All posts tagged Glock Holsters

Gear and accessories, jobs and locations

When my friends pressured me into buying an AR15 a few decades ago, I did it just for the fun of it.   When I picked up my first M4 Carbine, I got it because I needed it for work.    Depending on the jobs you intend to do with your firearm, you have to be careful you don’t over do it and  you have to be careful that you thought things through and you know what to do and where to go when scenario 2 or plan B occurs.   Crazy things happen in front of your eyes when you’ve lived on this Earth long enough and there’s no way to play for everything.   Once thing I have known since the first time I put on a back pack and went hiking on a Scout Trip was carrying too much weight.   I’ve seen guys show up on camping trips and burn up chairs and toss out food and dishes that they got tired of hauling around.   Nobody wants to starve on a camping trip, but nobody wants to carry an extra 5lbs of food either.

When it comes to planning for a tactical carbine or training course, nobody wants to make an ass  out of themselves by dropping gear or having to go back to your car and unload all of the stuff that you wore for the first day.   There’s nothing wrong with learning and making mistakes,  but it’ll show if you aren’t planning ahead.  I have friends that have seen guys pass out on ranges because they couldn’t handle the physical tasks and part of it was because they didn’t wear the right clothing and got too hot.   Blackhawk holsters are one of my favorite duty or tactical holsters, but there are many ways of carrying a sidearm.  The Blackhawk Omega holsters are easy to adapt to using and can carry a spare magazine with the holster.   If you don’t need a fancy chest rig, keep it simple and just use a tactical holster with a magazine holder.     If you need much more than that as a backup you might want to consider bringing grenades.

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Choosing a firearm for ccw and backup mags

It is your decision or your departments decision on which type of firearm you are going to be carrying around.   When my LEO friends have a chose of carrying something other than their standard sidearm, it amazes me on what they actually decide to carry.   Most departments around here issue Glock 17 handguns and most of my LEO friends actually carry Sig Sauer handguns off duty.   The Sig 239 is a big number one for CCW even in the civilian community.

When we are chosing which firearm to carry, there are always the what ifs that can cross our minds, those what ifs usually mean you should always consider having a spare magazine.  I’m not a big fan of telling people they should carry a backup gun because training and carrying a knife and a flashlight should be good for most.  When it comes to spare magazine Blackhawk holsters makes a very reliable magazine holder that gives a level of tension to hold a magazine in and still doesn’t compromise on the speed it takes to take it out.

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Reason for having more than one holster

There are always preferred ways of carrying a concealed firearm or even a duty gun, but in certain environments you’re holsters may not hold up very well.  I’ve seen nylon holsters survice in situations where leather didn’t, but i have and own many very comfortable leather tactical and concealed carry holsters.  I don’t think the notion of wearing a kydex shoulder holster is appealing to me, but something like the Blackhawk Serpa holsters are more secure than a clip on nylon.

There are always trade offs with guns and the same goes for the gear that you are carrying, In this part of the country it’s impossible to expect to carry a paddle holster or Blackhawk holsters like the Serpa in the outside of your pants when it gets hot up here.   If you want concealed carry you better expect to carry IWB or pocket carry.  I’ve moved away from paddle holsters because you really feel it if you have to hit the ground hard.  There are always options.

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Don Hume Jit holsters, fast and friendly

don hume holstersI’ve been in a holster and tactical clothing buying binge and I’ve learned a  lot in the last year.   Holsters all look the same after awhile and i really don’t feel the desire to buy too many more for most of the guns I own, but there are a few I picked up just to try out and see what was out there.   The best holster that I have found looked like it was no real advantage over any of the paddle or OWB holsters I already own, but the Don Hume Jit holster is turning out to be my favorite.   I was never one to sit down and eat a big breakfast before going to work, I get out of bed grab something to eat and get moving.   The idea of having to loop belts through holsters along with getting dressed every morning seemed like more of a chore for me and I avoided them.   I liked paddle or clip on holsters because i was done in a second.

The Jit holsters real advantage to me is that the holster isn’t any bigger than it’s needed to be and helps reduce the amount of printing you might have with a larger holster.   Some people may not like the fact that the whole gun is not protected by the holster, but you should notice this gun does feel like it comes out of the holster fast.    I have noticed that the gun does look like it’s a bit dry when carrying this way due to it being exposed to clothing so you may want to wipe your gun down more often,  Don Hume holsters are very reliable when it comes to getting a holster that fits and I have never had to return one that didn’t function properly.    My favorite CCW now is a Glock 19 in the Jit holster for 3/4 of the year.

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Fast holsters for self defense

Not everyone is going to win the IDPA National competition this  year, nor should we expect it, but there are several thousand people that are above average and stand out.    Not everyone that carries a firearm is training 2 times a week and ready for whatever fate is going to pop out of the bushes.   I don’t teach gun slinging when I’m teaching a class, but I expect people to be safe when using a firearm, and allow them to figure out how fast they need to be.   In all of the hostile confrontations I witnessed, there was never a need for a fast draw, you either slowly pulled the gun when the BG wasn’t looking or you ran for cover and moved.   Gun slinging can mean that both individuals shoot each other.

I do believe that one thing that gets over looked when people decide to choose a holster is at what angle and location can they draw a firearm fastest.   Gun depth in a holster is a big deal because once you start concealing a firearm under a shirt, if you can’t get your hands on it easily you’re not going to get it out quick enough.   My fastest and favorite is the Don Hume holsters called the Jit holster.   These ride a little high, aren’t locked in, and my hands and many of my students agree, that it is easy to grab.   IWB can be tricky because everyone thinks its just about hiding the gun, they forget that it’s also about how to get it out.

