friesepferd

Alright. I got my smartcarry in the mail today (thanks CoNate!).
Let me say that i think this is a great holster , at least for me.

First: my setup
I am a medium tall skinny female. I dont tend to wear girly cloths a lot so i dont have any super tight pants or shirts, but i picked some of my tighter things for the pics so that you could see it better.
My gun in the kimber aegis. a 3" 1911. so keep that in mind. It is a fairly thin gun (single stack) with a fairly short barrel. this smartcarry is size: small. here is a picture of the smartcarry with my gun:

I am going to start with my normal (ish) cloths - jeans and a tshit, i picked a pair of jeans that were not too loose, fit just about right. and a normal fitting tshirt. with this setup i can wear my IWB, but i would have to be careful. especially bending down, etc. i print slightly with this shirt because it is old and worn- thin. Here is a picture of my pants with shirt lifted up some:

you can see that there is a LITTLE printing (red arrow). but i had to force it to do that. as you can see below, with my tshirt over it like it would be, you would never know:

I can bend over, sit down, hug everyone, take my shirt off (not that i would do that) or whatever i want to and nobody would ever know.
I also had no comfort issues sitting down, standing, or anything else. more comfortable than my iwb (which is very comfy)
Next i decided to try on some cloths that wouldnt work as well. I grabbed a pair of tight fitting black dress pants. As you can see, it does print at the butt of the gun:

but with a normal (thin) dress shirt on, theres still no problem:

i couldnt get away with my iwb with that shirt on normally.
my final test was a pair of very very thin shorts and and the skimpiest tank top i own:

as you can see, with this combo there is still some printing, but i could still get away with it. there is NO way i could carry with this shirt no matter what other type of holster i had. shorts are too short for any kind of thigh holster. shirt is way to tight and short for iwb, shoulder, belly, etc.
So as you can see, although it is not perfect and free from printing, its WAY better concealment than anything else i have ever used.

a few more notes:
-a thicker double stacked gun (XDsc for example) would print more do to thickness, but not by a ton.
-a longer barreled gun (4"+) would hit the crotch of my pants. but remember these are tightish girl pants. any guy pants that wouldnt be a problem.
-the thicker the pant material the better. (duh)
- i dont have any dresses/skirts here, so i couldnt try that out, but i know what the results would be. with a thicker skirt (denim, etc), it would be just fine. with a thinner skirt it would print. but you could easily pull it off if you have a shirt/sweater - skirt combo. only thing i can think of that it wouldnt work for is a thin dress.
- i hear a lot that these only work for guys with big stomaches. well. im a girl with no stomach, and it works great.
so i will be keeping this one for sure.

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snowdoctor

Thanks for the write up and pics...I really enjoy my smart carry..esp for camping, biking, hiking, fishing...outdoor summer activities where I want to wear shorts and tank top or t shirt...
For it's purpose there is nothing better.

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kentuckycarry

I feel the gun access is much easier and quicker with a tucked in shirt.

AZ Husker

Nicd photos! Nobody would even know! I just have a hard time drawing from mine. Not enough room to reach inside my belted waistband. Where I love mine is with elastic shorts or sweatpants.

friesepferd

I haven't practiced drawing too much yet. will have to practice that still, but I tried a few times and really didn't seem all that bad as long as I have my belt too tight.

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Tubby45

Hope it works out for you. I had a Smartcarry and hated it.

The one thing I notice with carrying, especially Smartcarry style is the reason it works a lot of the time is most people don't stare at another person's hip or groin region. Quick casual glance like you are checking someone out, yes. Enought to spot a gun, probably not.

I carried my G30 in a Smartcarry and I tried my Taurus 605 snubbie and neither were comfy enough for all day carry. The Taurus I could postition about where your gun is but the G30 had to be almost crossdraw style, between my groin and my left thigh. Very uncomfy, things got in the way, holster went bye-bye.

I think one area where the Smartcarry excels is with women. They just seem to have more luck with them.

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QKShooter

Excellent carry review/evaluation for females.
We need more posts like these.
Good job.
Thanks.

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NCHornet

It looks to me like maybe a larger size would allow the gun to go further down would help smooth out the bulge. But then the draw would be compromised some, so it is a trade off. If somebody stares at your buldge just say a few words in a deep crackling voice and they will think you are "Changing Sides" lol!!!
Glad it works for you, apendix carry just isn't for me.
NCH

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tellico

Interesting review. I tried a smartcarry when I was first exploring carry options, and it was horrible for me under both jeans and khakis- made me look like I had too much "down there" for a girl.
I may give it another shot, based on your review- I was borrowing a larger size and putting a very small gun in it. Perhaps using the smaller size for my small gun would ride better, and not make me look androgenic :) Maybe I'll make one cheap and give it a shot. There are certain places I go with my job that would be very bad to print, so deep cover is my only choice there. Thanks for the review!

Tubby45

And I have to say this is probably one of the first handfull of cases where it worked very well. With shirt lifted a bit (2nd photo) a casual glance as if you were walking past, I wouldn't know you were carrying; but I met you and know better.

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Ammunition- Retail, Wholesale, Law Enforcement