What’s old is new again as many things are.
The late, great Bruce Nelson who designed the Summer Special rig knew a thing or two about carrying a fighting gun.
Sometimes we think AIWB or forward of the hip is a recent innovation by the hipster gun culture generation, but they have always been way behind.
Old Bruce, a great holster designer and accomplished lawman figured out ways to carry and made holsters to do it.
In a conversation with OD*, I learned that his Summer Special was designed for forward of the hip carry, and it was originally designed with only one belt loop.
This can be observed here in this cool old article from that period;
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I thought I would give this a try today and found it to be extremely comfortable and highly concealable.
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So comfortable and concealable, it works with a form fitting t shirt.
![Image]()
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For me this is a very comfortable way to carry. I carried the 1911 from daylight to dark today, and even had a burger at my favorite bar and grill totally concealed and comfortable.
It’s easy to access when seated, and is very easy to bend at the waist with without having to do the “ AIWB squat”.
Additionally, it works very well with a moderately stiff belt like the Blue Alpha, so you don’t feel like you have an iron band wrapped around your waist.
Highly recommend you give this a try.
Sometimes, past knowledge is more useful than current trends which are usually just old lessons with new twists.
The late, great Bruce Nelson who designed the Summer Special rig knew a thing or two about carrying a fighting gun.
Sometimes we think AIWB or forward of the hip is a recent innovation by the hipster gun culture generation, but they have always been way behind.
Old Bruce, a great holster designer and accomplished lawman figured out ways to carry and made holsters to do it.
In a conversation with OD*, I learned that his Summer Special was designed for forward of the hip carry, and it was originally designed with only one belt loop.
This can be observed here in this cool old article from that period;
I thought I would give this a try today and found it to be extremely comfortable and highly concealable.
So comfortable and concealable, it works with a form fitting t shirt.
For me this is a very comfortable way to carry. I carried the 1911 from daylight to dark today, and even had a burger at my favorite bar and grill totally concealed and comfortable.
It’s easy to access when seated, and is very easy to bend at the waist with without having to do the “ AIWB squat”.
Additionally, it works very well with a moderately stiff belt like the Blue Alpha, so you don’t feel like you have an iron band wrapped around your waist.
Highly recommend you give this a try.
Sometimes, past knowledge is more useful than current trends which are usually just old lessons with new twists.
