I carry a G19 at 3:30 and its easy.

Good holster
Good Belt
Wear your pants at your waist

Is it illegal to 'print' in some states? How stupid. I carry a 27 in a desantis IWB, and is damn great. I change oil and any physical activity but swim with it. That being said it adds bulk, and sometime t-shirt raises and its in plain view, I could care less. Ky is open carry so I guess thats the difference. So I guess I just answered my question, non-open carry states probably don't allow gun in sight.

This. At first you'll be paranoid. Then you'll realize it ain't no thing. Unless it's just that bad, and in that case you need to rethink your strategy

It's all in your head brother. Stop acting like you have something to hide, act normal and go about your daily life. These are my two carry pieces, and I have zero issues exposing them in public.

Spend some time in a parking lot where people with concealed carry handguns are likely to be.

You'll find that 9 times out of 10 it's how they dress or their mannerisms that give them away, even from a distance.  

For example:

1) a guy who gets out of his vehicle and pulls his shirt down twice before he even reaches the front door of the business - he's almost certainly carrying concealed.  Some guys are even more obvious  - adjusting the holster or looking down at themselves to see if they are printing.

2) a guy with the unseasonably warm cover garment, and in particular a "nobody wears them any more unless they are carrying concealed" photographer's vest or tactical vest is also almost certainly carrying concealed.

3) a guy with the loud print shirt that he thinks breaks up the outline of his pistol when it prints is probably carrying.  

4) a guy in the slightly too big tactic-cool t-shirt with the operator beard and baseball cap, who's trying to look like he's spent a lot of time downrange (and may or may not have actually been downrange) - he's probably carrying concealed.  

5) a guy who doesn't walk normally down the street, but rather looks like he's on patrol, is probably carrying concealed.  You can maintain good SA and a decent visual scan of your surroundings without being obvious about it.

The moral here is that if you dress like you're carrying concealed or keep checking yourself to see if it shows, then you're telegraphing that you're carrying concealed.  Not that non gun people will probably even notice, but if you're wearing a style of shirt in a setting where people normally tuck it in and you're not tucking it, you're going to stand out. Someone looking for people carrying concealed will notice, ask themselves why and take a closer look.

But, if you dress like everyone else and act like everyone else, no one will notice your handgun, even if it prints a bit.

I've used tuckable IWB holsters with belt loops or clips for much of my 30 years carrying concealed, tucking my shirt whenever the situation dictated it, and I've had exactly one person notice the clip on my belt and ask what that was for.  I said "My TENS unit." and I got to have a pleasant elevator conversation about his back problems.  

----

Realistically, it's going to take you a year or so of constant daily carry to get comfortable with the fact that you're carrying concealed, find a good holster that works for you, and get confident that it's not going to show or fall out.  And as that's all happening, you'll also get comfortable with the fact that no one notices.   Just don't develop the bad habits of looking like you're carrying concealed.

The more I carry, the more I notice nobody cares, and the less I care about printing. Even if you're printing like crazy, most people still won't notice or care. So I say try your best, but don't worry about it too much. Yeah if you're constantly looking and adjusting your gun, then yeah people are going to notice you are carrying. Just be confident and comfortable with carrying, and this comes with more experience carrying, and then nobody will notice you're any different that anyone else.

With Iphones the size of laptops, why do you find it hard to hide a handgun?   Put your phone on that side.

If you carry IWB with a good belt and a loose shirt, nobody will notice your gun unless they are specifically looking for it. The average person has terrible situational awareness. This was true before smart phones. It goes double now, with everyone burying their heads in them.

you are looking for it.  99.9% of people are not.  Any idea how many individuals use a morphine pump?  No?  Right because you dont look for the little pager thing on thier belt.  Same applies here.

Do you mean an insulin pump? I dont think there are many on a morphine pump.

1) I used to do this a lot...now I just casually run my fingers along the hem of my t-shirt...if it is below my waist I am GTG.

3) To be fair, I wore loud overshirts WAY before I started carrying.

The only time I really worry about printing is when I go someplace that has the "no firearms allowed" signs.

YES!!!!

PITA45

Think about it this way OP, you carry appendix which is right where you d*ck is. How many people do you know shall around or more importantly talk to other staring at their crotch?

ETA: I just went full retard...didn't realize how old this post was

I was out shopping last week. I counted 6 CCW's, fairly certain my shopping partner didn't notice a damn thing.

Please remember: just because people don't react to you, or don't notice your waist bulge, DOES NOT mean that it's actually invisible. Just shopping tonight I spotted two different guys carrying. I didn't stare, didn't say anything, no approving head nod. If you had asked them, they'd tell you nobody saw anything. Don't fool yourself into thinking that's always true.

Bad guys, cops, and other people who carry will notice. Lowering your profile does have benefits.

Been carrying for a couple years, I wear a belt looped leather holster that rides high, the guns front sight sits 1/4 inch below my belt. I carry an XDM 9MM double stack, with a spare mag at my 11 and the gun at 3.

I also wear a radio pager/monitor as well as depending, a 2 way about 10 inches tall or a smaller one size of a pack of smokes on my belt (work related, but not LEO).

NO ONE has ID'd me carrying as far as I can tell, I have stood in front of a lot of cops wearing and they never say a word.

Like others, carry, get used to it, no one is paying attention. Find a decent holster you like, clothing that covers well and not an eye sore.

Congrats I am sure by now OP you are rolling right along.

 I tried appendix carry once and it was perfectly clear that it wasn't for me.

 Everyone is different,  find what works best for you.

After a while you, you wont even think about it.

Yes I wear a tee shirt under my outer shirt. I've used many different holsters and real leather trumps kydex every time.

Milt Sparks FTW.

In the winter you will be fine.

Misty, only gun people will know what to look for.  Good guys.  Bad guys too.

Don't like the sound of that personally, so I went appendix carry with much like the 3Speedholster and smart carry systems.
Easy to put on.  Easy to take off.  No clips or loops showing.  No expensive belts.

Lots of us do the same thing and never say a word when we spot it.

Anyone working with me and we lose a customer because they were busted printing, won't be working with me another day.

In my nucleus family's circle of friends, there are plenty of sheep who would make an issue of someone having a gun around their kids.  They are otherwise good and fun people to be around.

They aren't going to be busting me.  Ever.

There are many, many working, family men and women who are in the same position as I.


My wife and kids know I'm armed 24/7.  Many of my friends know as well.  All are good with it.  Really good.

Edit for auto fill crap...

Yes, it is really that simple.

I carry aiwb about 75% of the time and 4:00 the rest of the time.  In the beginning I was over concerned about printing.  I started carrying a leatherman in a belt case at 3:00.  Then I had something obvious OWB to distract me from what no human will ever see IWB.

When you are out and about make a conscious effort to spot gun. It's effing hard even if you're looking for one. Nobody will see you printing, and if they do they are likely on "our side" anyway.

If you notice it moving around too much while you're walking, tighten your belt.
True, most people won't notice.  I had someone eyeball me once, but since I aiwb, they couldn't see anything at 3 or 4.

I wear a sleeveless -t-shirt under my regular shirt.  I typically wear polo shirts but in winter I wear some sweaters. If I wear a polo shirt then I put a light zippered sweater over my polo shirt.

Not sure how I got a duplicate post. Please delete this post. Thank you.