Protruding magazines, snags and sights
As someone in the tactical gear and accessory business, I am a little overwhelmed by the number of holsters that are available and how they are being used. I get questions about how to assemble and modify various things and often it takes a little research to find how to answer a customers questions. Something that I am finding more and more about is that customers are ordering holsters for firearms knowing the gun should fit the holster, but the sights that they put on the gun are now causing the gun to snag when being drawn.
The best way to know that you have tactical gear that works is to test it out, even if you have done research into matching up the correct gear, practice with it before you actually train with it or god forbid have to use your gear and training in a real situation. Pocket gun holsters and clip on holsters tend to have high rates of failures in Defensive training classes. The real reason is that many of these students are practicing with higher levels of stress and doing things that they didn’t think they would be doing and causing guns to spin in their hands when the front sight snags in the holster.
When I was at this range and watching students, I saw the gun industry very well represented, everything from Blackhawk, Safariland, Uncle Mikes, military surplus, East German gear, holsters, chest rigs, speed loaders on the students. The military surplus stuff all work and was simple to use, but it wasn’t as fast to use and much of it wasn’t too pretty and very much for the weekend warriors. For serious gear, do some research before you buy and try and find a gun shop or gun show where you can actually feel and wear it before you buy. Many firearms owners have a pile of holsters in their closet for all the ones that really weren’t that comfortable, and blowing a bunch of money on chest rigs and mag holsters, tactical vest ect. that really don’t feel right is going to cost more than many holsters.
The are many ways of concealing a firearm, but when it comes to carrying backup mags, there are far fewer options. I know plenty of people that carry spare mags around in pockets, but I’ve seen too many times that the top round of a loaded mag will eventually pop loose or be out of place which could cause a malfunction. I’d recommend carrying spare ammo along the belt line for 85% of CCW. There are some tactical jackets that are designed for holding magazines, but I also recommend close the pockets and not leaving them open. Elastic retention will help hold a mag from side to side movement, but when it comes to up and down movement, those mags will probable hit the ground when you may be reaching for them.
Uncle Mikes holsters have been around for a long time and I know some people have it in for them because they aren’t very expensive and many of them are made out of Nylon. After being in the gun industry for so many years, I’m starting to be amazed at the number of people I have respect for that are walking around with 38 Specials and 32ACP pocket guns and believe me, they aren’t underpowered. The experts don’t always carry the most expensive holsters and gear, sometimes they just use when is neccessary and don’t waste money.
If you are searching the web for a gun holster for a training class or you are looking for your first CCW Holster and your looking for a paddle holster or OWB holster, Fobus holsters are the staple for gun owners. There are always critics of various holster designs, but for those looking to carry a gun, the Fobus Paddle holster is a very comfortable and reliablie firearm retention device. Fobus holsters are excellent for carrying full size autos. From my own experience, most people prefer to train with full size autos for accuracy and capacity reasons and carrying a gun IWB is pretty much a problem for most operators.