How to Choose a Holster (And Why Your Belt Matters More)

Blog › Concealed Carry

June 4, 2026 · Dan Ribacoff, NRA-Certified Instructor

The non-negotiable requirements

Before considering comfort, style or price, a holster must satisfy three requirements. A holster failing any of them is not a holster, regardless of what it is sold as.

1. Complete trigger guard coverage. Nothing — not a finger, not a drawstring, not a fold of clothing — can reach the trigger while the firearm is holstered. Essentially every documented holster-related discharge involves something contacting the trigger during holstering.
2. Retention without assistance. Turn the holstered firearm upside down and shake it. If the gun falls out, the holster is inadequate.
3. Structural rigidity at the mouth. The holster must stay open when the firearm is removed so it can be reholstered one-handed without collapsing fabric being pushed into the trigger guard. This is why soft nylon holsters are a genuine safety problem.

The belt is half the system

This is the most consistently overlooked component and the source of most complaints about carrying being uncomfortable.

An ordinary dress or fashion belt is soft and flexible. It will sag under the weight of a firearm, let the holster tilt and shift, and dig into your hip. People experiencing this conclude that carrying is uncomfortable and that the holster is bad. Usually the belt is bad.

A purpose-built gun belt is rigid across its width — typically thick leather, reinforced leather, or a polymer-cored nylon design. It distributes weight, keeps the holster vertical and stable, and makes the same holster feel completely different.

If you are going to spend money on one thing in this system, spend it here first. It is cheaper than a holster and fixes more problems.

Carry positions

Position	Concealment	Comfort	Draw speed	Notes
Appendix (AIWB, 1 o'clock)	Excellent	Good standing, worse seated	Fastest	Requires disciplined reholstering
Strong side IWB (3–4 o'clock)	Very good	Good	Fast	The most common all-round choice
Strong side OWB	Fair, needs a cover garment	Best	Fastest	Ideal at home or under a jacket
Small of back	Poor when seated	Poor	Slow	Spinal injury risk if you fall; generally not recommended
Ankle	Good	Fair	Slow	Backup gun only
Pocket	Good for small guns	Good	Moderate	Requires a dedicated pocket holster and an empty pocket
Shoulder	Good under a jacket	Good	Moderate	Muzzle discipline concerns; needs training
Off-body (bag)	Excellent	Excellent	Slowest	Significant risks — see below

Inside vs. outside the waistband

IWB conceals better under lighter clothing, which matters a great deal in South Florida where a jacket is not an option for most of the year. It is slightly less comfortable and requires trousers roughly one to two inches larger in the waist.

OWB is more comfortable and faster to draw from but needs a cover garment that stays put. For most people in Palm Beach or Broward County, that means IWB is the practical default for daily carry and OWB is for facility use, home carry and cooler evenings.

Off-body carry: proceed carefully

Purse, bag or backpack carry is sometimes the only workable option, particularly with certain wardrobes. It carries real and specific risks:

• The firearm can be separated from you — set down, left behind, or stolen with the bag.
• Draw times are substantially longer and require both hands.
• The bag must have a dedicated, rigid firearm compartment with a proper holster inside it. Loose in a handbag is unacceptable.
• Children and others may access the bag.
• It demands continuous discipline: the bag is never out of your physical control, ever.

If off-body is the only option available, train specifically for it. If on-body carry can be made to work with a wardrobe adjustment, it is meaningfully safer.

Materials

• Kydex or moulded polymer. Rigid, consistent, excellent retention, easy to reholster, holds shape indefinitely. Can be noisy and less forgiving against skin. The most common modern choice.
• Leather. Comfortable and quiet, moulds to the body over time. Can soften and collapse with age and sweat, which is a genuine concern in Florida humidity. Requires maintenance.
• Hybrid (leather or fabric backer with a Kydex shell). Comfortable against the body with rigid retention. Very popular; the backer can absorb sweat and eventually needs replacing.
• Nylon. Generally avoid, for the reasons above.

Fitting and testing a new holster

Before carrying a loaded firearm in a new holster, run through this sequence with an unloaded, verified firearm:

1. Holster and unholster fifty times. Check that nothing catches, and that the mouth stays open.
2. Wear it around the house for several hours. Sit, stand, drive, bend, reach overhead, go up stairs.
3. Check concealment in a mirror from multiple angles, including seated and bending forward.
4. Test the draw slowly. Can you establish a full firing grip before the gun clears the holster? If not, adjust ride height or position.
5. Test retention by inverting and shaking.
6. Only then carry it loaded, and reholster slowly with your eyes on the holster.

Expect to go through two or three holsters before finding the right one. Nearly everyone does, and it is a normal cost of getting the system right rather than a series of mistakes. Holster selection and positioning are covered directly in concealed carry skills training, which saves most students at least one wrong purchase.

Carrying is a habit set, not a purchase

The most common failure mode among new license holders is not a legal one or a marksmanship one. It is simply not carrying — buying the gun, buying the holster, carrying for two weeks, finding it uncomfortable, and quietly stopping.

Preventing that is mostly about setting the system up properly at the start. Buy a rigid gun belt before you buy a second holster; most holster complaints are actually belt complaints. Expect to spend money on two or three holsters before finding the one that works for your body and wardrobe, and treat that as a normal cost rather than a series of mistakes. Dress around the firearm rather than trying to make the firearm fit an existing wardrobe, which in South Florida means thinking carefully about lightweight untucked shirts and about what happens when you sit down in a car.

Then rehearse the boring parts. Drawing from concealment in dry fire, slowly. Reholstering even more slowly, with eyes on the holster, because that is the more dangerous half of the motion. Getting in and out of a vehicle. Using a public restroom. Removing and securing the firearm when entering a prohibited location. These unglamorous mechanics are what determine whether carrying is sustainable, and they are almost never covered in a license course.

Train with a certified instructor in South Florida

Reading about shooting is useful. Being watched while you shoot is transformative — because the faults that limit you are, almost by definition, the ones you cannot see yourself. Delray Firearms Training provides private, NRA-certified instruction with Dan Ribacoff throughout Palm Beach County and Broward County, including Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs and Weston.

Lessons are one-on-one by default, arranged by appointment seven days a week, and shaped around your experience level rather than a fixed script. Whether you have never fired a shot or you have carried for twenty years and want a specific problem solved, the starting point is a short conversation.

Call 516-315-2809 Request a Time

About the instructor

Dan Ribacoff is an NRA-certified firearms instructor, licensed private investigator and career security professional who has spent decades in investigations, executive protection and private security. He teaches handgun, rifle, carbine, shotgun, concealed carry, home defense and maintenance courses across South Florida. Read more about Dan →

Related reading

• Drawing From Concealment: Building the Skill Safely
• Prohibited Places: Where You Cannot Carry in Florida
• Concealed Carry in South Florida Heat: Practical Solutions