I've tried, a number of times, to explain how I carry, and never had much luck in persuading anyone that it's as neat a was as I think it is.

And since I've seen other posters showing us pictures of their handiwork, I thought I'd show mine.

My problem was that I work in an environment where both jackets and untucked shirts are unusual. I tried a tuckable IWB, and found it exceedingly difficult to use. What with the weight of the gun on the belt, holding up your pants, trying to get the shirt-tail to fit in the little slot, and then manage to get your pants and belt buckled, I needed about half-a-dozen more hands than I was issued.

So I switched to ThunderWear and SmartCarry. Both worked, neither was really comfortable.

Then I read about Andy Arratoonian's TJM Holster, and gave it a try. http://www.holsters.org/deepconceal-holster.htm

I really liked the idea, but I didn't much care for the belt, and I thought a kydex holster would be easier to keep clean than leather.

So I bought a K1 from FIST, removed all the mounting hardward, picked up an elastic belt at Target, and stuck on some velcro. I wore that for about six months, then ended up making my own belt from nylon webbing and plastic hardware I got at REI.

I've been wearing this for about three years.

First, the holster:




It's a standard K1, with the end trimmed off. The K1 has a tuckable option and as shipped has an extension at the bottom to provide screw holes for the j-clip attachment. I didn't plan to use this, so I cut off the extra kydex.

Next, the belt:




It's plain nylon webbing and plastic hardware. REI sells the stuff in it's climbing gear section.

Only two things to pay attention to:
1. Velcro has two parts - hooks and loops. Sew the hooks to the narrow webbing. With use, the loops will fray, and it's easier to peal off the piece from the holster than it is to unstich and resew the piece on the webbing.

2. Make sure you fold back and hem the ends of the small piece of webbing. Without that, the webbing can slip through the D-rings, and you'll find your pistol down around your ankle.

Conceptually, you could use this to hold a holster anywhere along the belt line - 11:00, 1:00, 3:00, 5:00. Me, I wear it about 2:00 - just in front of the hip:



It's comfortable, never gets in the way, and with a narrow pistol like the PM9, it doesn't print:



Or, when I'm wearing a jacket, or when open carry is acceptable, I just pull it up to the waistline:



As a system, this has a number of advantages.

1. It completely separates the support of the gun from the support of my pants. I put on my shirt, I put on my gun, I put on my pants. No extra hands necessary. Public restrooms are no problem. I can use a urinal without having to shift things around, I can drop my pants and my pistol is still secure.

2. It's very quick and easy to remove or to replace the gun. I pull the gun up to the IWB position, unzip the velcro, and the gun - still in its holster - is free in my hand, ready to be stored away. To reverse, I pull the thin webbing up to where the velcro is visible, match the velcro up, and slip the holster inside my pants. It's fast, easy, and it's not a suspicious-looking move. I've done it in parking lots full of school teachers, and never had one notice.

3. A tab of velcro will keep the holster secure in a lot of places. In the pocket of your winter overcoat, when getting to your waistband is impossible. In a converted day-planner case, as a discrete off-body carry. If you're stuck with dealing with Ohio's absurd laws on carrying in cars, a bit of velcro on the dash will avoid arguments over whether it's really visible or not.

I'm happy with this method, and while no method is suitable for everyone, I think this is an idea that is worth spreading around.

Just when you think you've seen it all. Very clever. Something makes me suspect you're an engineer of some sort...

When do you start marketing it?

Great solution!

You should think of marketing it.

That is a seriuosly clever idea. Having its own belt is nice. you don't have to cinch your pants so tight you cut off circulation, you can keep your pants belt wherever it's comfortable and accessible. Heck, you could even modify the pants to get rid of the right side inside pocket material for access if you needed to

You can try it out with any IWB holster and any belt.

very cool

that is indeed clever. Does it ever rub you the wrong way at all on your skin?

It doesn't touch my skin. I wear it over the tail of my shirt.

I'd guess with a thin, light gun it wouldn't rock much either.

Very cool!

Wow ... I have NEVER seen anything like that done before.

The original idea was Tim Mullin's, and the first implementation of it I saw was Andy Arratoonian's:

http://www.holsters.org/deepconceal-holster.htm

His holster is leather, and his belt almost pure velcro:

I've seen under-belts before (They work well under kilts), but not one with a secondary strap like that, for lower carry. interesting...

The secondary strap lets me pull the holster out of my pants, while still attached to the velcro. This makes it easier to mate up the velcro when taking the holster off or when putting it back on, when I have to do so in circumstances where dropping my pants would be inappropriate.