Planning on doing some holster testing

[Flamingo]

I am a bit of gear nerd and holster hoarder. @RevolverRob who is a all around great dude is helping me with my desire to justify my previous purchases by conducting science to develop a test to see which one is "best".

For the shooting part of the test there are going to be using a couple of constants:

• G19 with Holosun 507C
• Magpul GL9 15 round magazine (it is marked T5 on the base plate so I can keep track of it)
• the same lot ammo
• Pact timer

The test is going to be:

3x5 card at 5 yards
Draw from concealed to controlled pair (10x) per holster

So far the holsters that I have on hand are a 5 Shot SME (G19), Mark Garrity In-Victus (G19), PHLster Enigma with JMCK G19 Shell and Mastermind Junk Pillow, Tenicor Velo (G17). @marcin is going to let me use a Keepers for a G34 as well. I am going to see if I can track down some more holsters to test.

The comfort portion of the holster experiment is going to require a more subjective test. I think I will have each test subject do 5 squat thrusts and give a comfort score for each holster. I may do a longer physical test of each holster, but I am not sure if I can get my test subjects to do a PT test/obstacle course for each holster.

The concealment part of the test is going to be the trickiest part and is going to require some more thought on my end.

I would appreciate any thoughts on the experiment (even if you think the test is a waste of my time and ammo).

[Chuck Whitlock]

Will this testing be limited to AIWB holsters / positions?

[Flamingo]

For this portion of the experiment. I may add some 3 O'clock testing later. The only 3 O'clock holsters I have are a Tenicor ARX and a PHLster Summit.

[RevolverRob]

I think this is a waste of time and ammo. Box everything up and ship it to me for disposal.

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So, I thought I'd throw this out a bit of WHY - since Flamingo and I have talked about it. Many folks, myself included, have long opined that holsters are more subjective than objective. And the goal here isn't to proclaim "X, Y, or Z is the BEST HOLSTER FOR EVERYONE." - It is to begin to put data in as systematic and controlled a way as possible. In much the same way a 2k Test has standards and results in data, but is not the -final- answer. The goal is to try to identify objective criteria for holster evaluation and provide data.

My first thoughts are - by having 10x samples from a shooter, then pseudoreplicated with another shooter - we can get trends (if there are any), but also determine if the Indian not the Arrow is the bigger variable.

The decision to measure speed as the measurement metric, is because the first and arguably most objective criterion for a holster is weapon access. A draw to controlled pair means that recoil control matters to a degree, meaning a fumbled or bad grip that might let you fire one round - won't do.

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More later. But I am excited to see the results!

[Hstanton1]

As a holster nerd myself this is a pretty interesting test. I think that the actual shooting isn’t strictly necessary though. A draw time is certainly important, as it reflects things like retention and stability (how consistent the positioning of the gun relative to the belt/body is) but beyond that so little of what the holster does has to do with actual shooting. You’ve addressed why you’re including shooting though and it makes good sense.

I’m most interested in seeing what you come up with to test comfort, concealment, and retention though.

For comfort, that’s largely subjective and controlled by things like the ability to add a wedge if your choosing, or how finished the edges of the holster are, or how much extra material there is below the dust cover of the gun. Maybe the degree to which the holster can be customized in terms of wedges/ride height/cant should factor in here? Though it would be hard to pick a clear winner here from among the current crop of well designed Kydex holsters.

For concealment, the same modularity should probably factor in as well, but you should have a set of movements or tasks to complete that compromise concealment in some way, whether it’s by shifting the position of the holster under the shirt or by pulling the shirt against the gun, and then have someone who KNOWS you have a gun on rate how well the gun is concealing. If it isn’t, what movement got it to print? What part of the gun is printing?

As for retention… I don’t have as clear an idea of how best to test that. All of the holsters you list have “good” retention so outside the draw, maybe a good thing to check is what the retention is like when there isn’t additional pressure on the holster from the belt? Maybe it’s not a good thing if the amount of retention changes significantly between when the gun is on body vs. off body. A specific example here might be sitting on a toilet with a gun attached to your belt. The gun shouldn’t be in any danger of tipping out of the holster or being bumped out by an errant hand/TP dispenser or anything else.

I look forward to seeing more of this test!

[Flamingo]

For the visual folks, here are the holsters I have on hand:

5 Shot SME




Older Tenicor Velo





Garrity In-Victus





PHLster Enigma, JMCK Enigma Shell, Mastermind Junk Pillow





I really wish I had a Dark Stark Gear G19 Holster. I have one for my M&P but not for the G-Lock. If someone has one they aren't using let me know.

[Jay585]

I really wish I had a Dark Stark Gear G19 Holster. I have one for my M&P but not for the G-Lock. If someone has one they aren't using let me know.

Would a left handed G17 orion do?

[Flamingo]

Would a left handed G17 orion do?

Unfortunately, the test is set up for right handed folks.

[Flamingo]

Here are the results from the fist phase of the test. I definitely need to get some more shooters. I am still breaking in the SME and the In-Victus, so I will need to retest with that in mind. Some of the slower shots were from not finding the dot as quickly, but I think that is related to getting a poor master grip at the beginning. One thing I definitely noticed that the grip height above the belt line made for a much faster fist round shot. I think the draw to first hit needs to be included in the data as well as mention of the grip feel.

[GJM]

So do you mean to say that holsters that carry the pistol lower and tuck the butt further in are slower to draw, than holsters that are basically competition buckets worn in the appendix position?

Kidding aside, there is a reason that Tony at J.M. has two sets of holes so you can wear your holster lower if you want to optimize concealment, and higher if you want a faster presentation. You can also tune how the pistol tucks by using no, thin or thicker pads. Set retention differently as well with the screw.