While consulting google-the-wise one day, I came across a Fobus ankle holster for $39.95 on Magills.com. Not a bad price considering others start out at twice that price. I bought the one for a Glock 26 and have been sporting it around to find out how I like it. Here's the holster with my Glock:
The little pistol snaps into the holster pretty tight and I don't see it inadvertently coming out in a scuffle. The instructions say to practice with an unloaded gun until the user is "thoroughly competent and proficient in its safe use." There are lots of other warnings listed to avoid the legal minefield that is our rule of law.
Also of note is that the instructions say "do not use the trigger shoes or the grip adapters!" I'm not sure about the shoes but the grip adapters probably include the ones from Pierce Grip which I have for this Glock. It is obvious that the instructions are for all of their holsters considering it talks about the paddle and roto holsters as well.
This thing takes only seconds to strap onto your ankle using the velcro strap. Cinch it down pretty tight, not too tight, and you may have to re-adjust once you holster the pistol. It takes some pressure to get the gun snapped in and when you do this is what you've got:
For all of its small size I think the Glock 26 is pretty big to wear on the ankle. My wife's Kahr PM9 would be better suited for this role, but I often carry a Glock 17 which makes the Glock 26 the choice for a BUG. Virginia law is kinda murky when it comes to more than one gun but I don't read anything that would make me think that it's illegal. Two is one and one is none. This would be where you re-adjust to make sure that the holster won't spin around your ankle when you walk. Also note that I have half boots on. This helps keep the holster up higher. I don't know how this holster will work wearing regular tennis shoes but I'll check that out when I have time. I think if I wear this over regular 9" boots it would be even more comfortable than it is now. If you wear white socks they will turn black around where the padding from the holster sits and it doesn't take but a couple of hours for this to take place.
Here is a picture of the Glock with the Pierce Grip installed:
I think I will carry with the flush magazine installed to keep it a low profile. This definitely will not be my regular mode of carry anyways, I use a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster for this gun day-to-day with the Pierce Grip magazine in the gun. My spare magazine is usually the standard flush fit mag, but sometimes I will have a full sized Glock 17 mag as a back up.
I initially though about buying this holster for my little Taurus 85 but the Glock 26 made more sense. The Glock is way more accurate, holds more rounds, has better sights, is a better backup for the Glock 17, and is just as small. The full sized and subcompact Glock team is just good-to-go. I bet police officers around the country carry a pair of Glocks for just that reason. I really wish I still had my Glock 20 so I could go out and get a Glock 29 to match. It makes it way easier to have spare mags that are compatible with both guns.
Last part of all of this is how well it conceals and how comfortable it is. Here is the gun concealed by my pant leg: 
Nothing exciting there. It is very comfortable and it stays put all day. A slow 20 yard sprint doesn't make it move and that's about as far as I run these days. Maybe I'll pick a fight with my brothers to see if that makes the gun move, or not.
Wearing this in public is no problem. Nobody screamed "HE'S GOT A GUN!!" and ran off flailing their arms so that's a good thing. I'm wearing Levi 560 jeans with a slight taper in the leg and I think a boot cut or straight leg would be even better. This definitely won't work with my 5.11's unless I went up a size larger.
Sliding the pant leg down over the gun and holster feels a little tight but I can pull it back up over the gun and draw with no problem. I will have to do some draw and shoot drills and get those results posted here later. Maybe I'll pick up a shot timer to get some really good data.
Well that's all I have. When I get more time I will do more testing.
Update: The ankle holster has been serving well. I was wrong about the half boot helping to hold the holster up. The bottom edge of the holster slides in between the top edge of the boot and my ankle which produces a small but painful bruise after a few hours of wear. New Balance hiking shoes have been working better and the Glock 26 rides comfortably all day. I still think the pistol is a tad large for ankle carry.
One thing to avoid is smacking the pistol against the rocker panel of your vehicle when your getting in. You get used to it after a few hard bumps. It doesn't matter whether you wear a sock or not from a comfort standpoint, the holster stays put regardless.
Drawing is better than I anticipated. I would still recommend straight leg jeans over any with a taper, but I have no problems with the draw either way. You have to draw with a sense of purpose as the holster holds the pistol very tight. Re-holstering can feel like the gun doesn't fit but you just have to give it a good push.
Overall I'm very impressed. The price was good and I don't think I can wear it out in my lifetime. I know I can get the pistol out in a hurry and I know it won't come out when I don't want it to.
Try one, you won't be disappointed.
5 comments:
I just purchased the new fobus evolution series ankle holster for my Ruger LCP (straight out of Israel via ebay for around $40). I am really enjoying it, the tension screw allows for alot of adjustment in ease of draw. It is virtually undetenctable with most pants. This was an excellent purchase, and i do believe a very fine conceal carry location.
I also use the Fobus holster to carry my Ruger LCP. I am a Police Officer and use it as my backup. The first scuffle I got into I found my LCP on the ground after the fight, not good! I ajusted the tension screw and found that now the gun is in tight but my gun is now showing alot of wear around the safety pin and the black paint is coming off the slide.
If you wear the gun on the inside of your ankle instead of the outside, you won't smack it on things, and it's even less obvious.
I think inside the leg is a given. The OP was referring to entering a vehicle and dragging his left leg in which sometimes bangs on the door seal. I can see that happening with any ankle holster especially in a truck if your not mindful of it.
In my experience, the Fobus Ankle Holster is unusable.
Previously to buying one for my Kimber Ultra RCP II, I had bought a Galco Ankle Glove for my Glock 26 and a Galco Ankle Lite for my Kahr PM9, both of which I've found to be excellent, very comfortable holsters. With either of the Galcos, I'd often come home from a day and not realize until hours later that I hadn't taken my ankle rig off - they are that comfortable.
But when I stepped up to the .45 Kimber pistol, I tried to save money by giving the Fobus rig a try. Big mistake... With normal shoes on, the Fobus immediately slides down and its hard material begins grating away at both sides of my ankle flesh. Even when wearing my half boots, as the author found, it still manages to work its way down between the boot and my leg and proceed with its usual merciless torture. I think since buying the Fobus 4 years ago, I've worn it a total of less than 15 minutes.
In addition to my attempt to save money with the Fobus, the other reason I bought it was because it places the pistol at a more severe (FBI type) cant than the Galco rigs, which I figured would help conceal the rather long (4.75") grip on my Kimber. After giving up on the Fobus rig, I've never bothered to buy a Galco rig for the Kimber because when I tested the Kimber in my Glock's Galco rig to see if it concealed okay, as I suspected, the less angled cant of the Galco rig caused the grip on the gun to be see-able as plain as day through my pants leg.
One last complaint about the Fobus rig: When I adjusted its tension to be tight enough to hold the pistol in securely, I found that unless I performed an absolutely perfect draw, the gun would hang up and not come out of the holster. If I applied any slight backwards or forwards angle to my draw, it was a no-go. Given the fact that the only time I'd be drawing an ankle gun would be when the crap had REALLY hit the fan (like when a miscreant had gotten my primary away from me and was about to perforate me), I REALLY don't want a holster that is finicky about relinquishing my weapon when I want it!
I do have a Fobus Paddle Holster and matching Double Magazine Holder for my Glock 21SF and have no complaints about them.
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