Pictured above is part of my personal holster "collection." That is an 18 gallon tub, filled to the brim with holsters of various makes, models, and materials, for various guns. Unfortunately, these are not even half of all the holsters I have owned over time. Since 2001, when I first professionally carried a weapon, I have probably bought over 200 holsters, the majority of them I would consider inexpensive or "cheap." I guess you could say I am a "cheap holster" subject matter expert, but of all the lessons I've had to learn the hard way, one of the most costly lessons was, "cheap holsters are expensive." When I think of all the holsters I've bought that sat around unused, I have probably spent thousands of dollars chasing the dragon until I finally came to the conclusion that it's cheaper to just pony up the dough and buy what I actually need and will wear, rather than whatever "works" for the money or has the lowest price. Every time I've bought a holster based upon price, I've had to replace it, or work around it, doubling, tripling, or quadrupling the cost of finally filling that need. Let me give you a real life example.
In 2002 I was hired as a law enforcement officer. My department issued everything I needed except for off duty carry equipment. Now I knew I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a holster, so I made price my #1 criteria when shopping for a holster. I ended up with an Uncle Mikes to carry a Sig P229 in .40 S&W. If you don't know anything about a P229 you should at least know this, it's heavy. When you stuff it into a universal fit Uncle Mikes holster the weight of the gun almost feels magnified. So I thought to myself "I need a way to keep my pants from falling down with this holster." So I went out and bought some Dickies brand suspenders, the kind designed to hook onto a load bearing belt, and I wore this weird rig under my over shit for about a week. Holster $22, Dickies suspenders $21. Rotal invested on an obviously flawed system? $43...but wait, we're not done.
I decide this out of the waist band holster rig simply wasn't working so I talked to some guys who recommended an in the waist band holster (IWB). I was desperate so I went back to the local Academy Sports and Outdoors and picked up another Uncle Mikes, but this time it was specifically for an IWB carry. The cost was about $20 out the door. I carried this rig for a couple of weeks but it still wasn't comfortable so this time I decided to go to a gun show and talk a specific holster vendor. I found a nice couple who were selling these ballistic nylon paddle holsters with adjustable thumb snaps. The holster felt sturdy and the paddle felt good when in my pants and the price? A cool $25 with tax included. I bought it happy to finally have what I thought was a "quality" holster. Upon getting home and putting the holster on I quickly discover that the gun did not conceal very well under my Dickies shirt, so I bought a larger Dickies shirt for $20 (actually 3 of them). The shirts worked in that the gun concealed okay but my wife refused to be seen with me, telling me I looked like a "lost orphan wearing hand me downs" and pretty much made me feel like I had made a mistake...she had a point.
I gave up on all the nylon holster and quit wearing my gun for a week or so until I ran across what I thought would solve all of my problems. For $22 I could own a Fobus holster, with a paddle back and it held the gun tightly against my body, at least compared to my other paddle holster. I bought it and it worked much better than the previous options but it still printed quite a lot. I thought "Meh, it prints. I'm a cop, who cares?" Until one day at the mall I was followed around by two other cops who pull me to the side and inquire about the obvious gun under my shirt. Even though the exchange was friendly and we gossiped and talked for a while, I was embarrassed that I had such a crappy rig thrown together. One of the cops recommended a Galco, one of them recommended a DeSantis, both of them recommended I go by Fort Worth Gun Leather and find something better, so I did. I found a Don Hume 721OT pancake holster that I still have and use to this very day. So how much did my Don Hume and corresponding holster search actually cost me?
Uncle Mikes pancake $22
Dickies Suspenders x 2 (I lost one pair) $42
Uncle Mikes IWB $20
Universal non-brand paddle holster $25
Bigger Dickies shirt x 3 (can't wear the same shirt every day) $60
Fobus paddle holster $22
Don Hume 721OT $45
Total spent just to get to the right holster? $236...
...and that total does not include the new gun belt (also Don Hume).
