IWB holster concealed by cell phone/pda case...

[mindburp]

I'm working on a couple designs for IWB holsters, and have been playing with an idea for awhile now. I always carry my cell phone in a case that clips to my belt or waistband. I'm trying to figure out a way to attach this cell phone case to an IWB holster. It seems like a good natural cover since it's sticking out anyway.

Ideally, I'd like a way to clip the cell phone onto the clip or an outer flap of an IWB (rather than building a cell phone case as part of the holster). In other words, it would be a separate (any) cell phone/pda case, that clipped onto the IWB holster.

Has anyone seen or built something like this? If anyone has any ideas/plans/sketches, I'd love to collaborate and test them out.

p.s. I have figured out how to add extra loops/bands on the holster, to clip the case to. However, I think that there are too many layers to accomplish this. I know there's got to be a way to work these two items together in a more streamlined way. Any suggestions/thoughts are welcome.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Guns and more]

Has anyone seen or built something like this?

Yes. It's commercially available. I think it's called "Pager Pal" and used exactly what you are describing. Reviews have been negative since it was difficult to extract the gun from behind your waistband.
But hey, maybe your's will overcome that.

[sp2022]

I think it's called "Pager Pal"

The guy who came up with it is now trying to sell it as the "Cell Pal". It is no different. Again difficult to draw your weapon and it is a cross draw. You can find the videos for it on YouTube.

[rocky]

I played with the idea of mounting a cell holster similar , but decided it would stick out more than on the regular beltline and look odd from a front view (possibly making observers more curious why you pants look flat behind the phone.)

[cz2075bd]

Saw a guy selling these at the DC (Dulles Expo) gunshow. Looked pretty good, actually, wasn't "printing." But I couldn't decide if it was practical or gimmicky.

[chrise2004]

I played with the idea of mounting a cell holster similar , but decided it would stick out more than on the regular beltline and look odd from a front view (possibly making observers more curious why you pants look flat behind the phone.)

I rocky said it best. I think your better off with a good IWB holster that conceals well then fumbling past a cell phone/pager looking device. Just my $.02

[retsupt99]

Forget the 'pager pal' idea...work on the most comfortable concealed holster ever.
OMO

[kazzaerexys]

Having never owned a Pager Pal, I can't comment first-hand, but most of the criticism I recall reading had to do with needing both hands to draw the gun because it sits low behind the pager/phone thingie---the gun rides deep and you need to pull it up to draw position.

mindburp, I think you are describing something different. I envision a cell phone with a hard half-shell case, the type that clips onto a belt roto-mount of some type. If that roto-mount just happened also to be a kydex clip on an IWB holster, I think the idea has some potential. The place to start, I would think, if you are molding kydex, is to see if you can replace, say, the front clip on an MTAC (or similar holster) with a clip that supports that cell-phone mount...

[Xader]

I tried something like this and my blackberry holster just ended up sitting too far out from my body.

Now I just slide it to the very front of my IWB and it takes the focus off any possible printing (though I rarely have suck issues)

[zeko]

As for concealing the clips of an IWB holster, my ordinary cell phone case (which clips onto my belt) conceals one of the clips of my Minotaur M-TAC quite well; my pager case conceals the other one (not quite as well, but it hasn't been spotted yet). The belt, pager case, cell phone case, and holster clips are all black, so the clips just blend into the busyness caused by the pager case and the cell phone case.

Zeko

[camsdaddy]

I have found that placing my cellphone in a way that would block a clip draws more attention. It further adds to the bulk of the pistol.

[mindburp]

Great feedback, thanks. I see the PagerPal, etc., and it is a bit different than what I was thinking. I don't want to change and carry lower. I want to carry like I normally do, and just add a phone case attachment to the holster clip. kazzaerexys, you hit the nail on the head. I was only thinking about clip-style cell phone cases, but the ones that mount via a that little round extension (assuming that's what you mean by "roto-mount"), would be a perfect solution. I'd essentially just be incorporating a female mount to the clip of my IWB holster so I can clip my cell phone onto it...sounds workable. I've only worked with leather, since I'm comfortable with it, but maybe I'll look into kydex since it will be thinner, right? more sturdy? Any pro-kydex versus leather tips would be welcome. I'm going to search and see what I find. Thanks a ton for the feedback.

[ghost tracker]

Any device that tries to do more than one thing...usually doesn't do any of them at maximum effectiveness. It's the K.I.S.S. principle in action.

[PastorPack]

For my mileage, wearing the cell phone case outside of the IWB was too bulky and prefer to wear it opposite to sort of balance out the apppearance.

YMMV though, so I say go for it. There's a certain pride in the home-made/modified holster.

[1923mack]

Using some exterior device (cell phone holder, leatherman knife holder, flashlight holder, key fob, pager etcetera) to cover the clip for the inside the wasit holster, is a good idea. Proper execution of the plan is the masters in the idea. The device holder should not make the area seem "larger" but should help to hide the bulk of the enclosed handgun. Good idea, just figure how to make it work.