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Been doing some reading about AIWB, I am wanting to make the change. I have some time before I can, I have some weight to lose before I can really start.
I do keep reading that there are good and bad Holsters, and have read that this holster is a good one where that one is not.
What makes a good AIWB holster? And what point would you add the claw or a pad?
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I think a lot of us like the ability to move it / slide it to the side in certain circumstances. Some holster makes put loops or clips out at the far edges, and this design really limits the amount one can slide the holster.
The ability to slide it to the side (as much as pants/trousers belt loops allow) for vehicle trips is nice, as is it in other situations.
Probably the most important is: leather. Leather is very, very comfortable to have against the skin, and I'm a strong proponent of leather loops instead of the common metal clip. Now the Sheriff of Bagdad Condom design has a clip for a reason, but that reason is the ability to use it on molle gear - and I don't ever have the need for unmounting a IWB holster and then mounting it on my chest.
Leather loops have proven to me to be easy to slide (two close ones - not two wide-apart ones), and I've never once chaffed my arm or wrist against leather loops like I have with metal clips of clip-on holsters.
Edit: Don't put yourself behind the eight-ball by insisting on appendix-carrying a heavier firearm; I've seen people do it with Glock 19's, but only for a short while, and even they admit that they skip carrying sometimes. I'm done it for seven years - just about every day that I leave the house (except for directly to work and back, at which time the holstered firearm is beside me) - with a S&W 642, and am just now switching over to the Shield 9mm. Like all the lessons I've learned with holsters before, the new Shield holster will be leather, and will have leather straps.
Edit #2: since I just had this conversation yesterday, a buddy with a bit of a gut actually sent a new IWB holster back to the high-end holster maker he bought it from who re-did the holster to have the weapon sit lower. My buddy, who is the best gunman I personally know, made the valid point that with a bit of a gut, the lower the handgun's grip sits, the easier it is to App carry for wider guys. (keep in mind that for app carry, you don't want the FBI cant / tilted holster designs).