Holster Hoarders...

...what is it about them that causes them to buy many more holsters (or other accessories like gun belts, handcuff cases, magazine pouches) than he or she will ever need? I suppose I just don't get it when it comes to holster hoarders, I mean me, I buy one for a gun and use it. If it turns out to be a piece of junk, well I usually get rid of it. I don't put it away in the closet like placing it into a shrine where it will remain forever entombed to be eternally adored by me, then by another, and another and yet another for the same gun as if they can be had at 75% off Christmas Eve accessory sales at Macys' Department Stores. Nor do I put them into a box or on a rack just waiting to see if I can someday become known as the Imelda Marcos of the gun leather world! Just like I don't need more than a few pairs of shoes, I don't need more than a few holsters. Well maybe I need more than a few holsters, but that is only because I own more than a few handguns. I don't even own a holster for some of my pistols, or some of them share a holster with another similar pistol I own. Then again, for one or two of them, I may actually have 2 holsters each but I am nowhere near the extreme that some others go to when it comes to holsters and as I said, I just don't get it.

I mean why would anyone keep an old worn out holster that they used and maybe even abused for years. Take for example a friend of mine way back when I was in the Border Patrol, he was an Accessorizer Holster Hoarder. He had a fine collection of handguns, probably 15 or more. He also had holsters for each of them. No not a holster for each pistol, but multiple holsters for each. Why - who knows. I do know though that when he would carry something like his S&W model 66 he would wear it in a strong side high rise hip holster when wearing a jacket, but then would wear it in an old west style quick drawer holster rig if going out on a picnics or something like that, and if he carried it to a poker game you could almost bet it would be in a shoulder rig of some sort. He was that way with all his handguns. Now that I think of it he was sort of like a woman with her handbags. He had more than one holster for every gun and more than one for every occasion, just like having a purse for each occasion, and of course he had a source of income other than just that of his job as a Border Patrol Agent to afford them. If I remember rightly mommy and daddy were rich. He fits right in with the next type of holster hoarder.

Besides the holster for every occasion type, we also have the 'gotta have the latest and newest type' hoarder, also known as the 'Rodeo Drive Holster Hoarder' (if you do not understand the reference to Rodeo Drive - well Google it or check Wikipedia). You know that kind of person, the kind with money to burn, and I mean that literally, and who just has to have it when she sees something new. It's not so much a fashion statement, like it was with the gun owners described above, but is more of a 'I am better than you' kind of a thing. Yep these are the type of persons who have to flaunt their wealth at every opportunity. If a rhinestone studded cross drawer shoulder holster rig comes out for her Colt Anaconda, you can bet she will own one before they hit the stores.

Then we have yet another type of holster hoarder - the Tactical Tacticool Guru. Don't confuse this type with the Mall Ninja (yet to be discussed). The Tactical Guru is the type of gal or guy who just has to have the most tactically and technologically advanced holster system that is out there - no matter what. it does not matter if they can afford it or not, they are going to get the most advanced tacticool rig they can wear so that they can show it off at the range. Why? Well because it will just go to show others how tactically aware they must be. After all how would it look if they preached tactics day in and day out to the rest of us while wearing last year's tactical rig? I mean to whom are you more likely to listen:

A guy with classroom, range and practical experience who knows what he is talking about, but who wears a tee shirt and jeans along with a sturdy well made holster that he has owned for years

or

A guy dressed in military fatigues wearing a tacticool nylon holster rig with holster strapped to his thigh and secured by Velcro - and who has about 8 or 9 different accessories attached to his gun belt.

I mean isn't it really the smarter guy who keeps buying all that new gear as soon as it comes out? Smarter because he takes advantage of every new fangled piece of junk tacticool piece of equipment out there. I mean he has all that neat gear - and since he has it all - he must know how to use it right? Well that is the way the Tacticool Guru thinks anyhow. Ever wonder what happened to all that other gear he used to wear, the stuff he had before he bought his latest holster? It winds up in his closet because no one else will buy it, and because he is so knowledgeable as to know that it never hurts to have extras even if it was made in a basement do it yourself shop in China. Yep some guys dress like that and also know their business too, although most are not more than one step removed from our next variety of holster hoarder.