I spent $236 on a $45 holster simply because I could not "afford" to spend more than $25. Doesn't make sense does it?
When you buy a holster to carry a gun you have a lot of things to consider such as price, appearance, durability, wear on the gun, comfort, materials, design, purpose, model, warranty, reputation, where it is made, etc. There are probably dozens of considerations that could be argued, weighed and debated over which holster is the right holster for you. I would like to submit that the most important consideration is of course purpose of the holster (concealed carry, open carry, hunting, etc.) but right after considering the purpose of the holster, one should place the highest emphasis on comfort.
If the holster does not fill your need for owning it, you will stop wearing it and either replace it, which means you've wasted money on the holster, or stop wearing your gun which means you've wasted your money on both the holster and the gun. Take my experience with the unnamed paddle holster and Fobus paddle holsters above; both were comfortable enough (or so I thought at the time) but they were not concealable, which means they did not solve my problem. Both holsters ended up collecting dust in a drawer and were rarely/never used again. Second if a holster is not comfortable, you will eventually stop wearing it facing the same consequences of wasted money on the holster and possibly the gun as previously stated. Take my above examples with the Uncle Mikes, sure they were comfortable enough for a few minutes, but once I started getting in and out of the car, walking around with them, or generally wearing them for hours at a time, they became very uncomfortable, very quickly.
In conclusion, when considering a holster, make purpose and comfort your highest priority. If you make price your highest priority, I assure you it will cost you much more money over the long run.
If you are looking for some value priced options that are also quality holsters, I recommend you check out the following. Please note: I am not endorsed by, paid by, nor provided any compensation in the form of T&E or free samples by any of the following vendors, this is simply my opinion.
Leather
Don Hume Leathergoods: This particular brand of holsters is tough to find in stock anywhere but value for the dollar is high when you can. They typically go for between $40 to $50 and come in a variety of models. I recommend for concealed carry that you stick to their pancake models such as the 721 or 721OT. I have had good luck finding these holsters in stock and quickly shipped from Top Gun Supply.
Winthrop Holsters: I have just recently started to order from this manufacturer, they are manufacturer direct to buyer so it is unlikely you will find these on any retailer shelves. The quality, in my opinion, is slightly higher than Don Hume with better hand boning and detail work specific to the gun, however; they generally only have a couple of models available as opposed to Don Hume's fairly extensive lineup (assuming you ever find any Don Hume in stock).
Kydex
KT Mech LLC: If you are looking for a value priced, well made, concealable kydex holster for almost any gun on the market, look no further than KT Mech AKA KT Holsters. They have a little longer lead time than you might find with either of the above two options, but at only a couple of weeks on average, it isn't bad for a custom holster maker. If you are looking for a holster for concealed carry, I strongly recommend their Gunfighter, which I will do a review on in the near future. Prices start at around $40.
Hybrid
Old Faithful Holsters: For an in the waistband hybrid option, Old Faithful is the most comfortable option I have found to date. I personally own 3 of their holsters, 2 IWB and 1 belt holster. The belt holsters are garbage, don't waste your time, but the IWB holsters cannot be beat. I recommend you get the ready to assemble kit and put it together yourself. Alternatively you can try Alien Gear Holsters which are from what I have come to understand, not only the same holster design, they are the same company. Yeah, I haven't been this confused since the Cheaper Than Dirt business model of retail versus online, but there it is. Note, I have not owned an Alien Gear holster but by all accounts you can expect just as high of a quality product as with Old Faithful, but at a cheaper price. By the way, I recommend the leather backing, but that's just me.
Happy hunting and remember, buy right, buy once.
Author's update 2016. I can no longer recommend Old Faithful/Alien Gear holsters for serious use. I watched one of their holsters literally fall apart in a training class. If a user insists on using this type of holster, I can only recommend they loctite the screws, but then that would nullify the "feature" of allowing users to adjust the tension on the holster. I strongly recommend a Winthrop leather IWB holster instead.
No comments:
Post a Comment