All posts tagged Tactical Holsters

Sometimes it’s not about the holster, it’s how big the gun is

I’ve been more aggressive in attempting to try out various types of firearms for concealed carry and i’ve found more than a few holsters that I will be adding to my rotation.   I think it’s a good idea to have more than one type of holster for each gun  you have because there are situations where you can get yourself into where one method of carrying will not work very well.   I have been growning tired of carrying guns IWB because I’ve hurt  myself one too many times and sometimes it takes weeks for the discomfort from a bruise to go away.   Rolling around on the ground with a paddle holster can be a revealing experience and you will quickly find out where all of the sharp ends on your firearms are.   It’s all necessary to know what different positions feel like so you hope your body will understand discomfort under stress and you can concentrate on getting hits on target.

I find ankle carry to be very close to dressing  up for Halloween.   It’s not really practical but it’s fun to do every once in awhile.  I find ankle carry to be a good backup method for someone that does a lot of driving.   Pocket carry is nice when you don’t have to carry a lot in your pockets, but I still always prefer to carry with a Don Hume Jit holster because I really can’t feel the gun on me unless I grab it with my hands.   I’ve been working my way towards smaller and smaller firearms and the Galco holsters that I am using now are all the Speed paddle holsters for a j-frame.  This gun is so light already that the paddle holster barely bothers me.   I’ve found the heavier the gun the less I’m going to want a paddle holster, and this is my least uncomfortable paddle carry holster.

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Blackhawk guns for CCW and Duty

I am replacing many of my Fobus gun holsters for the Blackhawk Serpa CQC holsters.   The CQC holsters can be attached to the belt or they can be made into a paddle holster, so you are actually getting 2 for one.   I have had circumstances where I needed to change the way I carried a gun and there are times that certain firearms really begin to wear on you and paddle holsters and IWB can get uncomfortable. Much of it depends on what type of physical work I am doing, but once you get a bruise in that area, it’s not going to heal if you are constantly carrying it in that manor.  A few years ago i hurt myself while bending over and couldn’t CCW with an IWB holster, but didn’t have many options to try out, I picked up a Blackhawk Serpa holster and tried that, but even though it was advertised as Concealed Carry, it really protruded out to far for me to wear under a shirt, and it really only could have been used if I wore a vest.  I guess I’m too thin to do that in the summer around here.

I have through pocket carry into the mix because I have had one too many times that I was extremely uncomfortable with the way I was carrying and couldn’t enjoy the places I was going.  Ankle carry has been tried, but it still feels funny to have something on one leg and not the other.  Blackhawk holsters are very good for duty work and Winter carry, but carrying a small Kahr PM9 or a Walther PPK is enough Semi-auto for me, but I have tried a Smith & Wesson lightweight 637 and have been very happy.  Throw a knife, flashlight and mace into the mix and you’ve got plenty of self-defense to go around.  No need to try and get too frisky with larger firearms and end up being made in a bad situation.

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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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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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Issues with carrying pocket CCW

I really hate to have to bring up some of these discussions because you don’t want to volunteer bad behavior stories to the anti-gun crowd, but I’m also not a fan of drunk drivers and people that talk on their cell phones while driving.  My first experience in witnessing stupid CCW holders was when I met a guy that got his first CCW gun and it was a desert eagle 44 magnum.    Do I really need to explain this one to you?   I don’t know any police departments that would allow a cop to carry something like that in a urban environment and I’d have to question the level of training someone had before they thought to deploy a gun in that caliber.   I think there would be more times that I would second guess taking a shot because I would be afraid the bullet was going to end up in the next city over.

When it comes to pocket carrying, there are now CCW pants that will help retain your firearm if you are laying down or need to lean back.   I’ve seen guns fall out of holsters and they can fall out of pockets.   I’ve lost pistol magazines because the mag holders didn’t work in horizontal positions.  Don Hume holsters have a front pocket holster that is added security and will help keep pocket lint out of many parts of a gun.   There is always a learning curve when it comes to CCW and you’ll find out real fast which clothing builds up lint faster.   Holsters can help keep a gun reliable and prevent you from having to strip the gun down all the time because it’s getting cluttered with things that should not  be in there.

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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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Why should you consider a locking holster?

I’m sure that many of you that have taken CCW classes probable know that the faster you get your gun out the more likely you are to get the first hits in.   In some people’s minds putting safeties on firearms and putting guns in locking holsters will slow you down.   That is somewhat true for some firearms and some holsters, but the better the design on the firearm the less likely that is and for some gun  holsters, there is absolutely zero slow down.    I’m not a big fan of thumb break holsters because I’ve had bad experiences with them not snapping properly and I could never tell if they were tight or now.

One thing I have found that in any type of physical turmoil, guns and gear will fly off of you.   I’ve seen it one too many time at Carbine training classes where secondary weapons and magazines go flying.   The Blackhawk Serpa holsters are my favorite because the holster locking system actually can help a novice shooter get use to keeping their finger straight and off the trigger when drawing the firearm because that is where your trigger finger is when the gun is released from the holster.

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Security and snagging while carrying a Carbine

Finding the right type of gun for you is a very important thing, your boss many tell you want caliber they want to stick to, but there are still so many options in which type of firearm you feel comfortable shooting.   Finding the ammunition that works in your firearm won’t be much of a problem from the majority of Glock and Sig Sauer pistols that so many Government agencies use, but when it comes to choosing holsters and gear.   That is something that you are going to have to figure out on your own.   I have seen many of my customers call up a few weeks after receiving their pants only to be informed that they need another pair because they ripped.    They didn’t rip because of product defects, they ripped because tactical pants have so many pockets that they easily snag and get torn.

Last month I sat in a Carbine course where the first day of shooting showed a lot of novice accessorizing and watching guys constantly move slings around trying to find that spot where they could take it off and on without catching on their secondary pistol was interesting.   Blackhawk holsters ruled the range that day, but I did see paddle holsters, leg holsters and belt through.   I am always a fan of quick detach gear because bad things can  happen in combat and releasing your holster, vest or Carbine could mean saving your life.

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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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Levels of concealment in close contact situations

I never thought about this all that much  until the first time that it happened.  In the Advent of cell  phones it’s actually easier and easier to get away with  now, but it can be a problem in unfriendly territory.  Many first time CCW holders start out with a paddle holster and a large size auto, but slowly transition to IWB.   IWB may not be the most comfortable for everyone, but there are problems that can come up with OWB in office, weddings, social environments.   There are gray areas where CCW may not be acceptable, but not illegal, and you may have problems.

I am speaking from experience here and not about what happened to me, but what happened to a friend of mine.    A women he worked with brushed up against him in a door way and hit the side of him where the firearm was.   She felt a clunk and then pushed up against the part of his body where she felt the gun holsters protruding area and start to say “what the hell is that” she kept poking and prodding him until she broke out into a cold sweat and realized it was a gun.   You’re average citizen isn’t going to look for a CCW, but if they find one, they may announce it.   It’s not just about hiding the gun from sight, sometimes concealment means not being able to find it in close contact situations.

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