When I started carrying AIWB in the 90’s, it was with a Glock 26. My very first AIWB holster was a Desantis that had been modified with an Alessi Talon clip to ride a little deeper. My next AIWB holster was a custom one made for me by Jim Murnack. It also carried a Glock, the now famous 19. This continued for a number of years, with various Glocks and other guns and though I also carrried in other ways, I finished my career with a G19 carried AIWB, this time in a Tenicor holster.
After all those years of carrying a striker fired gun AIWB, the first thing I did when I woke up the morning of my first day as a former LEO, was to strap on a hammer fired, HK P30L, carried AIWB. Not only do I prefer the P30 family in general, I greatly prefer a hammer fired gun to a striker fired gun, in every circumstance. Especially when carried AIWB. I don’t care who you are, how much experience you have, how skilled you are, a hammer fired gun is simply safer. It can be much safer with proper handling, but even handled with a minimum of attention, it is safer than a striker fired gun in the AIWB position.
Thankfully, I finished my career without ever having an issue carrying AIWB. As you know though, lots of people seem to enjoy shooting themselves from AIWB these days. The Sig 320 certainly has its share of the pie, but the other striker fired guns all get in on the action as well. The Glock, as it is issued from the factory, is probably the safest striker fired gun on the market, but it is not safe, it is simply “safer”. Move to one of the various and popular guns that has a fully tensioned striker and you are asking for trouble.
Yet I managed to carry a Glock AWIB for the better part of my career and had no issues. How does that square? First of all, I was a bit lucky I think. Second, I devote more time and attention to reholstering safely than I typically see from modern AIWB carriers. Third, my holster/belt/gun/garment all work together very well so that I don’t have to re-adjust my gun in order to sit down or drive or do anything else. Fourth, my trigger finger knows when to stay off the trigger on the draw and on the re-holster. Again, I see some laziness in these areas from many shooters.
These factors worked to my benefit and allowed me to safely (as safely as possible) carry my Glock. The Glock trigger, not being fully tensioned, short, or very light, also helped, but truthfully, I never had to depend on the trigger to prevent an ND. I also never want to. A double action gun with an external hammer helps ensure that I never have to depend on the trigger to keep me out of trouble. Simply resting my thumb on the back of the hammer when holstering prevents the gun from being able to fire. That is another “human engineering factor” that makes DA guns safer for real people to use. Todd and I have both written elsewhere on this blog about the benefits of DA guns, so I won’t rehash them here.
At the end of the day, if you can legally buy a gun and carry it, you are an adult, responsible for your own decisions and life. Carry what you want where you want, but if you have a predictable accident because you overestimated your skill and underestimated the safety factors of the gun you chose, don’t be surprised at the outcome. Any gun can be shot at a high level. Not all guns can make up for your mistakes. Choose wisely.
Were you carrying IWB on duty (appendix or not)? I’m in the pipeline to be a DS SA right now, and no one’s addressed the dynamic of off duty vs on duty carry formats. Intuitively, I feel like keeping it the same would be beneficial; so IWB for both. But I haven’t done any real inquiry into it yet.
DS was some of my best years, I’m jealous! During the academy, I carried in the issued holster and proscribed position (Sig 228, Strong side OWB). As soon as I graduated, I carried my 228 AIWB, on and off duty. You are not supposed to button your suit coat, but that only matters for behind the hip. AIWB is a very fast easy draw from a buttoned coat, and it makes you look like a normal gentleman if you button your coat when you stand. Of course, surrounded by other agents and on a detail, that doesn’t really matter. I switched to strong side IWB carry when I went to MSD. Between my suit and tie protection, off duty use, competition use (no aiwb allowed back then) and tac rig, the strong side was much more consistent when switching from role to role. After DS, I continued to carry aiwb on and off duty, regardless of competition or SWAT holster requirements. Just wasn’t an issue for me any longer. Hope that helps.
And what’s your comment on G19 with “Gadget” installed?
I’m using it around 10 years and am personally very satisfied. It just works.
I love the idea and was in at the very beginning of it. I tried to get my old job to become interested in them, but no luck. I think it is a solid solution but I would love to see some legit testing (preferably from a couple of specific sources). I always prefer factory solutions, so I am of mixed opinions on installing the Gadget on my guns.
I needed to switch to AIWB after sacroiliac fusion surgery a few years ago. I was taught early on to holster pistols with the thumb over hammer or slide cover plate. The gadget I added to my Glocks’ is called a “Striker” Control Device, made by Langdon Tactical. When holstering with this device on a Glock, as above described, it prevents any rearward trigger movement, firing pin safety release and full cocking of the firing pin. The SCD was recommended to me by Massad Ayoob, who started using them many years ago, when they were available from another source. I trust his judgement, and the fact that Ernest Langdon took over the manufacturing and selling SCDs, since the original maker passed away. I have greater confidence re-holstering my Glocks AIWB with this device used.
I am glad it works for you. As mentioned above, I was in on it before it was a thing, and have been using them since before they became public. I’m very familiar with them.
This has definitely been an interesting sidebar.
Pretty FUDD-ish…
Fudd-ish. I like that. What is your opinion on the matter based on?