Nest up is the Mall Ninja. Do you know the type? These are the wearers of the square badge, and often of the smoky hat. They patrol your local malls, and while in most places they are unarmed, in some they do carry handguns. This type of guy starts buying holsters long before he even owns a gun. As a kid, when playing cops and robbers, or cowboys and Indians, this was the kid who always dressed the part and that included a holster - and yes the holster he owned back then were real. When this kid was a little older he learned the art of spit shining and also learned about patent leather. He then went out and bought holster in both for the guns he someday hoped he would own. He keeps all of this gear in meticulous condition hoping and praying that maybe someday, just maybe, he will wear a uniform and carry a gun. Then either when a senior in high school, or more likely when trying to work his way through a criminal justice degree at college, he gets a job as an armed security guard. The first day he shows up to work he brings along 5 of his holsters all with a high gloss finish either spit shined to perfection or patent leather, and he is shocked to learn that yes he will carry but in a nylon rig! Of course this does not deter him and he runs out and buys everything they have on the shelves at his local gun store to go with that rig such as: the holster and belt, an ammo or magazine pouch, a mace/pepper spray holder (whether or not he will be authorized to carry pepper spray or mace), a handcuff case, a baton holder (whether or not he will be authorized to carry a baton), a radio holster, belt keepers, a key ring holder, a key ring, and a few extras of each so as to always be neat and presentable. Of course in his excitement he probably buys a lot of the wrong things and has to go back and buy more. Does he turn in the stuff he bought already as an exchange - heck no because he knows what he bought is better than what work wants him to buy or what they issue. As time goes by he will try to sneak a piece, one at a time, onto his rig until slowly but surely he will be using the stuff of his choice at work. Being that his job security is tenuous at best, especially with his being such a kook, he winds up at job after job and continually adds to his collection of Mall Ninja accessories - and that of course includes holsters. He is very much like the Tactical Guru, and if he actually visits the range now and then he can usually morph from Mall Ninja to Tactical Guru at ease. As a matter of fact mall Ninjas often grow up to become Tactical Gurus to one extent or another.

Next in line we have the LEO as in Law Enforcement Officer. Yes they too have many among their ranks who are holster hoarders par excellence. Some LEOs who are holster hoarders started off as Mall Ninjas and many will become Tacticool Gurus too it is just natural progression though it does not happen to everyone. (Even I worked in department store, hospital and hotel security while in college, although I never quite made it to becoming a mall Ninja or Tacticool Guru.) The thing about LEOs though is this, they have reached the point of having a career. Unlike most Mall Ninjas, most LEOs a bit more mature (heck the male LEOs can for the most part grow facial hair and actually need to shave whereas most Mall Ninjas still have pimply secretions instead of whiskers). Those who have jobs as police officers, sheriffs, corrections officers, game wardens, federal agents and so on have found themselves in a career. Most have completed college (at least a 2 year degree nowadays), and many already are married with families. They own a car, maybe 2, have health plans, pay rent (no longer living with mom and dad like most Mall Ninjas and some Tacticool Gurus) or pay mortgages, have car payments, auto insurance payments, food bills, utility bills and so on. Do you see where this is going as far as holster hoarding is concerned. LEOs, for the great majority, own every holster they ever paid for or that was issued to them by their agency or department. Why? Because holsters, good one anyway, are expensive. It wind up that most of them, with all their other bills, cannot afford new ones as can the Mall Ninja or the Tacticool Guru or the Rodeo Drive Hoarders. So every time a cop buys a new holster, the old one goes into a draw, a closet on a shelf or into a box in the basement. (After a few years the guy with his holster in the box in the basement usually learns to move them, or at least newer ones, into a closet upstairs thanks to mold and mildew.)

Even the department issued holsters get the same treatment since most departments don't ask for old holsters back. Yep that means that even bureaucrats who run those departments realize that old holsters are just so much worthless junk. of course the cop who is working out on the street, and who may have his holster literally ripped off of him in a fight for his life, is fairly wise to keep an older one in reserve until he can replace the lost one with a brand new one - and that costs money and money takes time to save when you have all those bills a family man or woman has. How often does it happen that holsters are replaced by a department or agency? Well let's see, in my thirty year career I have probably been issued at least 15 holsters by my agencies, and I probably have bought at least several holsters to replace some that I was issued when I thought I could do better than what I was issued by the gooberment. My agencies issued holsters for each weapon they issued, and sometimes replaced holsters with better and safer designs, or simply because a holster was worn out. I also have received at least one or three holsters as gifts for my issued guns. If I kept em all, I'd have quite a few, but that would not be all the holsters I would have, not even for just my issued guns. You see the regular LEO who carries while off duty often goes out and buys an off duty holster - something in which he can carry concealed. If it is a good one - great it can last for years. If she made a bad choice the officer probably will head out and buy a better one sooner or later as she can afford it. The thing is that officers, with all those bills that Rodeo Drive types never worry about, have to feed their families and often wind up buying less than the best, or even less than good quality holsters when they need one. Even when they realize they were a bad choice they go into the drawer for later use if ever, it is all part of a back-up ideal by which officers protect themselves and one another. They are taught to have a back-up handgun, back-up ammunition, back-up handcuffs, a partner for back-up, to call for back up before going in, and a back-up provide for the family life insurance plan in case they ever are taken down - so why not a back up holster. In addition many LEOs keep their first holster, or their lucky holster, or their best ever holster, or the one in which they carried a gun with which they shot a bad guy saving another life, and they keep em for whatever superstitious reason you can think of. Then one day, maybe just before retirement, the officer gets nostalgic and look in the holster drawer and is shocked to find out just how many holsters he had stashed away. All those holsters, just like dust bunnies under a bed, seem to multiply all on their own unless you clean em out now and again. If only he had sold em all, maybe he could have afforded one that would have lasted 10 or 15 years without needing replacement, or maybe he could have afforded to have taken that fishing trip he had wanted to with his son when his son first learned about how expensive things are.

