Holster Tip for Hikers

E

EXPLORER

New member
I have one of those tactical thigh holsters for my Glock 20 (it also fits my Glock 30). It serves me well on wilderness area hikes when my waist is overloaded with fanny pack, knife sheath, etc. The only drawback is the weird looks you get from other hiker/campers (see my next post for more).
 
You have got to be discreet around those ignorant people. Anytime I'm in the woods, treat it the same way as though I were in the city. Don't want to be seen. Use a shoulder rig with a shirt or vest over top. I carry a 41 Magnum with a 6 inch tube. But at the same time, I can care less if someone sees me.

Robert
 
For me, it's been much harder to find a practical carry rig for the wilderness than for a city street, due, as Explorer says, to all the equipment carried on the waist when hiking. Using a tactical hip holster sounds like a excellent idea that's worth remembering. Unfortunately, though, in my state I can only carry concealed, even in the great outdoors.

So, maybe I should look into a shoulder rig. Robert--can you recommend a comfortable shoulder holster to wear while hiking? TIA.
 
You might consider the safepacker at thewilderness.com it can be yet another waist carried item, or you can adapt it to strap on a backpack,etc.
 
You know I've had this problem too. If you wear a big pack with a hip belt. There is no place to but a pistol on your waist unless you clip it to the pack. Unfortunately if I am dumping my pack so I can flee from a bear my pistol dumps on the ground too. I hate looking like a young punk with tac holster but it's one of the few ways I can see to carry a full overnight pack and have the pistol on you not the pack. Shoulder holsters wouldn't work well either if you have a pack as the harness goes the same place the pack straps do and they will be very uncomfortable and tangle in the pack I believe.

ahhhhhhgghh :(
 
Here in Arizona, we always have had the option of open carry. I carry one of my full size 9mm's in a strong side belt holster. Just in case though, I hide my .357 snub in the day pack. Nobody gives a damn here, we're used to seeing it, the only ones who aren't are the snowbirds of course.

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Yeah, I got a permit to carry,it's called the friggin Constitution.---Ted Nugent

"Glock 26: 17 rounds of concealed carry DEATH comming your way from out of nowhere!!! THAT'S FIREPOWER, BABY!!!"
 
Here on the East Coast; especially in Northern Virginia, etc. discretion is needed with all the insecure pseudo-environmentalist, antigun, effeminate, city slickers in the woods. I walk well away from the trails but sometimes have to cross them and have to get into the "wilderness" areas from the same parking lot they park in.

I came up with a method I like for secure, discreet, fast draw carry. I use one of the fine Eagle Creek shoulder bags with the strap fully extended and under my hip belt and shoulder straps of my pack. For instance the wanderer model: http://www.eaglecreek.com/day_travelers/60021.html

Whenever I take my pack off the shoulder bag is still with me and the reach in back pocket is fast to get into. I keep some other necessaries in the bag too. When it is strapped down under my waist belt it hangs like a tactical holster/bag. The Eagle Creek shoulder bags all have reach-in back pockets that are perfect for quick access. I fashioned a piece of flexible flat plastic sheeting to fit the pocket and onto it I glued a cut down holster and three magazine loops for my Makarov and three extra magazines. It keeps my Makarov just where I want it, invisible and quick to get.

The bag is quite pleasant to wear with or without the back pack and can go with me anywhere; on or off the trail -- day or night; when I'm out in the Politically Correct Northern Virginia "wilderness" parks.

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Talk is cheap; Free Speech is NOT.

[Edited to fix link format.]

[This message has been edited by Mal H (edited July 14, 2000).]
 
To use a shoulder holster is much like using a new backpack for the first time. It takes time to move the straps around, do some adjustments and you still have to get used to the feeling and weight of the rig. I use a Uncle Mike's shoulder rig for the woods. The wide straps make it very easy and comfortable to carry big Magnum's all day. It took me about a month to get the straps just right and then had a seamstress hide the straps.

The only problem that I have had is normally I carry strong side, high ride on the belt, in the city. Have to think where the gun is when in the woods. I'm that unaware that it's there.

One big thing about carrying in the woods, at least in the west. Critters with claws and teeth strike fast. You don't even see them coming. If anyone thinks that just because they have a firearm on their person, they can dance around the woods unaware of their surrounding. They have another thing coming. Defending yourself in the woods is like defending yourself in the city. You always have to be aware of your surroundings. And if you can't draw in just over a second and shoot with one hand, the critter wins.
 
For backpacking/hiking the Wilderness Safepacker knows no peer. It's what it was designed for after all. The thing can attach to any pack configuration you can think of and doesn't look like a holster, which avoids exciting morons and the ignorant.

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about animal attack. Feral humans are the primary reason for weapons in the great outdoors. That and just that it's just philosophically correct to be armed in the great outdoors.
 
Good Evening Everyone-

Dave F., your philosophy is great! :)

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>.....That and just that it's just philosophically correct to be armed in the great outdoors.[/quote]

For some strange reason, the National Parks and other scenic outdoor areas seem to attract the criminal fringe element.

There are times that I'm really far up a trail and I wonder how some of these "skeevy-looking" people have the cardiovascular fitness to make it this far along?

I know you can't go on appearances alone, but that extra bit of steel and aluminum on my hip makes me feel dandy.

Enjoy the great outdoors!

~ Blue Jays ~
 
Thanks to Zensho for posting the new address for the Safepacker. I saw it online many months ago at another site, which then went off the air. I've been searching ever since. It looks like a great system, with the water bottle carrier, the belt, the shoulder strap etc.
 
I carry my G-20 in a fanny pack when I hike or am out in the woods. Works great, and no one knows! :cool:

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"Millions for defense, not one dime for tribute!"
 
FWIW, the Camelbak TOPO lumbar pack comes with a front-mounted baby pack that's just right for a baby Glock. Plus there's 64 oz. of water on board, and a daypack area for gorp, etc.

I wonder how many hikers are carrying. Could be the trails are safer than the streets!
 
I use full flap holsters to carry my 1911 Government model (works well with Beretta 92F too) or 4" *&* Mod 66 when hiking to hunting. It works on strong side or as cross draw. A cheaper subsitute would be a new military holster (M12?).
 
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