'packing with a sidearm

[TheRoaminRaider]

How are yall carrying sidearms while pack hunting? I cant seem to find a holster for my Xdm 45acp that will both hold secure enough for rough terrain and mount on my Kelty ex-frame somewhere I can reach it quickly. I was thinking about a tactical vest w/ holster, but am afraid it wont clear the straps. Ive never been comfortable hiking with a legstrap holster, so I kinda out of options. Maybe yall got something I havent tried before, like something I could rig up?

 

[J E Custom]

How are yall carrying sidearms while pack hunting? I cant seem to find a holster for my Xdm 45acp that will both hold secure enough for rough terrain and mount on my Kelty ex-frame somewhere I can reach it quickly. I was thinking about a tactical vest w/ holster, but am afraid it wont clear the straps. Ive never been comfortable hiking with a legstrap holster, so I kinda out of options. Maybe yall got something I havent tried before, like something I could rig up?

I use to hang my pistol on the chest strap that connects the two shoulder straps.

I still carry the same pistol (A 44 special revolver In titanium That is very light) and
that location was easy to access and did not get in the way.

A heaver pistol presents a different challenge but you could try it.

J E CUSTOM

 

[ewallace]

I use a standard belt holster and lash it to my left shoulder strap and the side of my pack I carry a 50 wyoming express with a 4 3/4" barrel. I carry the same revolver when I run in the mountains on a smaller pack and lash it the same way I hardly notes it until I run into a Grizzly or mountain lion.

 

[winmag]

I cary my XD 40 in a Blackhawk, adjustable, serpa holster. I wear cross draw as I cary my rifle on a sling strong side. I hate things clankin and bangin. But with the Blackhawk, I can tumble off a cliff (and I have) and it doesnt come out. Yet with the lightest touch of a finger I can draw and be on target Very Very quickly.
I wear mine constantly outdoors, and its snug and secure, and not in the way, yet easily accessable. Kinda handy, as my favorite critters to hunt are bears. Complete opposite of my ''tactical leg strap holster''. That thing was a ***. I had to backtrack to find my Kimber more than once with that darn thing. Plus climbing rocks and steep terrain it greatly hampered mobility, and circulation. I wont own a leg strap holster for hunting purposes ever again.
I go Blackhawk all the way now unless Im carying a revolver.

 

[ATH]

I have carried my Glock 23 in a BladeTech Kydex paddle holster clamped onto the narrower nylon webbing strap that goes over the padded strap of the waist belt of my pack. I tighten down the screws holding the gun into the holster until I really need to rip to pull it out. In all my testing the holster has never come off the pack during draw, and I can shake the holster upside down with the gun in it pretty sharply and the gun never falls out. I would highly suggest this option. If you drop your pack to go light up an incline to glass or after animals, you can easily take the holster off the pack and put it on your pants belt.

I recently got another similar holster for my Taurus Tracker Titanum 41Mag and am not quite as pleased with it. Due to the gun shape the holster does not hold it as securely, I am going to modify it to put more grip on the gun. My buddy who practically lives in the Montana mountains and who I hunt with was scouting deer about a month ago, and for the first time ever came into a small clearing 30 feet from a large grizzly. He reached for his Taurus Tracker Titanium .357, only to find an empty holster!! The gun had snagged on the brush and come out, he never did find it. Fortunately it was a male and it left him alone.