The truth be told, there is yet another type of holster hoarder, and this type is the Eternal Optimist Holster Hoarder. This is the type of person who incessantly plays the stock market and loses money instead of taking a more secure route to seeing his finances grow - no matter how bad the market. This is the holster hoarder who despite seeing the value of his holster decrease as they get older, hold onto them in the hopes of someday getting back most if not all of the money he paid for each of them, and maybe a little profit too. So those holsters, needless to say, just keep piling up somewhere in the house. The fact is I have never seen a used holster sell for more than it did when originally bought in a store; as a matter of fact I have never seen one sell for anywhere close to the initial retail price. Holsters, once bought, whether used or left in the package, seem to depreciate in value as fast as rail road bonds, or as fast as ponzi schemes once discovered to be frauds. Of course the Eternal Optimist does not want to believe that his hand tooled kangaroo leather holster, lined with silicone impregnated buffalo suede, and custom fitted for a high gloss Browning High Power will never sell for more than a mere fraction of the original selling price, so he keeps it stashed away waiting for the day he can sell it on an online auction for 5 times its original value. Thing is that day isn't coming in this lifetime!

Now that brings us to a practical reason as to why holsters build up in that drawer or on that closet shelf. They are worth more than that for which they will sell. Well at least to they who own them. Well truth be told, not to all of us who own holsters. Recently I threw out a few holsters. I also sold a few. The ones I threw out were the ones I could not sell, trade or give away. Heck I almost decided to give away the holsters I sold because they went for so little, but then again I figured why be a knucklehead - getting something for them was better than getting nothing. As for giving away the others, well I actually had to throw some of em out to make room for other things for which I simply needed the space. Yes folks, even when trying to give away used holsters it is not easy so I threw some away. You see, either the person you are trying to give it to already has one or more holsters for they type of gun it fits, or just sold that gun and no longer needs a holster for it, or the person figures why take your junk (the last reason being the one as to why used holsters are rarely if ever bought by Rodeo Drive, Mall Ninja and Tacticool Guru types of hoarders). Yep they look a gift horse in the mouth so to speak and are suspicious of you for trying to give it to them and figure why would you give away something if it was not junk. Now after all, are they wrong in being suspicious, I mean in today's who among us in his right mind would give away, as in free, a holster that may have cost $50, $100, maybe even as much as a few hundred dollars just because he was having a hard time selling it for $5.00, and he figured a friend was more deserving! I would that's who, and I wound up throwing out a few holsters just because of that type of thinking after I offered them to friends because I could not sell em first.

No, I am not a holster hoarder, though I do have a few stashed away here and there. Maybe that makes me weird, my getting rid of them for chicken feed or less, but I need more room for ammo than I do for holsters. Right now my ammo cache is just about bursting out of the containers in which I have it stashed away and space is at a premium so out with the holsters and in with the ammo it was. I wonder, does that make me an ammo hoarder? Nah - couldn't be. Anyway, ammo hoarders are a whole nuther sought of people - aren't they? More on them later, enough said on that subject for now, nod - nod - wink - wink - know what I mean.

All the best,
Glenn B

Too Bad He Apaprently Does Not Read My Blog...

