Appendix carry is the hardest carry of all to achieve. It requires ancient skills, techniques and philosophies that many think are lost in antiquity.
The spiritual and philosophical component is often the hardest for the modern western mind to master. One must become like the Samurai and accept that one is already dead before one steps foot on the battlefield. You have already shot your dick off before you even tucked your pistol in your waistband.
Once you master the philosophy, everything else is engineering.
Keep it simple. A pistol by itself is slim and fits well in the natural creases of the crotchal area. Proper pistol selection minimizes pistol/gut/thigh interference. Unless you are The Mountain or Andre the Giant, you ain't gonna be comfortable all day with a full sized pistol in your waistband. J Frames, Mini Glocks and Shields are ideal for appendix carry. If you are big enough or you are insensitive enough, you can make a Glock 19 or larger work for all day carry.
Keep it simple part 2. Less is more. Holsters get more and more and more complex every day. They come with clips and buttons and rivets and combinations of materials and stuff. A simple leather pouch with a sturdy properly placed clip will meet your needs better than 99.9 percent of the time without adding pokey stiff things or things that abrade your baby soft tummy skin. Leather works so much better against raw sweaty skin than any plastic ever made that it's not even worth talking about. The gods gave us animals so that would could eat and wear them without much fuss. We invented plastics which we can not eat and make us sweaty and itchy when we try to wear them too close to our own tender skins.
On the matter of retention. Some of my appendix holsters come with a simple thumb snap with a simple sheet steel stiffening tab and some are open top. For me, retention is not dependent on the holster but on my actions. Unless things have gone really funky, I make a point of not running, jumping off buildings or getting into car chases or fist fights while I'm armed. I usually don't live in an action movie and so I usually don't need to worry that much about retention. And if I'm running, I'm probably running away from something that is worth having my pistol in hand for. Your mileage may vary.
Be reasonable. The holster is there to carry your pistol until the moment you need it. If you need it you need it now. Once you no longer need it, there is no prize for getting it back in the holster most rikitik. Speed on reholstering is the devil and will get your dick shot off. When I practice drawing and shooting from concealment, I fully accept that I will have to remove my holster from my trousers, place my pistol in my untrousered holster and then reinstall the whole assembly back just between my chubby tummy and my most impressive manhood. Since my trigger is covered by leather and I'm in no hurry and can make sure that my finger is not inside my holster next to the trigger, I can almost guarantee myself that I will not inadvertently shoot my dick off. Again, your mileage may vary.
In short, think through every single detail of where, how, why and when you want to carry in the appendix position. Become a master of every aspect of it. Have a well thought out and peer reviewed reason for every decision you make. Practice it until it becomes as natural as pulling on your socks and frilly undies every morning. And then don't over think it. It's a good way of carrying a pistol that, like every other way of carrying a pistol ever invented by man or the angels, has some drawbacks that need to be thought through and overcome. Like so many other things in the gun world, it ain't the arrow that matters most. It's the Indian.
Attached File