DC Holsters began in 2009 as a project to design and create a concealed carry holster which would be comfortable and concealed. A IWB holster that could be worn daily with comfort and ease; that you could forget that it was there as you moved through your day. Greg Purcell, a USPSA Master shooter and 3 Gun competitor decided to design and make his own. This IWB "one clip" design makes this hybrid (leather & kydex) holster easy on, easy off, easy tuck, and it stays where you put it. DC Holsters or "deep cover" holsters are light, comfortable, and simple to wear.

 In a recent article in Front Sight Magazine, written by Robin Taylor, he spoke about the difficulty in finding a concealed holster that you could wear every day and forget it was there. Read Robin’s article below you will understand where the DC Holster came from.

 The Deep Cover “DC” Holster “The Holster for the Rest of Us” By Robin Taylor, USPSA Staff, courtesy of Front Sight Magazine

 I work in a climate-controlled business office, where everyone wears their shirts tucked in. Thanks to some problems locally, we have had days when I very much wanted to have a firearm on my person. A "concealment garment" just doesn't work in this situation, so several of us clandestinely resorted to keeping loaded pistols in briefcases and desk drawers — a Hobson's choice. USPSA Master Greg Purcell has the same problem. As a locksmith, Purcell's daily life involves crawling under the dashboard of cars or getting down on his knees to work on a door, all with a person he's never met watching him work.

 While most situations are perfectly tame, "you don't know what you're going to run into, and some of it's pretty spooky," says Purcell. "…I did one the other day where a guy wanted to fit keys to his car. While I'm there, the actual owner comes out and starts yelling 'What are you doing to my car!'"

 Purcell can't add a "concealment garment" to his company uniform, and most of the standard ideas for deep concealment won't work. "I often have to lie on my right side. I can't wear an ankle holster because my pant leg gets pulled up. In the winter you can put a gun in a coat pocket, but in the summertime, there's nothing you can do."

 That led Purcell to start looking for options. He sorted through a wide variety of holsters, but none of them really worked.

 Purcell competes in USPSA/IPSC matches at a high level, so he's had a lot of experience handling holsters and learning about how people employ holsters both on and off the range. As we all know, USPSA/IPSC is a game, but it attracts a fair number of law enforcement officers and civilians who are serious about defensive handguns. When he started asking some of the law enforcement agents that needed a deep cover holster how they were carrying their guns, the answers shocked him.

 Many of the civilians he spoke with had resorted to ankle holsters, but it only takes a few minutes practice to reveal the shortcomings of a compromise like that. (Imagine sidestepping someone who’s trying to knife you while hopping on one foot.) "I've always wanted to be able to carry concealed and tuck my shirt in. I saw other ideas out there, but they had some problems, so I tried to make one that worked a little better. "

 The result is what Purcell calls the DC Holster, short for "Deep Cover."

 The DC Holster uses a wide, flat piece of leather on one side, riveted to a molded-Kydex "holster half" on the other. Attached to the "holster half" is a clip common in leatherworking, one that allows Purcell to tuck his shirt down between the clip and the "holster half."

 While Purcell didn't realize it, the concept descends from Dave Workman's "Undershirt" holster (better known as "The Workman" by Mitch Rosen), and it's a Godsend for those of us looking for a really practical "deep cover" holster. Where Workman's design places three thicknesses of heavy leather between your body and the belt, the leather-riveted-to-Kydex idea on the DC Holster employs just one medium layer, and the Kydex is half as thick as the leather. More importantly, the wide leather pad both insulates you from the sharp corners of the gun AND spreads the load around, making the holster FEEL like it's half the size.

 The smooth side of that leather pad lies against the gun for a smooth draw, while the rough side lies against your skin. It's surprisingly stable, comfortable, and perfectly capable of a 2-second draw while moving. It takes a bit of effort to get the holster on, but once it's there, it's easy to forget. "I can't feel the gun," says Yong Lee, a USPSA Grand Master from the Seattle area.

  DOES IT WORK?

 Because of my tall skinny torso, I struggle to hide anything without the help of a coat. With the DC Holster, wearing a button-down shirt on the outside and a normal cotton T-shirt underneath, I can comfortably walk around in public armed and have no one be the wiser. The only thing that shows is the blued-steel clip attached to my belt. If it's really hot, I can get away with wearing a tucked-in polo, so long as I take care to "blouse" the polo out a little to hide the contours of my little Glock 26.

 Should I need to draw the gun, my left hand rips my outer shirt out of the way as my right moves to the gun. It's a half-second slower than the other concealed-carry holsters I have at home, but it's a whale of a lot faster than running to my desk — and I can draw while running.