Today I am reviewing a Shoulder Bag for Concealed Carry provided for my review by Craft Holsters. The bag is manufactured by Falco and comes in three colors: black, coyote, and olive. The bag I chose was the olive colored one. Craft Holsters sells them for $89.
I had previously reviewed the Hill People Gear Recon Kit Bag and Original Kit Bag, which have proved to be excellent bags. And looking at the Kit Bags and this Shoulder Bag, one might be fooled into thing they serve the same role. But that would be wrong. The Kit Bags are designed for outdoor activities--in particular, hunting and back packing, jogging/running, biking, and so on. The Shoulder Bag here is really intended for urban concealed carry or every day carry, although it would certainly serve well for casual hiking or walking.
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| The Shoulder Bag for Concealed Gun Carry - note: each square is one inch |
Per the website, the overall dimensions of the Shoulder Bag are 7.9 x 10.6 x 3.9 inches. The bag is constructed of a heavy duty nylon. The stitching appears to be of good quality--no flaws I was able to spot.
The bag can be slung from the shoulder with a shoulder strap that connects via two heavy duty side release buckles. The length of the strap can be adjusted. It has a shoulder pad which uses a non-slip material on the underside, and connects to the strap via three velcro straps on the topside. This means that you could attach a MOLLE compatible pouch or pocket to the shoulder pad. On one side the shoulder strap (you could switch between left and right) there are three MOLLE loops, and a large clip on a buckle from which you could hang something.
There is a large loop handle at the top of the bag should you ever need to carry in your hand.
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| Back of the bag - note the reinforcement strip and belt loop. |
On the back of the bag is a wide velcro loop attached to a reinforcing strip of nylon sewn across the back of the bag. This loop is to secure the shoulder bag to your belt to keep it from flopping around (or someone pulling the bag away from you).
The main compartment of the bag is intended for carrying a handgun. It closes via a heavy duty zipper with two pulls, and zips completely open allowing easy access to the firearm. The bag comes with a couple nylon fabric loops that can be folded in the bag or left poking out to allow you to quickly unzip the bag, but there are also a D-ring attached to each corner, and these are great for just grabbing and "ripping" the bag open to access the firearm.
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| Gun compartment -- gun set up for left-handed draw |
The backside of the main compartment is lined with the "loop" material to catch on to velcro "hooks". There is a large elastic band that can be adjusted to fit and hold your handgun, and a smaller, slimmer band intended for holding a spare magazine. On the opposite side there is an 1.5 inch wide strip of velcro "loop" material to which you could attach other items if necessary. My son has been using the Shoulder Bag for carrying a Glock 26 set up with a small laser/light combo, but as you can see from the photographs, it easily accommodated a Sig P220 with a flashlight attached. I also tested it with a large caliber revolver, and it can accommodate a 4-inch barrel, large frame revolver in .44 Magnum.
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| The gun compartment can easily hold duty-sized handguns. Note how the "bumps" on the top corners of the bag are designed to accommodate the butt of a handgun. |
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| Other side of gun compartment with a strip of velcro material and two nylon loops to facilitate "ripping" the bag open to access the firearm. However, the D-rings on the outside of the cover seem to work just as well or better. |
Moving out, there is a zippered pocket that is the same height and width of the main compartment into which you could slip documents, a wallet, cell phone, etc.
Moving out again, there is a flap the folds over an open pocket as well as a mesh compartment. This flap also has a small zippered pocket, and the flap is fastened with a strap and a small side release buckle. This strap can be tightened down. But even if you forget to buckle the strap, it also has magnetic closures to keep it closed. On the underside of the strap are a couple elastic bands that are perfect for holding a pen or pencil.
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| This view shows the large open pocket with the flap opened. Note the two elastic loops to hold a pen or pencil. Tucked inside the open pocket is a liner that can be pulled out and tightened with a draw string to keep the contents dry should you find yourself in a rainstorm. |
Underneath the flap is a decent sized open pocket that is big enough to accommodate a day planner (does anyone use those anymore?) with a liner and drawstring closure to keep out rain.
Next there is a pouch sewn to the front of the bag that has a zippered compartment: too small for the larger cell phones, but probably big enough for smaller phones, and certainly able to handle a man's wallet. Finally, at the front of the pouch are two open pockets, the outermost being of a mesh material.
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| More detailed view of the front of the bag. |
I haven't used it much myself because my son wanted it so he could carry his Glock 26 concealed with the Recover Tactical rail adapter and weapon light/laser attached. He really likes it. Good construction. Large enough to carry the firearm, extra magazine, wallet, and other EDC items. The main gun pocket is easily accessible and easily adjustable to accommodate different draw methods. He likes many different thoughtful features such as the magnetic closures, extra pockets where they had to double layer fabric anyway, the carry handle, and extra sleeve and drawstring closure incorporated into the main open pocket that can be drawn closed to help with keeping water out of the pocket.
Overall, he thought it a great way to carry a variety of handguns for EDC or hiking.
Update: Craft Holsters wanted me to let you know that it offers a large variety of holsters for the Glock 26 in addition to this holster, in case you are looking for a quality leather belt holster, a shoulder holster, ankle holster, fanny pack holster, or more.
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