Bill Rogers/Safariland is the one who really came up with this, so let's see what they have to say about it:cmgee67 wrote:Level 1 means there is no lock on the holster and the only retention is friction from the holster itself holding the gun in.
Level 2 means there is a lock or snap that must be either pressed or undone before the gun can come out of the holster.
Level 3 means there are two locks. Most police departments use level three. For example it may have a hood that has to be folded over then a button depressed to release the gun from the holster
https://www.safariland.com/on/demandwar ... etails.pdf
A "friction only" holster like you have described would fail the Level I test in a spectacular fashion.