actually train in a couple different positions I like 3:30 3:30 a lot it gives me just a good grip I can drop my weapon when I need to this is kind of more of a broad area of my body it's not reaching so far back here however depending what pants I'm wearing depending on how I'm how my pants are fitting that day I may also carry a little bit further back depending on the fit of clothes but I train with both so that I'm proficient with both do you ever carry further around the front maybe around 3 o'clock or 2:30 right here not really maybe if I'm paddle holster and I'm at the range perhaps but not not very much at all it's just not as comfortable the more I go forward the less real estate I have to carry a holster is that because of your skin hanging over that's because of my body shape yeah and just don't don't have a lot of room to draw up and so Kay yeah so I want to really get down into the the nitty-gritty here yeah when you're drawing or when you're carrying a gun like this does it poke into you onto your side or your skin when you're carrying as a bigger person right here or anywhere along the side you know we hear it a lot in customer service and one of the biggest reasons that we see holsters returned is because oh it's just not comfortable for me and I feel like some people expect to get a holster and it not feel like there's anything on their person that's not the case no matter what you do I feel you're going to feel the holster and the pistol on your body it doesn't if you're wearing it correctly you have adjusted correctly you can't where you want it you have your shell how you need it and you're wearing the right pistol for you it's not gonna be intrusive or obstructive to you to you and how you move and what you do from day to day there are times when I do feel it absolutely but with my alien gear holsters I mean I Drive in it I disc golf in it I hike in it I fish in it nap tin it I do whatever I need to do and most of the time I forget I have it on nice ok so I would say probably the biggest one there is driving let's talk more about that yeah when you're driving do you feel a difference when you're wearing an eye WB like this on your backside or around your the side of your body like around 3 o'clock so you know that's a really excellent point so when I'm driving a long way I may find myself carrying more towards the back because it is a more of a flat area for that when I'm in a sitting position if short drive I'll keep it more towards the front here but if I'm going a long way and I have it at 3 or 3:30 it can it can be noticeable it can also obstruct my seat belt stuff like that a little bit because I'm a little broader person so yeah ok so there are other inside the waistband holsters to consider mm-hmm let's let's jump into a mag holster yes if you want to carry extra mags on you if you get into a gunfight and you get a carry one right here you need more ammo than just the 6 to 13 or whatever you've got you're wearing how many sizes up in your pants so that you can carry a gun and a man culture inside the waistband none me personally I'm not however if your pants are tight when you go into a holster purchase you're probably going to need to go up in size if your pants are loose or a relaxed fit when you go to buy a holster you may not if your pants are loose you buy a belt you're gonna be fine we recommend wearing a belt regardless because of just making sure it's a stable platform for your pistol and all your accessories so really at the end of the day it's just about how your pants fit right now before you purchase that holster ok that sounds like it makes a lot of sense now you you essentially have to fit this much extra into your waistband and still have it be comfortable yes so if you have if you could fit maybe two fingers in there that's what they say is a good fit for your your pants mm-hmm but if you could fit maybe like three or four and perhaps you wear a belt on top of that to keep it cinched down then you probably don't need to go and exercise up right that's that's very true for me personally I don't wear a lot of iwb mag carrier because again that does with this much height tend to be a little more intrusive I carry our cloak mag carrier at a horizontal position and I carry it outside the waistband and backwards so that I can draw out and my magazine goes right into the well of my pistol mm-hmm and so and that's really comfortable to me so nope completely horizontal I don't know if the camera can catch where you're carrying yours outside the waist yeah outside the waistband and our mag holsters are able to switch to do that by taking off the base mm-hmm just turn it around and so you're saying out of why I'm going to add the wider clip which is always provided and then you could go horizontal yep then you can carry like that yep and that's how I carry everyday you know because of my shape it lets me sit down stand up and I can draw with no issue I can draw my my magazine with no issue with my not strong hand yeah this way it doesn't stick up into you right nice okay so there there's one more choice of inside the waistband holster that we sell and that is our appendix carry appendix carry so what do you think about the appendix holster you're gonna be wearing it right about here I'm not gonna be wearing it right about anywhere really Jim I'll be honest with you appendix carry is not really a great choice for me most folks I hear fit or not they think they want an appendix carry they've seen it on a