AIWB SUIT CARRY: Special Considerations When Carrying Appendix Under A Jacket

When most people think about carrying a handgun under a jacket, they default to either shoulder holsters or behind the hip. For those of us who carry appendix inside the waistband (AIWB), there are some unique considerations when an open-front cover garment, like a suit, is introduced.

AIWB Concealed Carry in a Suit

If you’ve only ever worn a closed-front cover garment like a hoodie or a t-shirt, it’s easy to overlook the challenges of how open-front clothing behaves.

This is where the “old guard” has one up on us. Whether it’s OG IDPA shooters or FBI carriers, they’re accustomed to contending with a vest or jacket.

The first time I tried this at the range, I used my regular drawstroke and quickly discovered that it was inconsistent and had a high potential for failure.

In this video, I discuss my discoveries and explain why I prefer to draw an appendix-carried handgun when wearing a jacket over everything.

The Suited Shootist
Alex Sansone took his first formal pistol class in 2009, and has since accumulated almost 500 total hours of open enrollment training from many of the nation's top instructors including Massad Ayoob, Craig Douglas, Tom Givens, Gabe White, Cecil Burch, Chuck Haggard, Darryl Bolke, and many others. Spending his professional life in the corporate world, Alex quickly realized incongruities between "best practices" in the defensive world, and the practical realities of his professional and social limitations. "I've never carried a gun professionally. I'm just a yuppie suburbanite that happens to live an armed lifestyle. Having worked in the corporate arena for the last decade, I've discovered that a lot of the "requirements" and norms of gun carriers at large aren't necessarily compatible with that professional environment. I also have a pretty diverse social background, having grown up in the Northeast, and there are many people in my life that are either gun-agnostic or uncomfortable with the idea of private gun ownership. This has afforded me not only insights into how we are perceived by different subcultures, but how to manage and interact with people that may not share your point of view without coming across as combative or antisocial. This is why my focus is the overlooked social aspects of the armed lifestyle."