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I would appreciate it if any of the ladies or gents for that matter could make a basic suggestion on a holster for my wife. She has completed her training and is waiting on the license. There have been several hurdles to get over to get to this point but she has done very well thus far. Setting aside daily carry for the moment, that issue is unresolved, for training purposes, I would like to get her a basic strong side owb holster for her G26. She is very pettite, and a girlie girl..."belts are not fashionable..." What do the ladies here think of a paddle holster for use in classes? I know a belt would work better with the paddle, but would a paddle work out well without a belt?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I don't know every instructor in the world, but the ones I do know would not let her in class without a good strong belt. Even for paddles, it provides the base that holds the holster in place. I've used the Fobus paddle for Glock 17 and one for the Hi Power, and both are designed to work with a belt -- they have little "tabs" that stick out and help lock it to the belt. A decent holster will (and should) grip the pistol firmly; without a belt for the holster to latch onto, one is likely to execute a draw and find oneself waving a holstered gun at the target (or one's opponent). Or worse, the holster and gun could work its way up and out of the pants and fall on the ground.

For training purposes (and frankly for real life, unless you go with an ankle or shoulder holster), get a belt and a quality holster. I like the Comp-Tac line. They are not in expensive by my standards -- $75 and on up. I have used Fobus paddles too, they are not nearly as expensive, but I like them -- some people do not. I did scratch the dickens out of mine, the material is softer than Kydex, but they still worked. After that, there are a zillion guys who make decent leather and kydex holsters. And belts. Belts can be fashionable too!

Good luck.

elb

Have her look at the Comp-Tac MTAC holster. DH swears by it, and eventually I will get one for my pistols. You WILL need a good belt for her though.

PM sent.

+1 on the belt. Perhaps if it is only for practice your lady will use a belt. Comp-tac make their locking paddle holsters with an offset that makes for an easier draw for ladies.

If your wife needs a holster for classes and practice, tell her to wear a belt and jeans that day and risk not being "girly". Guns aren't girly either (unless you get the Taurus .38 snubby with pink grip panels ), yet she seems not to have a problem with the lack of estrogen and preponderance of testosterone found in gunpowder. The only other way a holster works well enough to trust is when it's strapped to your leg. "Cowgirl" with belt, jeans and OWB holster can still be girly. Strapping a tactical holster to a woman's thigh generally qualifies as "butch" unless she's in a latex catsuit and corset , or she has to pull a Marilyn Monroe to get it out from underneath her skirt

Liko81 wrote:If your wife needs a holster for classes and practice, tell her to wear a belt and jeans that day and risk not being "girly". Guns aren't girly either (unless you get the Taurus .38 snubby with pink grip panels ), yet she seems not to have a problem with the lack of estrogen and preponderance of testosterone found in gunpowder. The only other way a holster works well enough to trust is when it's strapped to your leg. "Cowgirl" with belt, jeans and OWB holster can still be girly. Strapping a tactical holster to a woman's thigh generally qualifies as "butch" unless she's in a latex catsuit and corset , or she has to pull a Marilyn Monroe to get it out from underneath her skirt

I find I need to comment on these comments. I hope you were making them tongue in cheek, because this is the type of comments and misconceptions I fight on a regular basis about women.

I don't think there is anything at all unfeminine about a woman with a gun. Society has generated that myth.

CompVest wrote:I don't think there is anything at all unfeminine about a woman with a gun. Society has generated that myth.

The statement was meant humorously. There's certainly nothing any less feminine about a woman with a holster on her hip and in fact that can be attractive. However, I think if that's true, it's probably for the same reason a woman in a man's button-up shirt is sexy; it's something out of place, regardless of how stereotypical it sounds, and it draws your attention.

However, there's feminine, where a woman looks and acts like a woman simply because she's a woman, even if she's a tomboy, and then there's girly-girl, where the woman is a more active participant in her femininity, often promoting the delicate damsel archetype. Both are sexy depending on what you're after, but a girly-girl wearing a holster is uncommon, especially a girly-girl who doesn't want to wear the belt holster, not because of the holster but because "belts are so last week". I was playing on the girly-girl, not women in general, and also played up the look of a leg holster with anything other than a "tacticool" outfit, and its function in combination with a dress .

I as much as anyone should know women and guns do mix; my first experience firing a rifle and indeed my introduction to real firearms was with a girlfriend who owned a .22 and borrowed her granddad's .308.

Good answer!

I'm pleased he explained so clearly, but I found the original post of his to be humorous as written. Having been offered the "Pink pearl handled .32" by a gun dealer at a show, I tend to find such misconceptions of me by men to be generally amusing.

--Vic(ky)

Luggo1 wrote:What do the ladies here think of a paddle holster for use in classes? I know a belt would work better with the paddle, but would a paddle work out well without a belt?

I think we've established that she'll need a good gun belt for use with a paddle holster. The more important question, I believe, is how does she plan to carry day-to-day? Training using a holster is great, but not terribly useful if she intends to actually carry in her purse. When she gets to the level where she'll be practicing drawing from concealment, I would suggest she use whatever carry method she intends to use in real life.

A good instructor will explain the pros and cons of each method of carry. Purse-carry is problematic for a dozen reasons, but is the only option for many women.

Best of luck to you.

As has been said many times above, carrying without a belt is a real crapshoot.

A holster is just a place to park a pistol, it's the belt that holds it all up. You "might" get away with wearing a paddle holster without a belt but it's not worth the risk. You may find yourself with a handful of holstered pistol just when you need to use it. Most, if not all, paddle holsters have a lug that locks under to bottom edge of the belt. Without a belt, its just holster on a hook.

I don't personally subscribe to off-body carry but for women, its often the only choice and the best holster handbags have locking zippers on the gun compartment for security in the home and office.