My HolsterQuest: An idiots guide on how NOT to find the right holster.

[masternave]

(I'm feeling loquacious. Prepare yourselves, pour you a drink or something. If
you don't want to laugh at the misadventures of an idiot on the internet here's
the moral: Buy a good belt. Buy a JMCK. Email Tony first for advice. Only buy
holsters for guns you own and can physically carry. If you buy a holster, Tony
Mayer will immediately come out with a more perfect variation that you
obviously need right now. It is the law of Nature.)

Listen to me and you will hear my tale of woe and loss... how one young man
with more forum-scraping and cash than sense racked up debt, pain, and a
medium-sized duffle bag of unused holsters.

Forgive me SME, for I have sinned. In the first, I became enamored with the
highspeed lowdrag promise of perfection in the Magpul Dynamics Handgun DVDs.
The only pistol possible for me was a full-sized S&W emandpee, sweetly
cushioned in a straight drop Raven Concealment holster mounted just in front of
my hip.

(In the defense of the DVDs, M&Ps are great guns. Raven Concealment is an
awesome company. I developed some reasonably good safety habits early on in
handling handguns. I developed some other dumb scars and a love for practicing
my super-speedy reloads instead of wisely thinking through a gunfight, but
that's another tale for another useless thread.)

I managed to find a second hand trade-in M&P at a gun show, and happily placed
my order for the holster that I was sure would solve my problems. I was ready.

Unfortunately, that handgun was a piece of junk. Knowing what little I do now,
I think some still more foolish soul took a dremel or a small chainsaw to its
tender trigger bits and removed any trace of a break, creep, and possibly
safety from its innards. It was one smooth, straight, reset-less pull all the
way back. On my first range day, I shot a friend's glock, feeling sorry that he
hadn't purchased a superior and newer 'murican design. Yet, it had that crisp
reset I suddenly remembered from the DVD. My gun must be broken! I canceled my
order, put one in for a Glock 19, and sold my emandpee gear. I noted for the
first time how painful it was to get rid of gear.

(Yes, Proctor has now taught me the woes of over-emphasizing reset. I'm not
saying my logic was sound. I'm merely recording for the masses my foolishness.)

If only I had learned my lesson. Oh, if only.

I did indeed acquire my precious Raven Concealment holster. I forgot to select
that sweet 0 degree straight drop in the purchasing process, so I felt very
inadequate, but I happily and safely carried it to my first few pistol classes.
I was convinced that my MD cuts gave me at least .03 speed on my splits, if I
knew what a split was at that point. When the APL came out, I bought one and
ordered a light compatible holster for it too.

I started to learn about AIWB. I was scared. I could barely carry a gun
unloaded in a backpack in the trunk of my car without feeling that everyone
around me knew and considered me a Wicked Man, but AIWB seemed the only way
that I could hide an object bigger than a pen on my skinny butt. However, that
slick Mr. Haley had begun to hawk an awesome sub-second draw out of a G-Code
Incog. There we go, he's a slim dude, maybe I can conceal my new glock more
adequately out of the incognito wonder, and I could just position it around
back if I got scared of blowing the feathers off my turkey with AIWB.

So I waited on my Incog. I still have it. Never carried it for a day. Too
scared of carrying AIWB at the time.

Holsters: At least 5. Days Carried: 0

Don't worry, it gets worse.

I'm going to *entirely* ignore the woeful side-romance of me trying to figure
out how I was going to carry spare magazines, and trying to find the perfect
belt. Separate stories, dalliances with horizontal mag carriers, universal mag
carriers, a single and a double mag carrier for every gun... good grief. Back
to the main tale.

Somewhere along the line, I started Israeli carrying the glock AIWB in the
Incog around the house, just to get used to the idea. I noticed that the
holster was secure, safe, and utterly unconcealable. The butt stuck out further
than Nicki Minaj... and I started googling for more options.

That's how I found this forum. That's how I found JMCK. It's fuzzy now, but I
think I found the giant JMCK review thread, and was suitably impressed.

It was sometime around this time that I thought I needed an OWB "tactical"
holster, (you know, for training and stuff) and a concealment holster for every
handgun platform I owned... and then weaponlights which I kept changing because
I kept trying to convince myself that I didn't need to fork out the full cash
for the surefire X series. (And as soon as I did, the X300U came out. Another
series of holsters. Yay.) So take my gun collection, multiply by five...

Cripes. Why didn't someone slap me and take my credit card away.

At least I was addicted to quality. I happily carried my JMCK AIWB w/ extra
truck until I realized there was a model made for slimmer chaps... so I bought
my main guns their very own Georges. At some point, I grabbed an Eidolon
because it looked slimmer still (and because Defoor), and unfortunately that's
what I am still carrying at this point, mostly because I can't afford to give
Tony any more money for a while. I will have a G19L Jay Wing eventually. But
not yet. The doctors haven't let me out of holster rehab yet. The only
challenge coin I'm going to earn is "Not Purchased a Holster from Tony in Six
Months". Yay me.