...because his having done so may have saved him some holes in his legs, possibly being fired, and possibly being arrested. Texas Office Worker Accidentally Shoots Himself in Both Legs While Sitting at Desk tells the story of a 47 year old office worker, who reportedly shot himself through both legs with a .45 caliber bullet, from a gun that was in his jacket pocket, and the jacket was draped over his seat. When he sat down the gun went bang. Just another example of why you should heed the advice given here, and here. I'll admit I carry in a pocket sometimes myself, but rarely; and I do mean rarely, and usually if there is no other choice at the time. Then it is in an otherwise empty pocket, nothing there to hit the trigger; and I never leave a handgun in a jacket pocket when I take off the jacket. I mean it is just not safe if only because it is not under my immediate control, and besides that those little grinches, or goblins, or whatever they are can get in an unattended pocket and shoot you. Hopefully this guy will recover speedily and fully, and he will learn from his experience.

All the best,
Glenn B

Carrying Firearms...

...in a holster is the way I prefer to carry pistols and revolvers. I wrote about just that and my criterion to select a holster here. I wrote about those topics because the way you carry your pistol or revolver is important, it could mean the difference between whether or not you are the winner in a life threatening situation, whether or not you are able to retain your sidearm, whether or not you shoot yourself with your own gun. If anyone doubted me when i said that I thought a bag of just about any sort was a poor choice in which to carry a handgun, maybe when you read this: S.C. Student Shot by Own Gun in Book Bag Pleads Guilty my point of view will seem to be a little stronger. Sure the bag this pistol was carried in probably was not made for carry. Sure some handbags are made with internal holsters or carry pouches. I still contend that any bag which you pick up and put down is a bad choice for carry. I also contend that there is much more of a chance of a foreign object getting into the trigger guard and against the trigger when carried in a bag - whether or not that bag has an internal carry pouch or holster - than when you carry in a quality made hip holster. Your choice, just like it was this kid's choice. On this topic, learn from his mistakes and not from your own. That way you will, in my opinion, stay healthier.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Firearms Tactics and Training - Selection of a Holster

When you carry a handgun, for defense purposes, you want need it to be readily accessible to you at virtually all times. Not only do you need it to be accessible to you, but you need it to be defensible by you, or in other words - it need be difficult for the bad guy to take it away from you by taking it out of your holster - it need be secure. It also has to be inherently safe to use. I find only one general type of holster fits the bill, and while I may be putting myself out in front of the firing line as far as the great gun gurus go, I will stand fast on that point once the shooting starts.

The type of holster about which I am speaking is a strong side hip holster with at least one retention device. Inside or outside the belt does not matter, that is so long as you can easily draw the weapon with one hand (either one regardless of on which side you keep the holster) for firing, and you can easily re-holster the sidearm with one hand (either one regardless of on which side you keep the holster), and then engage the retention device (if not automatic) with that same hand. So what does that mean in holster selection. Well first of all it means quality. Don't by a cheap nylon or leather holster and expect it to remain good as new after using it for awhile. Do buy a quality leather, nylon, or plastic holster made by a reliable manufacturer. The specific traits you want to look for in a holster are as follow:

1) Quality - stick with a good name brand of holster, one that is fair to higher priced. Don't go bargain basement shopping when your life may depend upon the quality of your holster.

2) Material - leather, or ballistic nylon, or plastic (possibly polymer). I prefer a leather holster. From what I have seen in based on holster I and others have used, a quality leather holster is king. Nylon is okay, but ones I have had always wear out before a good leather holster. Plastic holsters are the latest thing I guess, but I do not like em at all. They are noisy and can click on things when you are trying to move with stealth. They are also noisy on the draw, and you may just want to be quiet sometimes when you draw a gun. Some of them, even ones believed to be of the highest quality, have been shown to be easily torn from a belt. A leather holster, with proper construction, is something that will last many years. With proper belt loops it is almost impossible to take a gun away from a shooter by ripping off the holster. It needs some care as in cleaning, and conditioning over the years, but leather is well worth the small task of doing such. They are also repairable.

3) Design -

a) As I said, I prefer a strong side (right side if right handed, left side if left handed) hip holster. When you draw from a strong sided holster, with your regular shooting, or strong side hand, you do not cross your body in any manner, you do not cross a field of fire that need not be crossed with the muzzle of the gun; you pull it out, and if facing your adversary, you have it on target almost as soon as it clears the holster.

b) I also prefer it to have at least one retention device. The retention device that I prefer is a thumb break/snap (not Velcro), although I will readily admit there are other holsters that have more secure retention devices. My reasoning is this: I want the gun to remain in the holster is I run, jump, climb, fall, grapple and so on. I want something to prevent immediate removal by a bad guy who tries to take my gun from my holster, something that gives me enough time to make a defensive retention move, but not something that slows down my draw. This is a thumb break holster.

