Good for skinny guy?

[Bawanna]

Well at least for once it wasn't me. I gotta tell ya your not gonna be popular pop (I made a funny) with the 9 crowd.

It is a fine idea.

[tv_racin_fan]

As an owner of a K9 I say go for it. With the right holster you will hardly notice it is there.

[popgoestheweasel]

why the heck are we helping a skinny guy??? what do they need help with....they're healthier, tie their own shoes, don't sweat like a pig, spend less on food (and therefore have more to spend on guns), get all the women, fit in any clothes, live longer, drive corvettes, lower cholesterol, make love from 500 different positions, don't need seat belt extensions, inspect their junk without using a mirror, don't swim with a t-shirt, excel at physical activities, ......well, you get the idea. i say, give the man NO help at all and encourage him to EAT MORE, lots more!

[JFootin]

why the heck are we helping a skinny guy??? what do they need help with....they're healthier, tie their own shoes, don't sweat like a pig, spend less on food (and therefore have more to spend on guns), get all the women, fit in any clothes, live longer, drive corvettes, lower cholesterol, make love from 500 different positions, don't need seat belt extensions, inspect their junk without using a mirror, don't swim with a t-shirt, excel at physical activities, ......well, you get the idea. i say, give the man NO help at all and encourage him to EAT MORE, lots more!

[Indigo]

I'm surprised to see no other votes for the P9. All black with night sites, you can get a full grip for accuracy yet the half inch size difference still makes it concealable in certain pockets. I wear a lot of cargo shorts year round in NC and it fits right on in there. It's light for everyday carry plus that full grip makes the range practice easy. I probably put 200 rounds through it a week. She's a work horse.

[popgoestheweasel]

I'm surprised to see no other votes for the P9. All black with night sites, you can get a full grip for accuracy yet the half inch size difference still makes it concealable in certain pockets. I wear a lot of cargo shorts year round in NC and it fits right on in there. It's light for everyday carry plus that full grip makes the range practice easy. I probably put 200 rounds through it a week. She's a work horse.

yup, what ^^^he^^^ said!!!

[cgff]

As stated previously with a good belt and holster you should be fine.
Do not skimp on the belt!!! and you will not find the proper belt at wally world, target etc. Most larger holster manufactures have them available and be ready they can be pricey. Also do not skimp on the holster, unfortunately
this can be trial and error.
OH welcome and good luck!

[TheTman]

I'm very skinny, 120 lbs, and conceal a CW40 or CW45 almost every day in the 5:00 position with a heavy forward cant so the handle sticks up around my kidney for easy drawing. The gun stays out of site unless I bend forward at the waist, then the handle sticks out, so bending at the knees is important. I large T-shirt works well to cover it. As it get's cooler a jacket helps hide it even better. I'm finding myself liking the Remora holster more and more as I use it.

[JFootin]

As stated previously with a good belt and holster you should be fine.
Do not skimp on the belt!!! and you will not find the proper belt at wally world, target etc. Most larger holster manufactures have them available and be ready they can be pricey. Also do not skimp on the holster, unfortunately
this can be trial and error.
OH welcome and good luck!

Ditto on the belt. But it doesn't have to break the bank. I found a really premium double layer gun belt made out of the finest leather and dressed with a very attractive buckle and matching belt keeper for just $50. Comparable belts with more ordinary leather, plainer buckles and leather keepers are twice that much everywhere else. Scroll down on this page and check it out:
http://kdholsters.com/accessories.php

Mine is on order. A Christmas present to myself! I asked and he agreed to put 7 holes .75" apart instead of the standard 5 holes 1" apart. No extra charge.

[TheTman]

I did find a decent belt at Walmart, I think it was a Dickies work belt, but has proven to be pretty sturdy. It was under $20. It's at least 1/8" thick and 1 3/8" wide of single ply leather.
It holds my Beretta Cougar .40 just fine, along with extra mag pouches. But I would agree to not skimp on the belt. I just tried it with a 1911, and don't think I'd want to hang it off that belt all day. I think most Walmart belts are one or two ply cheap leather, I think I just got lucky with this belt. I didn't have the $$ for a real gun belt. And Dickies makes some pretty heavy duty clothing.

[Too Tall Todd]

Indigo, I use the p9 as my primary go to weapon, I carry it every day in either my theis iwb or my blackhawk iwb. Especially the theis is so comfortable that I hardly know its there.

[Indigo]

Indigo, I use the p9 as my primary go to weapon, I carry it every day in either my theis iwb or my blackhawk iwb. Especially the theis is so comfortable that I hardly know its there.

