Pistol carry for women backcountry hunting, backpacking, and living in the field

[TradArcher]

Female here - I just use the Alaska Guide Creations holster which I can move easily to my belt if I drop my pack. Currently I have that attached to my hipbelt which has molle but the clips on the holster attache easily, this setup has been reliable for me. that only works well with my smaller pistols though and I am in Black Bear country so it's good for here.

I do have Safariland holsters for a couple larger pistols I have and am looking at their different modular attachment systems where that can be moved easily as well. Like most gun owners I have my basket full of holsters so occasionally I'll go back to one and rig something up.
Also have a cheap Condor nylon holster that I modified and that stays on my F1 pack - that works pretty good too surprisingly enough. I just rigged up an elastic cord keeper with a large pull tab that gloved hands can easily work in a hurry.

But - one idea I haven't tried yet but might in the future is creating a shoulder sling for a holster that can just be in the pack - pull it out when you stop and drop the pack, re-holster the gun and go. Been thinking about a way to secure it at the belt so it rides tight and is useful - just haven't gotten around to that just yet. Otherwise sometimes I just throw a non-retention clip belt holster in the top lid if I feel lazy and don't want to reconfigure the hipbelt holster when dropping the pack. But I don't drop the pack very often so the hipbelt config has worked well for me.

None of the above is fancy but it all works for me.

 

[shepaloop]

Ivory holsters are the best solution I have found … zero movement

 

[Coldtrail]

Just a couple thoughts, my personal opinion is that when carrying you want to ensure you have easy accessibility, and retention which almost never coordinate. For me I use a hip holster on pack or reg belt for retention (thumbsnap and I can reach the butt of the gun with my elbow or hand to "force the gun back in the holster to ward off anyone grabbing at it while keeping my left hand free for other defense). I am able to draw the gun quickly and fire from my hip, as soon as I clear the holster which gives me a quick shot or 10 with less chance of a grab taking my gun.

Personally I'd never carry a handgun in an open top, no retention setup. I'm in the woods steady and pretty active so it just wouldn't work. The best I've found is a simple safari-laminate pancake with thumbsnap. The have a tight fit that will keep the gun in the holster even if the snap comes undone, and withstand pretty extreme conditions, also fit very close to the body so aren't snagging on anything. Mine is 20yrs old and works as good as it did when I bought it. You can use a knife to widen up the belt holes to fit a pack belt too.

 

[jaytaylor]

I use the Exo Mountain K3 packs, and the pack belt it outside the belt padding, so it allows a pancake holster to slide down between the belt and the padding. I use the Hogue ARS Stage 1 polymer holster. It doesn’t have a strap on top for retention (hate those), but it has a thumb release that’s inside the holster itself. So when you grab the gun, the release is right under your thumb. I like the pancake mount becuase I can take it off and carry somewhere else if I need to. I use a Glock G20 (10mm). Magazine holds 15 rounds. Exo packs are so awesome, the 3200 K3 version I carry most of the time only weighs a few pounds, so I don’t even notice the handgun. Good luck on finding something that works for you.