ev239

I posted this information into a different forum, but I wanted to share it with as many as I could so I'm also posting this here.

Who out there has had the experience of a comfortable OWB holster that fits their CCW just right and dreads having to find a similar fitting holster that will be comfortable to wear tuckable IWB for those times when sloppy can't be worn? Last week my hand slowly would have gone up.

Here's some background... Yes, I admit I'm a cheapskate. I know that a good quality holster is worth the money, but I also enjoy ingenuity and saving hard earned money. Several weeks back I had purchased a Don Hume 721 open top OWB that I really like. It's a high-ride, well made, good fitting holster. I like it and have worn it numerous times, but it being a high-ride to pull the weapon up so that the cover garment doesn't have to be below your butt it's not very comfortable while sitting as it jabs my back while I drive. I drive a lot. I've been reading posts for some time and have seen all the recommendations for a comfortable quality IWB holster. Most of which will send you back $70 - $1?? Those typically recommended have multiple connection points to the belt and ride pretty low for comfort and concealment and are made in both leather and/or kydex. The Comp-Tac clip system seems to be vastly popular either in their CTAC or Tucker's Answer so I looked to them for inspiration.

I thought that by using a stiff piece of material, two of Comp-Tac's innovative C-clips and screw together studs I could modify my existing OWB Don Hume pancake holster into a Franken-IWB holster. After perusing a Tandy Leather which I'm very fortunate to work near, they gave me the idea to use instead of a stiff piece of leather a plastic paint bucket for my project. Using sissors I cut up the bucket into the shape I needed, drilled holes for the clips and then screwed them on.

Let me know what you think...for $20 for the clips which I could always use if I purchase one of Tucker's or Comp-Tac's holsters I think it works pretty well.



Here it is worn.



I wore my "bucket holster" over the weekend and I must say I like it. I nicknamed it that because of the paint bucket I cut up to make it. I can see why folks praise designs like the CTAC and VM2. They spread the weight of the gun along a much larger section of your belt and place it nice and low so that the butt doesn't dig into your back.

The great thing about this setup is that it offers amazing flexibility in gun placement. Where with custom holsters you're fairly limited on the cant of the gun, how low it sits and the width of the clips because once it's made it's made and you can only alter so much. Yes, I know with the CTAC you have some choice in cant and how low it sits because of the adjustability Comp-Tac designed into it, but you're still stuck with a kydex holster for those who prefer leather and what if you wanted the holster with just 5 more degrees of forward cant. Tough luck, you live with what you get.

Not so with the bucket holster. If you want it to sit much much lower or have a more extreme cant and the clips are already adjusted as much as possible then go back to the bucket and start cutting. If you're like me and have access to buckets (paint or those 5 gallon Ruco mud ones) then you can experiment to your heart's content.

I wasn't completely satisfied with the first draft of my bucket holster. It didn't offer as much of the grip as I would have liked for a combat grip. I was having to almost shove my hand into my pants. So I went back to my bucket and a new idea on how to angle the gun more and offer more of the grip. Here's what I have now.



It hides as well as any tuckable I've seen (not counting those underwear holsters), though with V-clips it would almost completely disappear.



This is my normal work wear so other than now needing to buy more pants with a larger waistline (which I'd have to do with any IWB) I can now wear my P239 daily!

For those who'd like to do this, to connect the clips to the bucket piece I used these screw posts which are easy to take off and put on (http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/p...s.asp?dept=232). I've used these things on those cheap nylon holsters in order to customize the fit for particular guns. They also work well as tension screws.

Now enjoy!

plblark

WOW. I like this idea. Well done.
a couple questions:
1) how about the edges on the plastic piece. How do you get them even and not sharp against your skin?


Now I'm going to have to try this with a double 8 oz leather strip.

Great idea.

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ev239

The plastic that these kind of buckets are made out of is soft so cutting and drilling them is like butter and the edges are not hard enough to be uncomfortable against skin. Because it's soft it has some flexibilty before it will break, but at the same time because there's a good 1.5" of width it is stiff enough to support the holster. The reason why some belts make bad gun belts is mainly because of over flexibilty that causes them the flop around when anything of weight is attached to them. The bucket I used is a plastic Behr paint bucket and it works.

My advise would be to use a bucket first to perfect the gun placement and cant before going through the expense of using leather. It took me a couple tries before I got it where I wanted it.

SOLOLUCKY

great idea...and very resourceful...thats what makes america great is great minds!

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R1

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Lets keep it that way.

BIG E

I like the idea. Nice work.

I'm not sure about the plastic, but a nice piece of leather would work well. Take your design and use it as a template.

Also, the mouths of OWB holsters are not stiff enough to stay open when the weapon is drawn when used in IWB carry. You will have a head time reholstering. I don't know that this matters as much.

I like your design.

How about a pic just of the piece you designed.

Well done.

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ev239

I don't have my camera with me right now, but I'll put a picture of it in a couple hours.

I haven't had too much trouble reholstering with this setup. I can do it one-handed without looking, but it's not as easy as some holsters. I don't rank reholstering very high in importance when it comes to a tuckable IWB holster (for myself). If I'm in a situation that requires me to rip out my shirt and draw then things will have to be very safe for me to put my piece away. I know there are many out there that feel that reholstering should be as easy as drawing, but luckily I don't need that requirement.

Leather would definitely work, but it would need to be pretty stiff to be supportive enough.

BIG E

I think your link to the screws is busted. Can you repost?

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ev239

Fixed the link, thanks for the heads up.

ev239

Here is a picture of everything disassembled:



The view is from inside the bucket. When shaping the bucket piece you want to use the natural curve of the bucket against you. I fed it through the holster loops so the majority of the leather is against me for comfort. You can see that there are two holes on one of the sides where I adjusted the width of the clips. They are much further out than on holsters like the CTAC.

For the forward clip I have my blackberry clipped next to it to help hide it.

ront

I have to sat that is pretty clever!!

Ron

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kentuckycarry

I'm impressed. And what a catchy name.....

MNBurl

Very cool idea!

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MNBurl

Side Guard Holsters

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BikerRN

Very good idea.

Now you need to start marketing this so Dummies like me can get one without having to put it together.

I really like this.

Biker

Shadowsbane

Very Very cool, but does it come in duct tape?

Really people probally would buy them if they were offered, maybe as a "custom job"

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TN_Mike

That is so very thrifty and cool. I may have to try it out myself.

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rocky

Interesting. let us know how it holds up after some use.

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ev239

Thanks!

Each OWB holster is different so I can't make them for others, but I think anyone can do this. The design that I've come up with is only for pancake holsters so other OWB styles may need an adjusted design or may not work at all.

Echo_Four

Great, now I need to get a pancake holster somewhere just so I can try is. Oh well, there is sure to be one for sale on some message board.

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freetrapper

Very cool idea. I might have to play with it a bit as well. Just for the fun of it.

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ebk637

excellent idea!!
props to you.maybe patened it?
you never know but,i think your on to something here!
lazy people like myself would purchase something like this as an alternative to spending 70 to 1$$.