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I saw a dude in wally world the other day open carrying a commander size 1911 in a quality leather rig with a thumb break. I actually went and thanked him. Usually its a buckmark or bersa in nylon around here.
I work at Academy Sports. We sell these things. I try to convince people that these are fine for sitting on the dresser or in between the driver’s seat and console but go get a custom kydex or fitted leather holster to carry. They seldom listen. *facepalm*
I saw one at the 2010 NRA convention. Same thing. Cheap flappy universal holster. There really seems to be a pattern with these guys.
Don’t see the point of this post. Childish.
Carry how you wish to carry. There is nothing wrong with his cheap holster.
Except that retention is awful and it moves on the belt inhibiting a consistent draw. I have no idea why people defend cheap nylon sacs when a decent Galco or Safariland holster is less than $100.
If it works for him, it works for him…some real gear snobs around here, eh?
That’s the problem. These cheap holsters don’t work. While they may be fine for an armed activist, anyone who thinks they actually may need to use that gun (for more than attention) would have ditched that OSFA junker after just a few days of using it. What you find, is that people who don’t really shoot will flock to cheap holsters, thinking that all holsters are the same, that have inferior retention devices, lack the ability to stay put on a belt, and are made of materials that tend to fall apart in a matter of weeks. It’s really just par for the OC course. If you’re not willing to spend $50, $70, or $90 on a holster than you plan on using all day/every day then you’re really not to serious about ever using that gun for defensive purposes.
What do you think a real defensive gun use situation will look like? He will not be drawing, reholstering and combat-rolling to cover over the period of three hours. Draw, shoot, stay at guard, drop gun when cops show up. If the holster holds the gun securely while he eats at old country buffet, who cares what it costs, who made it, or if it is tactical enough for a three gun weekend warrior elitist. The vast vast majority of people will never need to push the limits of their gear in the real world. If this guy wanted to buy a 20 dollar holster and use the savings on a case of budwiser, good. He can always buy another 20 dollar holster when (if) it breaks.
Let’s see. I started as a LEO in 1999, so that means I have 15 years of experience behind what I’m about to say as well as my life depending on quality gear. I’d love to hear how many times you’ve had a gun pointed at someone.
Now, using cheap nylon holster with cheap steel snaps is a recipe for disaster. If things have gone so sideways that you need to take you gun from your holster, as a last resort, do you really want to trust a chinese made holster then has a cheap steel snap retention device or a cheap $200 gun that may or may not jam after a shot of two (yes I’m taking a shot at Keltec)? It’s not like people have left guns in those holsters for months, and the steel snap has rusted to a point where may not break free.
As for the gun being held securely, again 15 years speaking here, a floppy holster tends to flop around and slide around on a belt. So it’s rarely in the same place twice. The added benefit of a flop holster is that it tends to pull up with the gun when you draw from the holster – not like that can be deadly when it matters most.
I’ve learned a few things in those 15 years. Cutting corners on gear is always a bad move. Buying a cheap gun can be disastrous. Buying a cheap holster is not only an uncomfortable choice, it’s a choice that shows poor planning and thought. A decent gun will last a lifetime. A good holster will last 10 or more years. There’s little reason to spend $20 on a OSFA crapper, year after year, when you could get a top quality holster that will cost half as much over 10 years.
This attention whoring OC is not about self defense. It’s about armed activism. The cheap holster is the tip of the iceberg, showing how little thought these activist put into both their OC tactics and their self defense plan. I’ve seen a few first timers come out to IDPA with these crappy flop holsters. The second time out they always come back with a quality CC/OC holster.
Thanks for your 15 years of service. I have near a decade in law enforcement and cannot count the number of times I have had to break leather. I do not view open carry as activism, I view it as a matter of practicality. I am fortunate enough to live in one of the free states that allows constitutional carry. I carry a gun nearly 99 percent of the time, work and play, often multiple guns. I have multiple holsters for each of my hand guns, some are uncle mikes, some are custom, each fills a roll. I chuckle at the colleagues and wannabes I see walking around like a 511 catalogue barffed on them. Like I said earlier, if it works, it works, I don’t care about price or trendy BS. If a piece of gear proves to not function or flop around, chuck it…..maintaining gear is more essential than carrying a status symbol on your hip. We as gun owners would serve a better purpose by behaving inclusively rather than mocking each other simply based on the price point of holsters. Neither of us knows how that holster works for the guy in the photo, so let’s just agree that gear that works is good, and gear that doesn’t should be tossed.
“What you find, is that people who don’t really shoot will flock to cheap holsters, thinking that all holsters are the same”
You know who else flocks to cheap holsters? Poor people.
My first holster was an Uncle Mike’s IWB (yes, one of the much-maligned-here Uncle Mike’s “sausage sacks”). Because I could either afford the gun and a good holster, or the gun, a cheap IWB holster, and enough ammo to both familiarize myself with that particular gun and have carry ammo.
I kept it until I traded the gun a year or two later, because it’s a much better holster than people here give it credit for – just take it off before reholstering, and put it back on your belt while the gun is in it. It comes off fairly easily without being able to fall off unintentionally, and (with a properly sized belt) doesn’t flop around while being worn.
Apples and oranges. You do see the difference between a holster that is pinned against your body by the belt and waistband even with a substandard belt which is less visible and less susceptible to a grab because it is more discreet, and an OWB holster like the one shown, right?
You mistake my personal example for the point of my comment.
Maybe he can’t get a CCW, for some reason, or he’s still waiting for approval. If he can’t afford to spend more than $30 for a better OC holster, he should just give up and resign himself to being unarmed?
Maybe he’s testing the local waters on OC, and wants to make sure people aren’t going to run screaming and call a SWAT team on him before he invests significant money on a better holster.
I’ll say it again: You know who else flocks to cheap holsters? Poor people.
Always shake my head when I see one of those flopping all over creation when the fella’s walking. Can’t forget the obligatory cheap belt that sags under the weight of the gun.
Was this guy wearing flip flops, too?
That’s about the extent of my holsters for open carry, because I don’t have any retention holsters. Oh, wait. That’s why I don’t open carry…..
How arrogant to defile someone simply because they may not have as much money as you for gear. When I started as a LEO in NYC 30 years ago I often chose between being able to buy food or go out for the evening. I carried my .357 in a cheap $10 horse hide IWB holster and it had no retention device at all. Never lost or dropped it and it was right there where I needed it to be. Does someone’s inability to buy gear suddenly make them unfashionably unacceptable? How ignorant and arrogant you all are. L on the forehead for you.
Read for content before clmibing on your high-horsehide.
IWB holsters are inherently more secure than the floppy OWB holsters being discussed, and are less dependent on a decent belt.