I have lost about 20 pounds in the last 12 months. Before iwb carry was just too uncomfortable. Now I actually like it. Except if I will plan on doing a lot of walking. Then it’s back to owb carry concealed. Anyone else have a similar experience?
Rediscovered iwb carry
- Thread starter dodo bird
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Col. Harrumph
Member
Of losing 20 pounds? I wish....
Ks5shooter
Contributing Member
I have jeans that has a stretch in the waistband,works great for otw and iwb with a belt.
TacticalJanitor
Member
Yes sir. I've been fighting my weight my whole life. These days, I'm sneaking up on 50 and can tell if I'm gaining weight by how uncomfortable my IWB gets at the end of a day.
Currently working on losing again. Honestly, the only reason I try to keep my weight down is for CCW. It makes a huge difference in comfort.
Currently working on losing again. Honestly, the only reason I try to keep my weight down is for CCW. It makes a huge difference in comfort.
.38 Special
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Yes, I've gone from 230 to 190 in the past few months, and aim to lose another 20 or 30, at 6'1". I've continued carrying IWB during that time and it's gotten a lot more comfortable. I just wish I wasn't so hungry all the time. 
That’s a pretty good amount. I never thought I would be an iwb guy. I agree about the hunger. I can eat like a Great Dane sometimes.Yes, I've gone from 230 to 190 in the past few months, and aim to lose another 20 or 30, at 6'1". I've continued carrying IWB during that time and it's gotten a lot more comfortable. I just wish I wasn't so hungry all the time.
.38 Special
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If left alone I'm happy to put away 3000 calories a day. That stopped working by the time I was 25 or so, though. To lose a pound or two a week I have to limit myself to 1600 calories per day, plus five to ten hours of exercise per week. I'd love to find "that one weird trick" but I doubt it exists.
TacticalJanitor
Member
The best trick I've found is a low-carb diet. Except for beer.
Beer.
It's important.
Somebody please start making low-carb beer!
JTQ
Member
Isn't that what Michelob Ultra is marketed at https://www.michelobultra.com/
https://www.ketoconnect.net/low-carb-beers/
It won’t win any contests for best beer. But it is out there. Getting back on point. Any good recommendations for more comfortable iwb holster for extended walking? Or is that even possible? I have been using an amberide holster from Amazon. It’s great it just gets uncomfortable if I’m gonna walk a few miles.
entropy
Member
They do, bit it's very low in alcohol also; .5% NA beer.
I drink it for 2 reasons. The first, I've been sober for almost 23 years now, and I'd like to keep it that way. Secondly, some NA's are very low in carbs and calories. I'm diabetic, so a near beer that has 8 carbs (Coors Edge, which is my favorite of the ' big beer' brands has 8 carbs and only 45 calories) I can drink six of them for every Mt. Dew I used to guzzle. Some of the craft near beers have more but I usually have only one of them, usually with dinner.
JTQ
Member
This holster? https://amberide.com/collections/glock-1
I often depends on the gun you're carrying, but leather is often more comfortable. However, if it is a little gun, a small, light kydex holster could be more comfortable than a very wide footprint leather holster.
.38 Special
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Well, technically, bourbon has zero carbs...
In all seriousness, though, during Covid I fell into the bottle with a big splash, and cutting out most of the booze has really helped with weight loss. I've tried most of the diets - even going vegan for a few embarrassing months - and haven't found any magic bullets, at least for myself. Calories in and calories out tell my whole story, and cutting 500 calories of booze a day made a real difference!
In all seriousness, though, during Covid I fell into the bottle with a big splash, and cutting out most of the booze has really helped with weight loss. I've tried most of the diets - even going vegan for a few embarrassing months - and haven't found any magic bullets, at least for myself. Calories in and calories out tell my whole story, and cutting 500 calories of booze a day made a real difference!
.38 Special
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I haven't found anything I like for hours on foot. Something with a large, soft pad is best for me - like the Alien Gear stuff - but eventually it just gets sweaty and chafe-y. If it doesn't look out of place for you and your activities, I'd suggest either a fanny pack, an exercise-style chest pack (I use a blue one, as opposed to olive drab or camouflage, and I've hung some wired earbuds from it to make it look harmless), or a running/hydration pack with a large-enough cellphone pocket. (I use a Salomon Adv 12, which fits a snub revolver with a pocket holster in a zipped pouch on the left shoulder strap, where it is quick and convenient.)
TacticalJanitor
Member
At what position do you carry IWB? I am a pretty chubby boy, and it turns out that the only way I can carry IWB (without printing) is AIWB with a very small pistol, kydex holster, and a foam pad at the bottom.
I think that "thin" always wins IWB when it comes to comfort. It's tough to get any thinner than Kydex. If a person was to stick some sort of soft 1/4 inch material on the skin-side of a Kydex holster, it might be worth trying.
It took several years for me to get used to appendix carry, but now it is extremely comfortable when standing and walking. Sitting can be a little uncomfortable, but the foam pad makes that much more tolerable.
Just a few thoughts from my experience.
trackskippy
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Its actually pretty simple, its calories in vs calories out. Reduce the in, and increase the out, and youll lose weight. Do the reverse, and you wont.