show or whatever the case might be it's really accessible area it makes sense but when you go to sit down with that holster it for some people it just tends to dig into your area for my size that's an extrapolated issue I really have no real estate on the front of my body to carry a holster and have it you know it it can be uncomfortable yeah you also have to consider you're gonna have a gun in there yeah this is all gonna be sticking into your gut if you have one yep and you're sitting down with it right yeah if I'm gonna be out doing something all day everyday and I'm a bigger guy it might be an option I hear of people I I know there's a guy out there that does a video who's a bigger guy and he has it figured out and does a great job so it's not impossible by any means but it's certainly for me is not my holster to get my go-to holster hmm okay so if you're not ready to carry inside the waistband as a bigger guy or too concerned with it there are other choices there are lots of other choices the first is to carry outside the waistband what is your favorite outside the waistband choice as a bigger person from our selection here so a hands-down you take that appendix carry holster with shape shift and it morphs right into our belt carry outside the waistband and that sits really close to my body very similar to how my 4.0 sits just on the other side of the pant and it works phenomenally I love it it's my favorite outside the waistband carry hands-down it still sits closer to me me being a broader person when I'm out doing things if I'm gonna wear a paddle holster or something that sticks out too far I catch that on more stuff because I'm a wider guy this one sticks real close to the body still has a great draw still has great retention stays where I need it and it just does a great job being where I need it to be and not be and being comfortable while still being functional nice and this one works by taking your belt and looping it through these side arms right here behind the base behind the base and then this will sit right up against you yep so this would allow you to actually carry outside the waistband and also conceal it if you just throw your shirt right over it yep a lot of you know I'm wearing a button-down today I'm here at work and I'd like to look you know business professional sometimes but you know business casual most of the time and so I wear a button-down a lot of the times I'll even still wear a sweater vest over this and if I'm wearing outsider inside the way Hispanic just cover that right up nice okay so we there are all sorts of choices for outside the waistband another really popular one is our paddle holster this is part of our core carry pack in the shape shift modular holster system it's all almost everything that you're gonna be looking at today is part of the shape shift and all of these holsters essentially detach from the type of holster and you've got the shell you can actually switch it to any of these other holsters so it's a great system to get into if you want to try a bunch of different types of carry if you're concerned about your weight or how it's gonna feel great modular system to test and this paddle holster here attaches to the base like that woman's in full shell position yeah as long as you have it with the back in the front of this shell and then you can even turn it sideways if that gun is gonna be poking into you can carry a lot more horizontally do you ever carry like that um you know I I rarely use the paddle holster outside of the range just because it's it does stick out a little further and I have great availability I can just holster that gun do something else load magazines do what I need to do and then draw on fire very very readily often at the range I'll wear the paddle holster because I carry my sig to 38 I carry a XD Mont to 40 and I carry a Glock 23 I also have a Smith & Wesson Performance Center and so I have lots of pistols so I tend to carry I mean I have access to holsters I work here I tend to carry a few different holsters so I can holster those firearms while I'm loading magazines and stuff like that nice so you'll see on this holster here that there's this gap that he's talking about so if you want to carry a little bit further off your body this is a good choice it's also made for quicker easy access so it's got a thumb release on it so it's extra safe it won't release until you push down on this button right here mm-hmm all right let's talk about another very great choice which is a backpack holster have you ever worn one of these before you know I tested it out when we first had it I've wore it with a few different backpacks at I don't know what o clock position that would be but a draw about right here for me and it works fantastic that thumb release really keeps it where he wanted I mean I hiked up to a lake about two mile hike and you know it's a pretty rough trail never had an issue at all drew it a couple times just to make sure it was a good smooth draw it worked fantastic this is my personal favorite when I go hunting so that I've got all of my gear on my belt and I don't have much space it comes right off of my body just goes right on to the backpack I really enjoy this one and then I'd like to carry it about this angle right here it's a fun one to try out if you want to get so anything off of your waist and you have happen to have a backpack on I also hike a lot with my kids and I like the fact when I'm out hiking with the backpack holster that not flagging them