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gmckinl wrote:

Excaliber wrote:

gmckinl wrote:In Phoenix this spring, I watched Todd Jarrett fumble the draw five times out of six due to somehow missing the lock and yanking on a pistol that wouldn't release from the holster. That's all the confirmation I need that I don't want one.

Failure to practice and achieve proficiency with one's equipment is user error, not equipment deficiency.

Do you know who Todd Jarrett is? I think he gets plenty of practice.

BTW the drill he was fumbling on was: draw, fire, mag change reload, fire. This was to be done in under 1.5 seconds. With the fumble causing a double draw stroke, he was still running around 1.6 seconds.

If you like them, great. Glad it works.

Yes, I know who Todd Jarrett is, I greatly respect his skills, and those are spectacular times for overcoming a draw problem and completing a very difficult drill that I admittedly couldn't perform in anywhere near that time. However, a Serpa holster in good condition functions consistently exactly as designed. My point was that if Todd or anyone else repeatedly can't get his gun out of a properly functioning Serpa holster reliably, by definition he has failed to practice to the point of full proficiency under stress with that particular piece of equipment.

A very challenging drill like the one you described can raise stress levels and cause even an expert to revert to his most deeply ingrained reflexes, although he does just fine at other times. If those reflexes correspond to a holster different than the one he's wearing, the results won't be good.

That being said, he is photographed wearing a Serpa in the link above, and champion shooters are usually very particular about testing and practicing extensively with every last detail of their gear so they don't encounter gotchas during competition, so lack of practice may well not be the cause of the fumbled draws you saw. I added the "properly functioning" caveat because it's very possible that some sand or other debris had gotten between the release button and holster body on his rig that day. This is a known issue and can cause this holster to either not release the gun at all, or to not do so consistently, even with perfect technique. Other possibilities are wear or a broken release mechanism part. Those would be something even someone of his skill level couldn't fix on the spot during active competition.

I'm sure Todd will quickly fix the performance issues you saw by either fixing / replacing that particular holster, practicing lots more with the Serpa under tight time limits, or using a different holster next time.

For the information of others considering buying a Serpa, the release mechanism is very significantly different than most other holsters, as I found out when I first tried to use it. It's not hard - very simple, actually. The issue is that it is different than any I had trained on before, and not just a little bit, but a lot. When I started using it, I could do several smooth draws in a row, and then have a failure as soon as I stopped thinking about exactly how it works. It requires use of a finger movement that is unlike any other holster I have ever used, and it took a lot of work to make my draw from it reasonably reliable. For this reason, I still won't trust it for occasional wear. Going back and forth between holsters with radically different release mechanisms is a recipe for disaster.

Because the Serpa is an OWB rig that I can't conceal during warm weather, I only wear it under a jacket or coat during the cooler months. When I plan to start using it again, I have to practice with it for a few days and then wear it consistently so my reptilian brain is capable of using it under stress. This would not be an issue for someone who started out with a Serpa. They would likely have similar difficulty adapting to something like the Safariland SSIII, which I could probably draw from in my sleep.

Roscoe wrote:I think the Serpa is an excellent holster and have many friends and co-workers who use them. I really like the Comp-tac holsters and have been using one since the fighting started in Iraq and Afghanistan. I've never had any problem with them, and I'm sure the three I have with me will last til my time here is up - next summer!!

The Serpa is like any other gear, it has to be cleaned and maintained regularly to function properly. I could see a shooter who is used to using a passive retention holster like the comp-tac, sidearmor or fobus having some problems getting used to the Serpa. Use of any new equipment requires a bit of practice. As litigation sensitive as most government agencies are, if the holster was considered in any way to be faulty; there's no way its use would be allowed over here - and it is probably the most popular holster carried in the zones.

Most folks require 1500 - 3000 repetitions of a new motion sequence before they become comfortable with it. Some require considerably more. If one then ends the practice and simply carries a new holster, his skill will degrade in the same way his golf game would if he only played once or twice a year.

During my police service, I observed that many officers took off their duty belts at the end of the day and hung them in their lockers with the guns still in the holsters. I made a practice of removing my pistol from the holster with the same movements I would use to draw on the street (but not at speed) and put the gun on the top shelf. (There was a concrete wall behind my locker, this movement was performed facing the locker, and the gun was placed on the shelf with the barrel pointed at the wall.) That way I was sure the holster still functioned properly, and I practiced at least one draw per day. It was a little thing that cost me nothing, but when I had to draw on the street, the gun came into my hand and lined up where it belonged without having to think about it right quick every time.

gmckinl wrote:In Phoenix this spring, I watched Todd Jarrett fumble the draw five times out of six due to somehow missing the lock and yanking on a pistol that wouldn't release from the holster. That's all the confirmation I need that I don't want one.

Failure to practice and achieve proficiency with one's equipment is user error, not equipment deficiency.

I saw the same phenomenon when retention holsters were first issued in my agency - officers couldn't get their guns out under stress and blamed the holsters. After appropriate training and practice, our average shooter could meet our standard of delivering 3 center chest hits at 2 yards from the holster, wearing full equipment, in under 2 seconds (verified by computer controlled turning targets). The proficient guys did considerably better.

When these draws were made on the street, the speed and smoothness of the action caused a number of bad guys to reconsider their plans and surrender without any shots fired. We liked that.

I have a couple of Serpa holsters that I consider excellent gear. Their only drawback in my book is that the release button can get jammed if dirt, sand, or other debris gets between the button and the surrounding material. This would be a consideration for police or military applications, but is not a significant issue for me for concealed carry.