Let’s face it.

The world of carry options, of holsters and such, is geared heavily towards men. I don’t think the bias is intentional, I think it’s a combination of a few factors.

First, men and women are, thankfully, built differently. Generally speaking, the hip area of women tends to have more curves than men. Putting an inside-the-waistband holster on a curvy woman is going to direct the grip of the gun right into her side, which won’t be comfortable nor accessible. Plus, that makes the muzzle jut out, and that’s not very flattering nor practical. So you try to work with something like a “drop and offset” holster, and while that works, it does not conceal very well.

Second, women, thankfully, have different fashion sense than men. They do want things to work with their clothing, with their sense of fashion and style. I’ve spoken with numerous women that like their clothing to flatter their figure, thus wearing loose baggy clothing to conceal stuff really doesn’t jive with their goals. And of course, wearing their figure-flattering clothing isn’t good for concealment either.

Consequently, many women turn to off-body carry.

Alas, the options there aren’t great. Like Galco’s purses? Maybe they are functional, but they are ugly. Coronado Leather seems to have improved their offerings since the last time I checked.

Thankfully, with the rapid growth of women getting concealed handgun licenses, so to has the market grown for carry options.

A little over a year ago I mentioned the Lucky Squashbuckler. Gun Supply Store seems to have expanded their selection. Woolstenhulme Designer Bags has also expanded their line.

Looking around now I’ve found even more options.

I just found It’s in the Bag Boutique. They may not be your style, but it’s great to see various options.

GTM (Gun Tote’n Mams) has a line of purpose-built purses.

Urban Moxy

There’s a wide variety of what’s offered, in terms of both form and function.

But what prompted me to write this wasn’t any purse or handbag. It was something else entirely.

See, while the purse is alright, the disadvantage (amongst others) is drawing it from the purse. When I became certified to teach the NRA Personal Protection Outside the Home course, I had to work a good portion of the class drawing from a purse. Heck, I carry a Maxpedition Jumbo Versipack quite regularly, and it’s effectively a purse/shoulder bag. It’s not really an ideal way to carry and draw. But, better than nothing.

That’s why these belt packs from Warrior-Creek caught my eye.

I saw them posted to the Austin Sure Shots Facebook page, and Niki Jones reviewed them in Issue 3 of their magazine.

They kinda reminded me of the Sneaky Pete holster.

Nothing leads me to believe these are purpose-made for concealed carry. I haven’t seen any in person, only going off what I see on the above web pages and Niki’s review. But it does seem like they can be easily adapted for that purpose, perhaps with an after-market holster added to ensure proper positioning of the gun so it doesn’t shift around and is always where you want it. Then, just practice a lot. If it’s how you’re going to carry, it’s how you should practice. And drawing from a holster like this is certainly something you can do in dry practice at home.

This? It’s just an OWB belt holster. But it’s also drop-and-offset, and far better suited to a woman’s body shape. And maybe your fashion sense (or maybe not, they’ve certainly got a particular style). Me? I also like options like this because hooking everything on your belt, leaving hands free, it’s always more functional just going around in a day. I wore a fanny pack for many many years, and it’s quite handy to have free-hands yet still have close control and retention over your belongings.

I really dig these Warrior Creek packs. It’s quite evident that there’s a demand, and it’s awesome to see such creative answers to these problems.