when they're down here at all that can tend to happen if I'm you know a little bit more of a possibility if I'm carrying around my waist here if it were to go off for any reason it's gonna really hurt my ears but it's gonna be away from everyone what do you think about the drop leg holster that's my favorite hunting carry that we have I've used it quite a bit I've taken it out to the golf course just to put it through its paces it's great I'm where we have the different settings on the back of this so for I actually take care of a couple different demographics I'm a bigger guy but I'm also a shorter guy my hand falls just right on it right where it needs to be I have magazines there if I need them and it works really great for me and I mean I have pretty big thighs and it it takes care of what I need when I'm looking for a hunting situation if I needed to put my hand on my pistol and draw it's right there when I need it I taught to mess with any clothes or anything like that and this easily fits around your leg yep yeah I mean it's once I get it set up the way I want it set up it does it does what I needed to do no no we're talking about down on your legs mm-hmm you ever carry with an ankle holster yes sir and what do you think about the ankle holster I think it's fantastic you know it's a great backup option when you're when you're shooting or when you you know when you want to go out and train and you want to be you want to put yourself into a situation where you've lost your first firearm or it's out of ammunition whatever the case might be you drop down to a knee and you have it right there for me I'm right-handed so it goes on my left ankle and drawn ready to go and yeah it fits great stays there I wear it with my keen hiking boots I wear with most any shoes I wear and how flexible are you you know for a bigger guy I've been told I'm actually a lot more flexible than people expect but as I'm aging not as flexible as I used to be so is this going to be a problem for some people possibly to be able to get down there and grab if they're really big the real the real truth is getting down there with both my hands to put it - your pants - you got to get your pants up above it yeah that's not so much the issue is just putting it on I've had my wife kind of help me get things strapped up the way I want them to where it's good and secure a little bit of a little bit of training you know as far as doing some stretching exercises to get myself a little more limber would fix that right up but yeah all right okay so one of my personal favorites shoulder holster yeah how how well does this fit you as a larger person in that setting it wouldn't fit me at all however mine at home fit me great actually just because I live here in Idaho and we're a constitutional carry state and I'm really proud of our brand and I'm proud of our products I went out on a Pokemon community day the other day and I wore my shoulder holster and I wore it all day and well you know hiked around downtown Coeur d'Alene with my kids and had a lot of people you know say hey wow that's nice where'd you get that and you know it's just it fits great it works real good I have access to my firearm I have access to my magazines how did you make it fit well oh you just you and you know you use the straps and you set them up you know I have kind of I have my straps these Chicago screws set up and a little bit of the larger settings you know for me for some people with a smaller more narrow torso they like to draw this way and I tend to carry more horizontally because of my size and that's that's how I carry and this holster will fit up to a size four XL so if you want to carry your shoulder will show you want to try something like this and you are 4 XL or smaller I am actually 4 XL and that fits me and this should work for you really nicely yeah I've got a couple more another choice for for you to carry hmm if you don't want to carry on there on your body at all yeah one thing you could do is you can have holsters in a variety of places where you're going to be throughout the day yeah and you could have an off the body holster such as one that's on your car on your bed at your desk your sake in your pocket lets you got a pocket holster on you right now I do have a pocket holster I mean it's not it's not employed but it is like this is one of my favorite carries Sam in a pair of pants or I found today my pants aren't fitting as loose as I'd like to wear inside the waistband this is my go-to holster how does this one work so this you just did the firearms I don't have that we got shield yeah and I don't want to that's wrong my firearm but it just slides right in and this hook kind of keeps things from having a exact pistol profile anybody that knows what they're looking at mango mmm don't know what that guy has there but it really does a good job with just kind of having a pretty obscure shape and I can reach right in draw if I needed to draw with one hand it's no problem usually it'll come right out because of my size the pressure against my pocket keeps it where it needs to be but if I've had a couple times where it does just hook on the pant and pull and and draws from the holster that way I do have to reset my retention a little lighter on the pocket holster than I do say on my iwb just just so that it falls away easier you also can place your thumb right here to push it away from the holster that's right so you'd grab your gun put your thumb right here and you pull your gun while you