There are a lot of arguments against off-body carry for women. So-called “handbag carry” challenges the gun owner to keep strict control of her handbag/firearm at all times. To never, ever let the bag/gun out of her sight. Then there’s the challenge of drawing the gun during an adrenaline dump, when fingers turn to flippers and nothing goes exactly as planned. “But I wear skirts and tight tops,” well-armed women complain. “How else can I carry?” Enter the DeSantis Thigh Hide . . .
I’ve had little luck with thigh rigs; they have a tendency to slide down my leg. Even holsters with sticky strips (that meld to your leg and pull on the skin) and holsters that depend on garter belts begin to sink earthwards after a few minutes of walking around. “There’s no way in hell this thing is going to work,” I thought, opening the package. I grabbed my Ruger LCP .380 and gave it a go.
The Thigh Hide holster is fashioned from some sort of soft, thicker-than-average (but still thin) memory foam stretchy material, with Velcro clasps. It comes with two clip-on straps to attach to a belt or a garter — if you have one. (I don’t have a garter belt, so I removed the straps.) After putting on the holster without the garter belt attachments, I was ready for the rig to fall off, gun and all.
To avoid public humiliation and anti-gun freak outs, I inserted the LCP, Velcroed the holster’s straps into place and did some housework. After almost an hour, not only had I damn near forgotten I had it on, it was still perfectly in place. I had no idea that the Thigh Hide would stay on this well. It didn’t slip. It wasn’t hot. Nothing dug into my leg making me want to rip it off.
That said, the DeSantis Thigh-Hide isn’t the world’s smallest holster; users can’t completely hide their gun under a tight skirt. But worn under pretty much anything other than a pencil skirt, the Thigh Hide does the trick.
I put the holster up as high as I could; my gun was best hidden in that position. (A wearer can adjust the rig to position the holster on the outside of the leg.) To test comfort while sitting, I went for an hour drive in the Jeep. Off-road, I knew the gun was there, but it wasn’t annoying. On pavement, comfort was a non-issue.
As a final test, I wore the Thigh Hide while grocery shopping, chasing two kids. I spent 45 minutes walking through the store, reaching up for top shelf items, crouching down to get things lower on the shelves and bending to grab my son as he kept attempting to get me to buy him candy. The Thigh-Hide worked perfectly. The holster didn’t move.
The Thigh-Hide holds the gun in place by the stretchy material, with a removable Velcro strip providing extra retention. It isn’t hard to unfasten. It can be done one-handed — a huge win for a self-defense scenario. Draw is simple and easy. Although re-holstering isn’t as easy as a hip-mounted Kydex rig (what is?), it can be done much more quickly than I expected without much extra exertion.
Color me impressed. I’m not even kidding. I’d set the thigh holster bar really low, but DeSantis raised it sky high. It’s a solid win for women.
Ratings (out of five stars):
QUALITY * * * * *
The holster is well built and constructed. I didn’t find a loose thread or have any trouble at all with the Velcro coming up anywhere. I pulled on it quite a bit and nothing came loose, no threads broke, and it still works great.
PRICE * * * *
At $59.99, this is an excellent buy. That’s a fair price, especially as a separate garter isn’t necessary.
CONCEALMENT * * * *
One star down because it really only works with a looser skirt or dress. But it isn’t like anyone would think a pencil skirt would completely hide the gun. And it will work on an even moderately tight skirt, just not one that’s melded to the legs.
COMFORT * * * * *
You really can’t beat the comfort of this holster. Especially since it works without a garter, much to my surprise, and it doesn’t have those awful anti-slip strips.
OVERALL * * * * *
I usually refrain from going all out and giving five stars if I haven’t tested anything similar. I like to leave room, but this one earned it. The Thigh Hide doesn’t slip, it’s comfortable, and it hides the gun while keeping it easy to draw. If you carry while in a dress or skirt, this is by far a better option than tossing the gun in your purse.