All posts tagged Glock 19 holsters

Nylon, Leather and Kydex holsters from Desantis Leather?

Desantis holstersWith so many changes taking place to firearms these days, it’s hard to keep up with all of the gun designs, Desantis Holsters has options for full size, medium size autos and many of the popular .380 CCW guns. The firearm industry has grown so much in regards to concealed carry and holster  makers have had to really stay on top of the demand for .380 caliber pistols.  We are a stocking dealer for Desantis holsters and our most popular Leather gun holsters.   Desantis has a holster for you if you are carrying a small compact firearm like the Ruger LCP or if you are looking for a traditional leather shoulder holster.

The Desantis Scabbard with thumbreak is still a popular holster for Law Enforcement and Under Cover police.   The Speed Scabbard is basically the same holster without the thumbsnap retention.   Desantis inside the waist holsters are also available in Desantis holsters  in different types of material.  Desantis also has ankle holsters and Kydex holsters.   Large frame guns like the Beretta 92 might need a paddle holster and even though we highly recommend Desantis leather products, Kydex does have it’s place in the halls of concealed carry.   The military has moved from nylon holsters to the Blackhawk Serpa so it’s very much about dealing with the environment and what your firearm and preferences are.

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Kydex holsters options without going to a custom company?

Blackhawk Serpa holstersI’ve got a pile of gun  holsters in my closet and more than 80% of them never see the light of the day.  Some of the holsters we have have are made from Galco, Desantis, Elite Survival, Glock, and several more that I can’t name at the moment.   Today I  had a customer walk in the door and ask me if I Had a holsters for an H&K gun that I never heard of, and when I asked him if he wanted Kydex or leather?  IWB or OWB?  He started to seem annoyed, I told him it’s his job to tell what holster he wants and my job to find it for him.  Not to bash our customers, but we’ve got enough experience to know that we have to direct those questions back to the customer because we’ve had people blame us for suggesting certain options if they didn’t like it and try and see they won’t pay for the return shipping.

Another thing people don’t seem to realize is that if a gun holster says it will work for a gun, that they somehow need to try it on.   When I ask the customer if they want a retention, paddle holster i usually reference the diffferences between the Blackhawk Serpa holsters we sell and the Fobus gun holsters.   There is a 50% price difference between each product and you gotta know what you want and look for it instead of it finding you.  I think people carry the Serpa for the wrong reasons and it is primarly a secondary firearm holster or a Law Enforcement holster, not really a good civilian CCW holster because if you don’t need a reason for retention, don’t use it.

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Don Hume holsters several years of customer reviews

Don Hume HolstersIn recent years we’ve had an enormous number of local, custom  Kydex holster makers ask us to carry their stuff but that is something we don’t want to delve into at the moment.  If you have the skills to make Kydex holsters you can make a lot money, but mass producing a holster from your home without quality control issues coming up, is something that our experience in the tactical industry would warn us about.   I personally prefer kydex holsters for inside the waist carry options, but I’m not opposed to leather holsters that are paddle, belt look or shoulder rigs.

I have several years of using Desantis leather goods and am very fond of them, but some of the products have their positive and negative appeals.  Recently, Don Hume holsters have been a huge seller and for several years we have customers raving about how sturdy the holsters are in comparison to other brands.  Even if a holster looks really good, you can notice edges of the holster bending or that the gun has zero retention and the guns become loose.  All accessories, whether they are made of kydex, nylon or leather will wear out.   Some holsters don’t really matter for smaller firearms, but when you get to full size and even medium size firearms, holster retention and durability really matter.

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Holsters, comfort and holster and angles

fobus holstersIt was a recent discussion in our tactical store that angling a holster forward really was more about FBI guys that were sitting in their cars and didn’t want the grips to dig into their seats.   I have had some issues drawing my pistol in this angle because sometimes I’ve felt my fingers get way too close to the trigger and slip.  Roto holsters give you a little bit of flexibility and we all know how hard it is to get a holster to fit you without trying it out for awhile.   If you are in a car you may want a forward leaning angle and if you are standing most of the time a straight angle.

There have been times I carried full sized autos and if I had my Wilderness 5 stitch instructor belt on I didn’t have any issues with the weight, but with the wrong belt, it would sag.   I am a big fan of the Fobus holsters product line, and not because they are my favorite, they are the easiest and best holster to start out with.  Their paddle holsters are very inexpensive and always the first thing we sell to someone who is taking their first firearms training course.  Paddle holsters are easier to adapt to than dealing with break  in periods with far more expensive leather or customer kydex holsters.

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More Blackhawk vs Safariland

We have a very long and growing list of Law Enforcement officers coming into our store with broken or worn out parts, and 95% of the time it means going back to our Safariland product book and flipping through the pages to find the right part.  There are so many variations of guns out there and slight contour differences that mean you need a new holster.   With many products this takes research and patience to get it right the first time.  There have been changes to guns, holsters and even Streamlight flashlights but it’s almost impossible to keep up to date with it. In fact one of our distributors even acknowledged that they don’t have the man power to keep their website up to date with all of the correct product info.

