I’m trying to find ideas for carrying the M9 for work during deployments. I have an old Uncle Mike’s shoulder holster that I used back when we were required to carry concealed, but concealment is no longer required.
When wearing a flightsuit there’s not belt to attach anything to, so am I restricted to my old shoulder holster or does anyone else have any ideas?
DPS helo pilots here use Galco Shoulder holsters.
Back in the early 80s, I had the opinion the Bianchi Model X15 vertical shoulder holster was the best shoulder holster on the market.
http://www.bianchi-intl.com/product/Prod.php?TxtModelID=X15H
These days, I don’t know how it compares.
But I will tell you about 6 years ago I bought a Galco Miami Classic and found it didn’t meet my needs or expectations at all.
Verticle is probably optimal for a long pistol like the M9.
You wearing a survival vest? or just a holster?
That said, I’ll ask my son what his Squadron is doing. He is a C5 LM and had the same issue.
Are you wearing a flight suit for flying duties or are you doing work on the ground?
If flying then any kind of drop holster/molle belt blows as your sitting the entire time, but if you’re on the ground, a Molle belt works just fine. You don’t have belt loops, but you’ve got hips still 
I’m not sure if thats a bit over kill for your needs, but all I know is any way you dice it, shoulder holsters suck…
I’m not military and certainly not aircrew on anything, but I do wear pistols in unusual situations like running my bulldozer in the woods, on my atv and on my snowmobile. This is the holster I use for these situations. http://www.alaskasportsmanproducts.com/ I am not familiar with what body armor or other gear you might wear as an aircrew member, so it may not be even a consideration.
My last squadron used Blackhawk drop leg holsters w/ a Blackhawk pistol belt. It worked great, kept the M9 very secure. You could take your armor or survival vest off when loading/unloading cargo and still have your sidearm on your person. I always thought shoulder holsters sucked as they impeded movement in and around the aircraft.
What are you flying? Are you wearing air crew plates? Army, Navy, Marine; which vest are you wearing? Is it a floatation vest? Are you wearing that vest with armor? I have rotary experience in the CH-53D, UH-1N, and AH-1J (I’m old, what can I say?) I also have a small amount of OV-10D and OA-4M experience.
In the armored seats I am familiar with, I would not recommend a drop leg for dozens of reasons, interference with panels, the collective if you’re a lefty, etc.
My personal preference has been for either an old school tanker style shoulder holster, worn under my vest or the pistol pouched inside my vest. Our parachute riggers/ALS people were very good about modifying our vests with additional pockets, pouches, etc. Take your problem to them and see what they might be able to do.
In the event of a crash, egress, or E&E I recommend keeping your gear as “clean” as possible to avoid snags and to aid in retention on the run.
Whats wrong with the Air Warrior issue shoulder holster? Adjusted properly it goes good with the monkey harness and body armor.
That would be provided one was wearing the BAE Air Warrior system, which I believe is an Army only system.
All, thanks for the replies and sorry for the delayed response.
I’m just a typical AMC flyer which means I’ll generally only use the holster if something bad happens. If that happens then yes, there is body armor and survival vests on the plane, but I couldn’t even tell you what brand they are. On the KC-10 we rarely go anywhere that would require being armed while loading cargo. It would basically only be used while deployed (and rarely used at that).
The only holster I’ve ever been issued was back in '99 when our requirement was to wear the holster concealed under our flightsuits. The holster I was issued was an Eagle Industries Universal Special Operations Holster. Back before I knew better I decided that holster was too large and bought the Uncle Mike’s shoulder holster. Now that I know shoulder holsters aren’t the greatest I decided to try to find a replacement.
This would be my pick, or something similar…
http://www.opticsplanet.net/galco-vertical-shoulder-holster-system.html
i’m trying to find the same thing. The Eagle was not the best option for me either. I wore it on a recent mission to South America and am searching for a better under flight suit option.
I would recommend looking at a padded blackhawk Molle belt, with a safariland holster. You can take your body armor off and still have the pistol, plus it doesn’t seem to get caught on everything like shoulder bolsters and drop legs do.
If you’re looking for a shoulder holster, I like the Andrews Monarch. Best shoulder holster Ive ever come across.
Link, if possible?
Google and 10 seconds…
^^^ thats the one. Very comfortable