At this point total holsters owned: I think possibly over 30. Three for the M&P
FS. Five for the VP9. Four for the 1911 Government Model. Four for the Glock
43. Twelve or so for the Glock 19. The abominable number is due to changes in
belts, battle belts, MOLLE mounts to RTI changes, I don't need retention, I
need retention, I've got a new weaponlight, I like multicam now... criminy.
I've been trying to slowly sell them... but I think about to just start posting
them on the Karma board just to get my duffel bag back.

Hello. My name is MasterNave. I have a problem.

On the other hand, the velocity has slowed. I've stopped fiddling with battle
belts and gucci-cam "range rigs", and I have been carrying and attending
classes for the past year and a half with the same rig that I carry daily. I
thought that the Eidolon was going to be the last word in holsters for me, but
then the JMCK "Jay Wing" made the VP9 so concealable and comfortable... ugh.
Going to turn that expensive thought away right now.

I just wish that getting to this level of sanity didn't cost so much darn
money.

At least I didn't order an UrbanCarry or Cherries. I have standards y'all. *
shudder *

I am sure I'm not the worst... what was your holster quest? What weird roads
did it take you down? Any regrets?

[Casual Friday]

In 2001 when I turned 21, I didn't have internet access so I was limited to what they carried at the local gun shops. Uncle Mike's and Galco were all I knew. As bad as it was then, I can only imagine what it was like trying to find a concealed carry rig in the 70's through the 90's. We are living in a great time right now as far as holsters go.

[orionz06]

I have dozens of other holsters and like 3 of my own, save for the old models I keep for reference. I don't currently have one of my latest models to carry on my own.

[Slalom.45]

I barely squeaked into the "2-4" group. 1 each appendix holster for the G43 and an Eidolon for the G17-19 as it works for either. A "speed" Frank Proctor holster for what little USPSA/IDPA I do and no-name Phantom look a like I bought used off a guy and never use.

It would have been 5 except the fold over belt clip on my first ever appendix Alabama "Clipper" broke off when I was messing with it on Sunday so I don't count it anymore..... Oh crap, I forgot about the Fobus for the G21, and a couple of left over nylons before I got educated.

Oh well, guess I messed up the poll...

[voodoo_man]

I have a drawer full of holsters and two boxes full. Not just for one gun, mostly glock.

I have about twenty glock holsters, some of which I cannot post as they are either prototypes or given for t&e

[Duelist]

I have a drawer full. Not all of them fit in it. Not all of them are good. Most of them work to carry a gun, but very few actuall work for concealing one securely and safely.

Still on the journey.

[masternave]

orionz06, thank you for your fine work by the way... I have a clip-on for a G43 from you that sees really frequent use. There's a slot in my budget to order some clinchpick sheaths from you too. Thanks for reminding me. :P

[Arbninftry]

Remember everything has a purpose, there is something for one occasion. There is not a one size holster fits all, like there is not one gun for every occasion. Even NSW noted they needed a boat anchor for the rafts. Thus the MK23.

A framing hammer is not used to trim a room. Everything has its purpose.

[BillSWPA]

Mistake #1: buying inexpensive nylon holsters at first.

Mistake #2: buying other inexpensive nylon holsters when the first inexpensive nylon holsters proved suboptimal.

Mistake #3: buying a single thickness belt to save money.

Mistake #4: buying a double thickness belt with 1" spacing between holes rather than something smaller.

Mistake #5: believing that something was good because it was expensive and talked up in the gun magazines.

Mistake #6: believing that just because a holster company could make one style of holster quite well or even near perfection, that they must also know what they are doing with other styles of holster.

Not necessarily a mistake, but: buying a holster for every semi-realistic carry position for any gun I thought I might carry. Necessitated by not yet knowing how to buy clothes to accommodate a gun. Expense was compounded by buying cheap nylon holsters at first, thus having to try multiple holsters for each carry position before finally figuring out what works.

Positive: standardized on 1 1/4" belts, holsters, magazine pouches, flashlight pouches. Every holster or pouch fits every belt which fits every pair of pants.

Positive: finally figured out what works and what doesn't, buy much fewer holsters, and actually use what I buy.

[miller_man]

I look at the "foolish" stuff I've bought gun related and sometimes feel your pain.

But then I remember, only about 6-7 years ago, my full time hobby was sitting at bars literally drinking and pissing my money away.

It's not so bad.

There is ALWAYS plenty of stuff to want, but you can't buy skill.