Ive been carrying IWB on a daily basis for about 45 years now. Done it skinny to fat and back to skinny, and did that a couple of times too. And all that was basically on the ground, constantly walking and doing heavy physical labor at work for 10 - 12 hours a day. If you want to lose weight quickly and keep it off, get a decent road or mountain bike, ride it regularly and stay with it, and the weight will just fall off, and stay off. Its great for the head too.
For 90% of that, I carried full size handguns at around 4-4:30, and for close to a decade now AIWB at about 12:30. Wish Id switched to that LONG ago too.
The main thing with IWB is, you need to experiment with location until you find your sweet spot, and you need to find the right gear that works for you. You also have to give your body a chance to get used to the gun and holster being there, and once it does, you wont likely notice it, except when it "isnt" there.
Wear the proper size clothes for your body size. You dont want to "size up". With the proper size pants, your body and the pants will "give", and it feels a lot better a few minutes after inserting the gun and holster, and things are more secure and the gun wont move around as much, and you wont be constantly trying to readjust. And a good "gun" belt is a major part of this.
Unless youre a gang banger, wearing the proper sized clothes also "looks" right.
Wearing a tee shirt of some sort between you and the gun makes a major difference in comfort, "especially" if youre wearing a leather holster.
For me, the two biggest positive things Ive found over the years, have been kydex holsters, and AIWB carry.
AIWB is the most comfortable and practicable way to carry this way, and once you try it and understand it, youll get it.
Kydex for a holster material is the same way, especially if you sweat. The holsters protect the gun from you, and you from the gun, and they do it comfortably, and cheaply compared to leather.
The only real way to figure this out, is get to it and do the work to figure out. I started carrying with an OWB type holster and quickly figured out it wasnt going to work if I wanted to carry a gun without anyone knowing. It didnt take too long to figure it out either, and in the 70's, we didnt have anywhere close to the gear available to us today, then. If you cant figure it out today, youre not trying very hard.
TheFrontRange
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IWB is my favorite concealed carry method for most handguns. I started carrying a full-size 1911 that way some years back and have since carried just about everything else that way, too, when possible. I even carry while mowing, much less walking otherwise.
Of late, I’ve gone a little outside the normal box, if you will, and have been carrying a five-inch barreled S&W Model 27 with a Barranti Leather Summer Classic IWB. I’m not saying it’s ideal or for everyone, but it can be done - it works for me!
Of late, I’ve gone a little outside the normal box, if you will, and have been carrying a five-inch barreled S&W Model 27 with a Barranti Leather Summer Classic IWB. I’m not saying it’s ideal or for everyone, but it can be done - it works for me!
teerex.otw
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The “one weird trick” that works for me is to only cook or prepare food that I don’t care about or have burnt out on (in my case, ham sandwiches) I’ll only eat enough to keep from being hungry.
About the 3:30 position. All I know is when I was heavier it wasn’t fun. Now I just gotta keep the weight off. I still will owb carry for lots of walking. And Fanny pack carry when mountain biking. Thanks for all the replies everyone.
Old Dog
Member
Once I realized that OWB can be effective concealment as IWB, I stopped worrying about my weight or waist measurement.
Although I have to say that the advent of the stretch waistband in men's pants is the greatest advancement in world history, better than drive-through windows at fast food places or smartphones with 5G.
Frankly, I don't see a need for IWB carry over OWB if one is in decent shape.
I do realize we have many fans of IWB hereabouts, but I've always found it easier to dress around the handgun rather than adapt my handgun choice and carry mode around my dress. YMMV.
Although I have to say that the advent of the stretch waistband in men's pants is the greatest advancement in world history, better than drive-through windows at fast food places or smartphones with 5G.
Frankly, I don't see a need for IWB carry over OWB if one is in decent shape.
I do realize we have many fans of IWB hereabouts, but I've always found it easier to dress around the handgun rather than adapt my handgun choice and carry mode around my dress. YMMV.
Old Dog
Member
For me, the more active I am, OWB makes the most sense. Especially long walks and hiking (particularly if you've got rougher terrain and inclines), IWB absolutely doesn't work for me there. But as I said, I'm more about comfort than I am about concealment, concealment being mostly a factor of holster design and dress.
And with the aforementioned stretch-waistband pants... The VM-2 is probably the most comfortable IWB holster I've ever used, although the Summer Special is great as well. And I've got a couple Kramer IWB #3s in horsehide hanging around which have a bit more give than Kydex, yet are easily as durable (my oldest one is from 1994 or so).
And with the aforementioned stretch-waistband pants... The VM-2 is probably the most comfortable IWB holster I've ever used, although the Summer Special is great as well. And I've got a couple Kramer IWB #3s in horsehide hanging around which have a bit more give than Kydex, yet are easily as durable (my oldest one is from 1994 or so).
Old Dog
Member
My hip is sore just looking at that! Yikes. I will agree that carrying a 5" 1911 is easy IWB, but an N-frame?
TacticalJanitor
Member
What "stretchy pants" are you referring to? I'm in the market and would like to find some pants that are stretchy and have big enough pockets for a J frame in a pocket holster. Hope I'm not drifting the thread.
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