This year we are breaking from the drop shipping policies and moving more toward stocking the parts and accessories that we know people are going to need.  Some of the Blackhawk and Safariland holsters that we carry are the products that are the most demanded.  For instance, most departments around here use the Glock 17 and the Glock 21 so we usually stock the duty and drop leg holsters that they need.   Some of these holsters can cost over $140 so stocking the correct items and not getting stuck with a dead product they collects dust for years is something we try to avoid.

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Inventory Availability for Don Hume holsters

We got in a very large shipment of the much sought after Don Hume holsters.  I just had a customer come in here and ask what the big deal is with them and I told him that the big deal is that these are the best price leather holsters out there.  They definitely are not the nicest looking holster which Desantis and Galco will show you but if you are on a budget.  You can get a good holster for under $25.   Now that so many people are packing, not everyone really knows what it’s like to carry and how comfortable certain types of holsters are.  There are many of our customers that don’t want to carry IWB because it’s not very comfortable but from a defensive standpoint it probable is the most recommended method of carry.

I do like the Don Hume Jit holsters and if you compare these $20 holsters to the Desantis Scabbard you are going to spend 2x’s as much for a similar holsters but they are not as nice looking but they get the job done to some degree.  Most of the Don Hume holsters that I use are for small or single stack magazines.  I have noticed that the j-frame and Sig 239 holsters work very well but the Sig 228 holsters seem to flop a little and in my opinion aren’t as secure.   Some of the flopping can be avoided with a paddle holster or an IWB holster.  Do your research on the size of the gun you are using and see what other people are saying.

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Retention holsters leather vs Serpa

We recently  had a customer in here that asked me if people still “use these” and picked up a Desantis thumb break scabbard holster.  I laughed and told him we only carry things that we sell.   What he meant to say is do people still use thumb breaks over the Blackhawk Serpa.   I then pointed to the Safariland ALS holsters and showed him that a thumb is a very useful way to open a retention holster.  After that I showed him the Elite Survival Nylon holsters we have and then he comprehended what i was saying.  Some guys think that the Blackhawk Serpa holster is some type of advanced holster design when it’s really just another optional holster design.   There are many ways to retain a firearm in a holster and we sell most of them.

I have several types of holsters for each firearm I own and sometimes I just feel like a certain type of holster would be more comfortable.  I still find the Desantis holsters to be the best leather product line because they do everything from wallet ID badges, leather belts, and even some kydex designs.   While many of these debates about who makes the best leather are really about preference, some brands have their best designs and do something a little better than another person for certain modes of carry.  It’s not always just the leather, its the quality of the snaps and the screws that make it a good fit.

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When do you need a retention holster?

There are so many guns out there and holsters that it is very common for people to waste money buying things that they don’t need and then it sits in a gun safe or a box in the closet.   Training is more important than firearm selection and many of my friends got in the habit of thinking that if they needed a self defense firearm they should buy something expensive.  There is nothing wrong with carrying a j-frame revolver and all the craze about .380’s in recent years is really just marketing.   Ballistics of a .380 are very low and this is  not a very powerful round although there has been some improvement lately.

When it comes to holsters, you don’t need to spend $100 on a holster for it to give you some stealth advantage over your enemies.   We sell a lot of Blackhawk Serpa holsters to law enforcement but I shy away from pushing these for CCW.   There have been many times that I have had customer walk into my store and have a firearm with a light  on it and none of the holsters that they originally came in looking for worked for them.   There have been many times that they picked up an Elite Survival Systems holster because there was more adaptability with their designs for lights and lasers.

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Official Safariland Holster Dealer

It’s official, Rogue Elite is now an authorized Safariland and Bianchi dealer here in Southeastern Pennsylvania.  Our Broomall showroom and the demand from local law enforcement has given us a strong and stable foothold in this area after 7yrs of drop shipping various products for years.  There are many products that our Law Enforcement Community have asked for and many of them can only be had by direct dealers and not through drop shipping distributors.   The Safariland product line is vast and the variations in firearms, light and lasers that are available to them can great complicate the holster selections.

Many tactical teams need thigh or drop leg holsters and many are using the TLR-1 or TLR-3 gun lights.  Not everyone chooses to use the same gear and many have used the Safariland holsters with the Surefire X300 flashlights.  The change in flashlights can cause many to use a different holster and at $140 per holster that really can get expensive.  There is usually a very thorough testing period before a department chooses a sidearm and flashlights take just as much time to test out.   Normally it’s Surefire or Streamlight but we have seen quite a few of the Viridian laser flashlight combos.

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You get what you pay for with holsters, but sometimes you can pay too much!

I have several very nice leather holsters from brands like Galco and Desantis and they really, really, really look nice.   Most of them get used on rare occasions but there was a time that I thought I need to spend money like  that for a good holster.  When you spend a $1000 on a firearm sometimes it’s hard to complain about spending $75 on a holster rather than wonder if you are a cheap skate for spending only $25 on one.   One of our most popular holsters right now are the Don Hume holsters and although they are not as nice as the Desantis, they are very well priced.

When it comes to carrying open carry or in the winter, I personally prefer to carry large frame autos.   One of my favorite holsters for the winter are the Fobus holsters namely the newer E2 models.  These have a level of retention that you can adjust unlike the original fobus paddle holster design and this will give you some tolerance for safety and security.   If you want something a little bit more secure then probable the level 2 retention holsters are for  you, but these tend to be over played for concealed carry.  I’m not a big fan of locking up firearms unless i’m on duty.

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