push down your thumb yep and pops right out pops right out yep so this is a pretty fun culture too as long as you have you know big enough pockets yeah you gotta be able to have a bigger pocket to put your hand in there but that works with dress slacks that works with my normal everyday pants I wear a variety of different types of pants as people around here know and they work with all themselves and so the next choice is to not have it on you at all you could carry your gun and then take it from one position to the next off your body say on your desk or your bed or in your car this is our drivers defense holster yeah and the way that this one works is that it actually attaches to your driver's seat between your legs so that you can take your gun and move it from one holster to the next and this is a choice another choice would be to carry with the voer hook-and-loop holster you can have as many of these hook and loop bases as you want and then we have a version of our shape shift that has the the opposite side on it so that you can take as many of these as you want you can place them around to where you want to carry or have your gun and you can just take this out if you want to keep your gun entirely safe in the holster and move it to the next spot or you could take your gun and move it to the next holster that's one of my favorites for moving it from spot to spot I have one of these oh I have my safe full of them I one of these by my bed by my bed for my XD mod - and then I have one of these under my - and both of my cars and my wife's car so if I just want to pull the whole holster off and pop it under there real quick it's real easy you never even have done holster this pistol another choice is a Molly holster if you happen to have that's the the webbing or the pals webbing that's on backpacks a lot and then also on some police belts pals webbing is different from Hollywood tell me the difference so pals has the little metal loot eyelets and there's a hook that hooks through them molly is just a essentially a fibrous trap that that these teeth feed right through once you have it how you like it to do it the way it's meant to be done you're supposed to weave it through for a nice strong attachment and then you put this lock on it and it it's there till you make it come off and that works like that it's nice and tight so it's secure just slide this over the Molly and then you can carry on any Molly that you might have Molly replaced pals for the preferred mode of carry sometime back in the military I don't know everything about it but nice good Intel okay the last choice that we have is this little piece right here what do you call that guy oh the poster mount yes this is our holster mount right here so it's attached to these to this Molly holster piece but we actually can include this with your holster order as many as you want Courtney a great pack comes with a free one Corps carry pack comes with a free one if you get the Corps carry pack which is a variety of our holsters including the iwb the paddle the belt slide and the appendix Appendix iwb and if you want you can have all sorts of these platforms right here and you can attach them just like you would the velcro holster to different spots that you would go through between your day and you could take your shell and your gun and just pop them right into this little slot right here by pushing this button now this guy here is a little more intrusive than our hook-and-loop holster you do have to install it with hardware some people prefer not to do that with their vehicle and that's why the hook-and-loop holsters a little better option for that if you don't want to use screws but this one's tough as nails you can rotate it however you want it and I said it does come like Tim said - it does come with our cork Harry pack and you can buy them by themselves and put them everywhere in the house I actually have one of these above my bed for my wife to get to if she needs to so nice alright so if you have a gun that's not compatible with the shapeshift modular holster system we also have several of these holsters available in alternate versions and we have over 500 models of guns that carry with our other holsters like our cloak tuck 3.5 and also our cloak mod owb paddle holster and if you guys are curious about if your firearm fits or you'd like to look at any of these holsters check us out at alien gear holsters com if you're curious about more questions for how to carry for heavier people leave them in the comments and we'd love to answer them or reach out to us in customer service we love answering questions we take great pride in putting a lot of training into our CSRs and they know lots of stuff about fitment for your pistol as well as fitment for the holster on your body that's right these guys put a ton of effort everything they have into making sure that all of our customers are completely satisfied so if you have any questions give them a call and you know if you got any questions that we can answer for you on this video leave them in the comments thanks for watching and we'll see you next time

Channel: Alien Gear Holsters

Views: 480,851

Keywords: beginners guide to concealed carry for bigger guys, big person concealed carry holster, concealed carry for fat man, concealed carry for bigger guys, concealed carry for big guys, big guy concealed carry, fat guy concealed carry

Id: sFodv8GYeTo

Length: 26min 0sec (1560 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 18 2019