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Thread: A Week In Serpa Hell...

  1. #1
    Member PaulL's Avatar
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    A Week In Serpa Hell...

    I just got home from a week in deep South Texas (like right on the border deep) and, with one exception, EVERY SINGLE LEO I saw had their firearm in a Serpa holster. This was mostly BP officers, but also plenty of local law enforcement in plainclothes who were working security at the ranch entrances. The one exception was a holster similar to the Galco Quick Slide, but with fancy BBQ-type design engraved/tooled/burned into it.

    I guess the word still isn't out in some places yet.

  2. #2
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    Unfortunately I think you would find that to be the case at just about any LE range. I get onto any one of several police ranges in my area (to include my own agency) and you'll always see more Serpa's than anything else.

    It's no secret, but the majority of us are not gun nuts or "gear fags", and we're cheap on top of that. Once an item has been purchased, you will find it difficult to get that officer to buy something "better" if he thinks what he has "works".

  3. #3
    Licorice Bootlegger JDM's Avatar
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    I shot the "Police Week" shoot yesterday here in NM and was pleasantly surprised at the lack of SERPA holsters. Aside from the 7 or 8 NMDPS guys, I don't remember seeing any of them, and that includes an ICE/BP guy that had a Safariland ALS mounted to his chest rig.

    This is good I think.
    Nobody is impressed by what you can't do. -THJ

  4. #4
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    2 years I've been trying to convince a friend of mine to ditch a level III SERPA. He is undeterred by the fact that his holster broke 1 minute into gun retention training. His mind didn't change when this broken part caught on his gun during the draw, causing him to drop his gun. Demonstration on my old SERPA of how a pebble can lock the whole damn thing up didn't change his mind. Seeing that I could outdraw him from my "slow" Safariland 6360 level III ALS didn't stop him.

    This is a guy that is constantly searching for the best in everything. Don't know why he can't apply that to his holster selection.

  5. #5
    Murder Machine, Harmless Fuzzball TCinVA's Avatar
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    They are cheap, and it's a form of "retention" that is "fast" for a number of people who generally do not practice much with their sidearms. So it's going to be popular with law enforcement for some time to come, or until somebody actually does win a lawsuit for shooting themselves with a Serpa that was mandated by their department.

  6. #6
    Member PaulL's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TCinVA View Post
    They are cheap, and it's a form of "retention" that is "fast" for a number of people who generally do not practice much with their sidearms. So it's going to be popular with law enforcement for some time to come, or until somebody actually does win a lawsuit for shooting themselves with a Serpa that was mandated by their department.
    You're right. It's a shame it has to come to that, though.

  7. #7
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    When I questioned the safety of the use of SERPA holsters (in light of what some major trainers are doing) by so many people at a fairly large local match, the match director (a serpa user) replied with the following:

    Your finger ends up on the pistol frame where it belongs. People who have no experience or training will be more likely to N.D. regardless of their holster type. A negligent discharge is always a training or focus issue. If instructors aren't comfortable with their students using a Serpa holster then they shouldn't be comfortable with them using any holster and that I can understand.

  8. #8
    Member John Hearne's Avatar
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    A very wise man recently said to me - "the only thing cheaper than a cop is two cops." Most cops aren't gun people and they aren't going to spend the money to replace "perfectly good" gear.

    FWIW, I deeply insulted some folks while speaking at a SWAT conference. I made the point of buying good gear and using it. I then said that anything with FOBUS on it was not good gear. Several of the guys looked like I had insulted their children.

    Also FWIW, I'm not convinced that from the safety standpoint, SERPAs are bad for everything. If the gun has a long, heavier DA-style pull, the ND potential of a SERPA is limited. A very big department near me issues Sig P229's in DAO and DAK, there new holster is a Level III Serpa. No ND issues - just holsters falling off of mounting plates.

  9. #9
    Site Supporter jwperry's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rudy99 View Post
    When I questioned the safety of the use of SERPA holsters (in light of what some major trainers are doing) by so many people at a fairly large local match, the match director (a serpa user) replied with the following:
    Your finger ends up on the pistol frame where it belongs. People who have no experience or training will be more likely to N.D. regardless of their holster type. A negligent discharge is always a training or focus issue. If instructors aren't comfortable with their students using a Serpa holster then they shouldn't be comfortable with them using any holster and that I can understand.

    There is a guy I go shooting with on occasion, who swears by the Serpa and gives the same line. Pretty much exactly the same line. Even to the point that when I showed him the amount of big name trainers and training centers that were banning the Serpa he responds with "Well my old employer(USMC) just adopted it so who cares what those guys think".
    I make sure I have my tourniquet when we go shooting.

  10. #10
    Member saints75's Avatar
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    Reading this thread i was thinking how i liked the Fobus holster and the Serpa holster. As a cop, that is what was at the unifrom shop. I never heard of Comp tac, Raven, Blade tech and the other holster makers until a few years a go. I got caught up in the whole Serpa holster thing. Why, because it is tactical, like in the ads and thats what is in the uniform shops lol. I stopped using the Serpa in 2009. I know get good quality holsters. Holster I cannot get at the uniform shops. I think it is funny, the last couple of years, several law enforcement trainers I have talked to about holster have nothing nice to say about the serpa.
    "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." -- Winston Churchill
    C.A. P.C. 832

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