Same here. Out of 9 possibilities that one is with me 99% of the time. K9 for range, Sig 229 nightstand, 1911 is too pretty for any normal duty but that P9 I feel meets every requirement the OP was looking for

[Barth]

Do you have any friends that can loan you a gun to experiment with? I hate to see you stuck with a gun that may not work for daily CC. Until you experiment, it's hard to know what will/won't conceal well. Unless you're willing to alter your wardrobe, carrying can be a real pain. I suspect this is the reason that pocket .380s are so popular.

I'm also a thin guy and wouldn't pick this gun for daily CC as it would be too big for me. You might be better off considering a gun that can be carried both IWB and in your pocket. I'd suggest a small jframe, PM/CM9, or perhaps a .380. FWIW, even the PM9 was too big to pocket carry for me. My carry guns are an Airweight jframe and a .380 - YMMV.

I totally agree with this.
Best case scenario you barrow a variety of guns and holsters.
Use them around the house in various cloths and figure it out for yourself.
Nobody can really answer this question for you.

We can only share our personal experiences.
And as everyone here can attest there are lots of different opinions.

Plus the one gun does it all thingy is very problematic.
I actually pocket carry an air weight J-frame the most.
It's no fun to shoot and not particularly powerful.
But its the lightest, smallest, most concealable gun I've got.
Since I work for a living, and have to wear dress clothes 5 days a week,
I'm really limited there.
Weekends anything goes and I belt carry a variety of larger, heavier, auto loaders and revolvers.

The sub compacts are more difficult to shoot, but make pocket carry feasible.
I guess just one gun might be a CM9.
Fun to shoot, easy to carry in pocket or belt, and fires a proper SD caliber.

Update: Ops K-Series? MK9/40 depending on how you handle recoil.
MK9 is the save bet.
But both are really too heavy for extended pocket carry.
I have done it successfully with cargo pants, Galco reinforced belt
and DeSantis Super Fly pocket holster.

[Shadow Catcher]

I want a handgun to conceal everyday, that I can also enjoy during range time. This would be my first handgun and probably the only one I will own for quite a while, I like the K series because of the all steel construction. I know many of the polymer guns are probably really practical but I let aesthetics influence me and the K series is beautiful. I was thinking a K9 for IWB carry, I am six foot and weigh 140 so very thin. I probably wont purchase another handgun for a while as I don't have much disposable income, and I would like to spend what I have on practice rounds. Any skinny dudes carry the K9 IWB?

I want the elite stainless with the nice trigger and night sights, but it only comes in polished stainless. What are you guys' opinions on the matte vs polished finish? I prefer a low maintenance finish.

Greetings! As a new poster here, but long time shooter, let me start by saying the K9 is probably the most effective compromise you can make.
I shoot a lot of guns; large frame 1911 & Hi-Powers, small Walther PPk type pocket pistols, and everything else I can get my hands on at one time or another.

I bought the K9 when it first came out, literally the first production run made available to FFL's, and had the barrel re-chambered due to it's over tight tolerances.

I am a larger framed male type, at 6'2" and 240 lbs. I can and have carried the 1911 in various configurations, and in the winter I might gravitate towards my Hi-Power.
My "go to" gun in almost all carry situations is the K9. It is the finest shooting 9mm I have ever owned, and I conceal it year round.
Admittedly the Pacific North Wet doesn't get as hot as Phoenix, but I would find a way to carry one, or it's smaller brother, there as well.
One thing you discover early on is that once you have to conceal a pistol, there is not a lot of difference in concealing a .380 or a 9mm, and half an inch in barrel length
isn't the determining issue. Most times it's the grip length that makes the difference, so angle of holster ride and cover garment style matter more.

A couple of thoughts to keep in mind in selecting a self defense handgun:
1. Pick the handgun you trust your life to,
2. Pick that gun for reliability and functionality,
3. Have that gun with you and practice with that gun,
4. Dress to conceal that gun, not the other way around,
5. Use that gun to get you out of the battle zone, or to get you to your rifle, which ever is necessary.

Notice I ignore caliber . . . that's a two six-pack discussion and there are a million postings on the interwebs debating that issue . . . I'll ignore it all.
I do think that the possession of the gun, and the mindset to use it, and the skills to use it well are what matters, the rest is chatter. . which
I will indulge in at other times, but to answer your question , see comments 1-5 above.

I've gone through over 30 years of trying and discarding various solutions, the one I trust my life to these days is the K9 with Corbon DPX, Fed Hydra-Shok,
or any other proven to feed quality hollow point. I'd really prefer my .308 or my 12 gauge . . . but "need's must as the devil drives" . . .

Hope this helps a bit,

Shadow Catcher

[Jeff00042]

Shadow Catcher: Welcome. Great post. I certainly agree about grip length being a major factor in concealment.