Nitrogen
01-29-2008, 06:36 PM
Well, I got my smartcarry yesterday, and I've been trying it out today.
Basically, it comes down to this. I don't care what anyone else says, trying to carry a fullsize gun in this thing is not going to work for most people. IT's GREAT for carrying a snubnose revolver though.
For the first couple hours, I carried an S&W M&P 9mm in it.
Uh, No. First, this gun has an annoying feature that makes it very uncomfortable; the plastic beavertail on it. It kept poking me in the belly every time I moved.
Second of all, the grip made a very strange imprint on my pants, like I had some kind of large hardon. I can't help but think it'd be noticable.
So then I decided to try my snubnose. This worked much better. My snubnose has a full size grip on it. No bulge, and it was a lot more comfortable.
With both guns, it rubbed up against my junk a bit, but not enough to cause any "problems" per se. Even with the snubnose, it poked me in the gut a tad when I sat, but it wasn't nearly as much of a problem as it was with the M&P.
I would not recommend the smartcarry for ordinary, everyday carry. I'd only recomend it for small pistols or revolvers, and only when concealment is of the utmost importance over anything else.
Drawing is a bit of a challenge, but not too bad. If you're really fat, it's more of a challenge than for "average" people. If you can, you can just suck in your gut, and grab your gun. For me, it wasn't nearly as hard as I was lead to believe. If you're a bit bigger, I don't know what you'd do.
Smartcarry score:
Comfort: 4/5 with revolvers, 2/5 with fullsize guns. for the overall score, I split the difference.
concealment: 5/5 with small pistols or revolvers, 3/5 with larger guns.
Draw speed: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
TL;DR: Recommended only if you are more worried about concealment over comfort or speed of draw, and only with smaller pistols or revolvers.
Pictures fourthcoming when I can convince my better half to take some.
Basically, it comes down to this. I don't care what anyone else says, trying to carry a fullsize gun in this thing is not going to work for most people. IT's GREAT for carrying a snubnose revolver though.
For the first couple hours, I carried an S&W M&P 9mm in it.
Uh, No. First, this gun has an annoying feature that makes it very uncomfortable; the plastic beavertail on it. It kept poking me in the belly every time I moved.
Second of all, the grip made a very strange imprint on my pants, like I had some kind of large hardon. I can't help but think it'd be noticable.
So then I decided to try my snubnose. This worked much better. My snubnose has a full size grip on it. No bulge, and it was a lot more comfortable.
With both guns, it rubbed up against my junk a bit, but not enough to cause any "problems" per se. Even with the snubnose, it poked me in the gut a tad when I sat, but it wasn't nearly as much of a problem as it was with the M&P.
I would not recommend the smartcarry for ordinary, everyday carry. I'd only recomend it for small pistols or revolvers, and only when concealment is of the utmost importance over anything else.
Drawing is a bit of a challenge, but not too bad. If you're really fat, it's more of a challenge than for "average" people. If you can, you can just suck in your gut, and grab your gun. For me, it wasn't nearly as hard as I was lead to believe. If you're a bit bigger, I don't know what you'd do.
Smartcarry score:
Comfort: 4/5 with revolvers, 2/5 with fullsize guns. for the overall score, I split the difference.
concealment: 5/5 with small pistols or revolvers, 3/5 with larger guns.
Draw speed: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
TL;DR: Recommended only if you are more worried about concealment over comfort or speed of draw, and only with smaller pistols or revolvers.
Pictures fourthcoming when I can convince my better half to take some.