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Galco holsters, I thought I had the wrong holster

I’ve been on a holster binge lately and I’ve been  picking up whatever I can for the revolving CCW guns that I carry.   I have been trying to modernize my rotation with a few Springfield XD variants an a Glock 19 and a Glock 26.   I went back to leather holsters after shying away from them for a few years.  I had a bad experience with an Alessi Talon holster that was holding so much sweat that it ruined a Tauras T-85 38 special.   I skipped a monthly cleaning and found out the holster actually had a gew in it and the barrel was pitted.

I think the best CCW is really the IWB but I know not all body types handle it very well, last night I got an order in the mail and decided to try out the Galco holsters that were IWB.    The Galco Tuck-N-Go holster looked like a good thing for me to test out, but I actually thought I had the wrong holster after having so much trouble getting the gun into it.   The slide was actually racking when I put the holster in so I had to stop, after doing some research online, I’m over reacting a little bit and going to see if I can break it in a little more.  I’m not too happy with the fact I can’t really re holster the gun properly because it seems to cave in on itself.   I’ll give it test in a few days.

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Ankle holsters how will you know it will work for you?

One problem I have run  into and some of our customers have asked about is how do they know if a holster will work for them.   The answer is the obvious one, you gotta put it on and try it out.   The majority of our customers are responsible, but we’ve had people walk up to us and lift a shirt or a jacket and  show us what gun they are carrying, and if I didn’t know they were customers, I would probable have pulled a firearm on them and yelled “Freeze”.   I saw a funny quote at a gun shop that warned shoppers to not expose firearms because there would be severe consequences.

 

Finding a gun shop that actually stocks gun holsters is a chore.   Many gun shops in my neck of the woods only stock the big sellers, which are usually paddle holsters or tactical holsters.  Finding good concealed carry or CCW holsters is hard.   I went shopping at several gun shops that stocked Galco holsters, but not a single one had a place for me to try on an ankle holster and the clerks seemed annoyed when I asked.   The best way to shop for holsters is to find a distributor that has a good exchange or return policy.   That way if you know it doesn’t feel right you can just return it.   Holster packaging seems to be designed for holsters to taken out and put back in, there’s a reason.

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Beretta 92FS open carry and non-CCW environments

I do a lot of security evaluations on commercial and private properties.   Much of what I find is obvious to those with street smarts, but not every has those.  Unfortunately some of the best prepared gun owners I know are the ones that had crimes committed against them and they had to learn the hard way.   I’m  not any different in those regards, but there are plenty of crimes I have studied just by watching the news and reading the local newspapers.  I actually  highly recommend that anyone that is considering take the big leap and taking defensive firearms courses to spend one month of reading weekly newspapers about the crimes that are committed in their home towns.

Just tonight I saw a story about a completely innocent guy who walked out of a Target shopping store and was in the wrong place at the wrong time, a drug addict in a bad move just started stabbing him.   What would you have done?   I have been carrying a Beretta 92FS in a Fobus holster for several years now, which is one of my primary CCW in the winter, and the reason I am carrying this holster is that it paddle holsters are easy to take off and put on and getting into and out of a bank with high security like metal detectors, means the guns have to come off.

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Nylon hip holsters are they durable?

The answer to this is yes, depending on what kind of environment you expect to be in.   They aren’t hard, but they will hold up better than leather in many situations.   I find the holsters to be difficult to put on and off because of the clip on belts but they are very secure and I actually find them to be very useful for secondary weapons holsters.   Many nylon hip holsters also use valuable space and usually have room for a pistol magazine just in front of where the pistol holster.  There are hip holsters with and without, but I’d recommend the tactical ones.

I find the nylon tactical holsters magazine holder may not be the best placement for you because if you are right handed and your holster is on your right side, you’ll have to reach across with your left hand which may be awkward, but it’s an easy place to keep a spare magazine just incase you ever need one without having to carry an extra pistol magazine holder.  Uncle Mike’s holsters are not expensive and they won’t make you look rich, but I see plenty of made in China nylon holsters that I can’t tell a darn difference between them and what Uncle Mike’s holsters.   What kind of gun fight would you get in if you are carrying a carbine and need to use a handgun and still need spare mags?  Answer, a really bad one, just try not to get in one.

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Comfort vs convenience

There is going to be a argument with your body between comfort and convenience whenever you put on a holster.    IWB may work for you, but if you start carrying larger guns you’ll start to feel it pretty fast.  I have already seen guns go from carrying fat compact guns and transitioned back to a 1911 which is longer, but is thin and more comfortable to carry IWB.   If you are expecting to get into street combat then do something other than wear a concealment holster.   I have had years of experience in carrying guns IWB, but recently I’ve gone to pocket carry because I’m getting tired of feeling it when I’m out on golf course or batting practice.

There are plenty of custom holster companies for you to research, but you may spend a lot of money on a holster that doesn’t work for you and the best thing to do is go to a gun show or a gun shop that carries them and ask if you can try them on.  Galco holsters have a stow n go holster that is an easy fix for IWB concealment holsters.  If you don’t want to blow a ton of money on a holster look at Galco or Don Hume first.   There are belt loop, paddle and pocket holsters that are very reasonable priced.

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