Ordered a SmartCarry on Sunday on the website, received it in Wednsday's mail. Pretty good service.

First impression - it is comfortable and does conceal a G33 very well. Drawing the weapon is going to take a bit of practice, so I'll reserve judgment until I have more experience with it.

The holster is well made, of quality materials, and should be durable enough. We'll see how useful it is for deep concealment when the weather gets a bit warmer, and the clothes get less bulky - that should be the true test.

[edited!]Just FYI: Joe Penaz (www.planecents.net), a local instructor, is now a dealer for <s>SmartCarry</s>Thunderwear, so you can get them locally -- $39.95 plus tax.

[Full disclosure: Joe is a MADFI-certified instructor, and a friend.]

I've owned and worn both a ThunderWear and a SmartCarry.

The SmartCarry is the better of the two - it was better-constructed, and used better material, and the stitching was better thought out. (Seams were placed so that they had no chance of catching the pistol as it was being drawn or holstered.)

And the SmartCarry used a waterproof material that kept the handgun dry, and was still comfortable to wear.

That said, I use neither, now.

I use a FIST K1 IWB holster attached to an elastic belt that I wear over my shirt-tail and under my pants.

Thanks, Andrew - I didn't know that. Joe was my permit instructor, and I would certainly have gone to him for the holster had I known he was a dealer.

Interesting. What is the advantage of this over attaching the iwb to your pants belt?

(I'm guessing that the answer is that it is tuckable, and you can wear it with beltless pants....)

As noted above, Joe Penaz is actually selling Thunderwear, not SmartCarry.

ok i'll be the one to ask the rude and tacky question. how easy is it to use a urinal with this type of holster? i know i will need to use something easily concealable this summer and these seem to be ideal for t-shirts and shorts. thanks for any help.

For males, if you are standing, just take your little and ring fingers and move the barrel/slide over to your right and access the equipment with your thumb and other fingers....

For females just like normal...............

I'll be the first to admit to going with a smaller gun for summer carry. Either my Kahr PM9 or my J-frame in a pocket carry for cargo type shorts. Like I think Joel said somewhere I like the idea of being able to casually put my hand on my gun if need be. It just looks like you have your hands in your pocket. No big deal. You can do that with cargo shorts. You can't do that with smartcarry. Not without at least looking like a complete pervert anyway.

I do have the smart carry for medium size guns. It conceals the G26 very, very well. After getting used to it I barely noticed it was there. It's no problem using the urinal when smartcarrying. You do have to move the holster out of the way. I still use it occasionally. But given the choice I'll go with pocket carry.

ok, another awkward question... So with a Sig 229 size 'piece' in the front ala smart carry, does one have issues with the the ladies gavitating to you and eyeing up the, I would think, rather large bulge in the ahh, groin area? or does it mearly look like one is slightly over weight or out of shape?

I generally do a light cover shirt over a tee shirt and then either stong side paddle or shoulder rig, but this is not really appropriate with dockers and a polo - so I'm exploring my options other then the rather large fanny pack I have that looks OH so obvious.

Mostly

It's a very good question, with an easy answer -- just not a problem. Things can be moved out of the way quite easily, unless you're both carrying a huge firearm and are, well, beyond merely . . . gifted.

With the SmartCarry on tight enough to keep it in place, I can't easily move it to the side at the urinal.

I generally use a stall and lift the SmartCarry straight up.