It is sometimes necessary to carry a concealed weapon such as a hand gun or pistol. There have been a number of devices developed to aid a user carrying a concealed gun. Concealed guns have been carried on belt like devices designed to be covered by the pants or by a coat hanging over the belt. A problem with carrying a gun around the waist is that it tends to map. Mapping is the tendency for a concealed gun to show through the concealing garments. A gun worn near the waist tends to map because the clothing around the waist tends to be tight. One solution to mapping is to wear loose covering garments such as a coat that hangs down over the waist but loose layers of clothing can make it difficult for an individual, such as an under cover police officer, to draw a gun quickly. Often time the additional layers of clothing are hot and uncomfortable to wear.
An alternative to concealed belts is a shoulder holster worn under a coat. A shoulder holster can carry a concealed gun generally under either arm, usually the gun is under the opposite arm from which the person would use to draw the gun. The shoulder holster can provide a natural ergonomic reach to facilitate quick draw. The problems with shoulder holsters are that the holster is an additional item of clothing and the garment worn over the shoulder holster to hide it can make drawing the gun difficult if the concealing garment is closed at the front and can gap open to reveal the concealed gun if worn with the front open.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,237 reveals a weapon concealment vest. The inside of this vest provides for a gun concealment patch 20 and a loop pile fastener system holding a holster 32. One problem with this device is that the concealment system really does not allow for a quick draw of the gun. The user must pull down the patch 20 and then pull the holster 32 from the Velcro straps and then draw the gun from the holster 32. This is a two handed operation that is too time consuming. Further the holster is worn on a forward panel 12 of the vest. The weight of the concealed gun will pull the vest down and forward on the user tending to make the garment uncomfortable to wear for long periods and further tending to allow the gun to hang and map against the front of the vest. The weight of the gun creates a torque about the arm hole, if free to do so, the gun would swing to hang directly under the arm hole. This torque creates the problems of mapping and discomfort in the prior art device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,198 shows another gun concealment vest. The vest provides an ergonomic placement of the concealed gun in an external pocket 28, and provides for a system that could allow for a single handed quick draw. However, a gun concealed in this manner will map. Further since the gun is worn on the front panel of the vest it will tend to make the vest pull forward on the user making it uncomfortable to wear and increasing the tendency for the gun to map. In this prior art device the pocket 28 is actually very prominent on the front of the tactical vest and as such is primarily intended to provide a backup weapon as opposed to providing a truly concealed weapon. Again because the gun tends to be the heaviest part of the vest the weight of the gun carried in the forward pocket creates a torque where the gun is attempting to swing about the arm hole to a position directly under the arm. This torque makes the vest uncomfortable to wear and increases the tendency for the gun to map.
Thus it can be seen that there is a need for a gun concealment system that prevents mapping, that is comfortable to wear even for long periods and that allows for a quick draw of the gun when needed.