Flashbang Holster Review

**Warning: This post may contain pictures not suitable for children or work environments (bra pictures).  Use your own discretion.**  

Photos are for educational use on my blog only and may not be copied without my permission (but feel free to share the link to my blog post).  All opinions are my own and I was not contacted by or compensated by the makers of this product.

I got my new revolver a few months ago and I’ve been practicing at the range but I hadn’t had a reason to have a holster until my Concealed Handgun License came in. And last week, it finally did! After 10 hours of classwork, 2 tests, fingerprints, background checks, and a ton of paperwork, I can finally legally carry my revolver! So I needed a holster. Hubby bought me one similar to his, an in-the-waistband (IWB) holster. I tried it out but it ALWAYS showed. My mid-section has a lot more curves than his and the gun just stands out in a fitted shirt. I assumed most women carried small and slim semi-automatic handguns and I had made the wrong choice when I picked out a revolver. But then I started to do a little research and when I read about the Flashbang, I was smitten!  The Flashbang is a holster made to fit onto/under your bra!  I ordered it from Lopoer Law Enforcement and it took forever to get here. I guess they are a small operation but I was a little disappointed with how long it took. Nevertheless, it made it to my house!

Here is the Flashbang with 2 extra straps to adjust for different bras.  You can change out the straps by using a screwdriver and it’s very simple.  Also pictured is my S&W .38 special (model 642) and I luvs it.  Note: the snaps are INCREDIBLY hard to snap and un-snap when you first get your holster.  It will take about 5 times snapping and unsapping before it is loosened up enough to be able to do so quickly when you are putting the holster on.   It will loosen, you just have to really bow up on it and work it out at first.  Like really, I had to use our table and a lever (flathead screwdriver) the first few times!  Once it’s loosened it will easily snap on and off but not so easily that you risk the holster coming off once it’s on.  There is also no risk of the holster coming off when you draw.  It’s really an amazingly designed holster.

Here is the view of the other side of the holster, the side that will rest against your body.  It’s a strong and smooth yet thin holster.  My .38 (which is a J-frame) revolver fits perfectly and snugly.

Here is the holster in place.  I HIGHLY recommend using the smallest strap possible to prevent the holster from moving around.  I wore it for a week with the longer strap and it moved around when I would bend forward.  Now that I switched to the medium strap it’s perfectly snug and doesn’t move.   Another important tip is to tuck the barrel side UNDER your bra.  Now every girl is going to be different but if you are large-chested like I am, its most comfortable with your holster resting under your breast.  It takes a day or so of getting used to but once you have the correct strap length, it won’t move and you start to forget it’s there.  By the way, it’s really fun to practice drawing my revolver from this holster because if you do it quickly it makes this awesome *clack* sound!  I can’t decide if that would be a pro or con if you were in a situation where you had to defend yourself, but I think it would be a pro!  It could certainly throw someone off!

I’m wearing the holster and gun here in a shiny shirt and there is no evidence of anything under my shirt.  This is because you are hiding the holster under the center of the bra, which is usually not seen through even tight shirts.

Again, no sign of the holster.  I even asked my husband (who knew I’d gotten my holster in the mail) if he noticed or felt (when we hugged) anything different and he was clueless, haha!

From the side, no sign of the holster.  By the way the only editing I did was to block out a company logo 😛

Here is how  I normally wear the holster, with the handle out and down.  I can QUICKLY and easily draw my pistol like this.  Now this is an example of the tightest shirt I own, a cami/undershirt.  In this shirt the butt of the handle does stick out a little bit.

You can see the butt of the handle sticking out on the left side of my body here.  It just looks like a fold in my clothing but it is noticeable.

Again, the butt of the gun is barely sticking out on the left side of my body in this picture.

You can barely see the gun in this picture as well.  But there is an easy solution if this bothers you when wearing tight shirts…

I would just slide the handle of the gun under the other side of my bra.  I haven’t gone all day like this yet (I usually don’t wear super tight clothing without something else over it) but it felt fine.

And you can see: no evidence of the gun.
I should also mention how the draw works. The holster is like a clamshell in that you pull the gun DOWN to draw. It’s quite simple and smooth.

Overall, I’m REALLY happy with my holster!  I’ve been wearing it regularly with few problems.  I will have to shove it back under my bra once or twice a day because it does like to work its way out when I’m moving big bags of soil or loading stuff into a truck.  It gets a little sweaty (just like the rest of me) when I’m working outside but there’s no getting around that.  I’m thinking about covering the part of the holster that rests against my body with some moleskin to see if it decreases the sweaty feeling.  But it’s certainly tolerable and definitely worth it  knowing I have a way to defend myself at all times.  I really like my new holster and I especially like being able to carry all the time!  The only situation I could see not carrying with the Flashbang would be when I’m wearing a long dress in which case I would want a thigh holster.  So I am a very satisfied customer.  I hope this helps if anyone out there is looking at buying this holster and I will try to answer any questions you might have!  Thanks!

**UPDATE** March 2012 ** I’m still wearing my Flashbang on a regular basis and I still LOVE it!  I made a post about going to the range and using it here: https://beatuproadsign.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/day-at-the-range/