c) I want a holster that remains in an open position after I have drawn the firearm from it. In other words, I do not want a worn out old holster in which the slides sort of close, or collapse inward, once the gun is out of the holster; nor do I want a new holster that does the same thing. Cheap nylon holsters are notorious for this. My reasoning here is that I want to be able to re-holster my sidearm with one hand, and then secure it with the same hand. Why - well because it keeps the other hand free for close in defensive moves if needed; and another thing is that is one hand is disabled, you can still secure your weapon with the other hand. Now mind you, I do not want a loose fitting holster, I want one with a snug fit, that is form fitted to the model of gun I am carrying, but it must be one in which it is easy to re-holster one handed.

d) Angle of the holster - I want a holster that rides high on my hip/belt, and wherein the firearm sits in an almost perpendicular position to the ground when I am standing up erect on level ground. I do not want a holster that tilts to the front, or to the back. Such holsters are not as defensible during gun retention moves. I can also draw from just about any position in which I find myself with such a holster. This includes prone on my belly or back, lying on either side, standing, sitting (even while seat belted into a car), or standing on my head if need be.

e) Belt Loops - these should be large enough to accommodate the type of belt you will be wearing. In addition they must be strong enough to withstand the gun take away efforts of a really big guy who grabs the whole holster, with pistol in it, and then tries to tear it off of you. Don't think it can happen, well then think again. I have witnessed this more than once. While on this subject, think too of the belt on which you secure your holster. Use a good quality belt, nothing fancy, but one that is made well and strong, with a secure buckle.

f) Lined or Unlined - this is a question that arises only in regard to leather holsters as far as I am aware. I prefer lined holsters as they are easier on the finish of the gun, and they are a bit thicker than unlined holsters that would otherwise be the same. This extra thickness seemingly adds to the durability of the holster over the years, and helps keep the holster open when the gun is removed.

g) Trigger covering - any holster should cover the trigger and trigger guard when the gun in in the holster.

h) Open or Closed Bottom - I prefer an open bottom holster. This is mainly because I do not want foreign material building up inside a closed bottom holster which could eventually plug the muzzle. Things like dust and lint (lint is a bad little booger in winter months when you wear sweaters). I am the forgetful type at times, and while I usualy check my equipment, one thing I would likely be to forget is to see if a closed bottom holster had debris init each time I put it on. With my open bottom holtser, I see if it is clear each time I pick it up because light comes right on through. Just simpler, closer to foolproof.

Holsters such as shoulder rigs, ankle holsters, thigh holsters, all may have one or two advantages over a strong side hip holster. For example an ankle holster may be more easily concealed. A shoulder holster rig also may be more easily concealed, and a thigh holster may give you a speedier draw. The thing is, that each of them falls short in more than one way or another. Ankle holsters are very difficult from which to draw while running or even walking fast towards something like cover, they are also the lest defensible when it comes to weapons retention. How do you hold onto a gun in an ankle holster if someone grabs your leg and tries to take it away. Sure you may do it, but you are much less likely to retain it than would you be had the firearm been in a strong side hip holster. A shoulder holster rig can be a blessing, especially if traveling in a plane in those tight seats for an LEO. The thing is though, when you draw from a should holster, you telegraph that you are reaching for a weapon. You also are performing a cross draw, drawing from weak side, and bringing the gun across to the strong side. It is a slower draw than from strong side, and such a draw causes the muzzle to cover things it quite possibly should not be covering. As for a thigh holster, you know the ones I mean, the ones SWAT guys wear. They are just about useless from what I can tell except they add speed to the draw in most cases. The thing is though, they are not as defensible as is a strong side hip holster, and they apparently often cause guns to go flying. I have seen guns routinely come out of these (several brands) while LEOs were training in tactical shooting that required running. If you feel it start to go, and this often happens, chances are you likely will not reach it in time to retain it on your thigh. if you feel a hip holster open, the body often keeps the gun retained, and just putting your arm against your body can do the rest.

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The following paragraph was added on October 9, 2007: I did not mention carry in a pocket holster, but I will say here I do not like the form of carry because of how long it takes to draw, and how inaccesible is the firearm if you are in certain positions such as seated. Pocket carry without a holster is even less preferable than with one because of the potential for forgotten foreign objects in the pocket to interfere, jam or plug up the firearm, or to possibly even cause it to fire.

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There may be more that I will add later on, but for now that it is. Whether you carry openly or concealed, this is the type of holster I recommend. About the only consideration that I would go beyond on suggestion I made above is if you might want a holster with additional retention devices, or with a different retention method. Of course, whatever you get is up to you, take my opinion or leave it, it does not matter to me. Just do yourself a favor, carry safely and practically.

All the best,
Glenn B