Retention Holsters for Concealed or Open Carry

[Excaliber]

Manufacturers have been busy churning out holsters with retention features that are suitable for concealed or open carry. Here are a few that may be of interest to some, particularly those who plan to start open carrying in January:

Hogue ARS Stage One
Galco M4X
Galco M6X
BlackHawk GripBreak
Bianchi Evader
DeSantis Facilitator
DeSantis Quick Safe
DeSantis Prowler
Safariland 578 ProFit
Safariland 6378 ALS
Safariland 7378 7TS

[extremist]

Thanks, good list.

From what I see, I prefer the Safariland offerings :)

James

[AJSully421]

If you like the safariland 6xxx series... you should try their 7ts 7xxx series. I have replaced out everything that I can with the 7ts stuff.

[Excaliber]

If you like the safariland 6xxx series... you should try their 7ts 7xxx series. I have replaced out everything that I can with the 7ts stuff.

Added to the list.

[dcphoto]

I like the idea behind the DeSantis Prowler, an IWB retention holster. Unfortunately, they only seem to make it for Glock at the moment. Too bad; I would've tried one out.

[glazer1972]

Safariland 7378 7TS was what I was thinking. The video on youtube talked about how much less damaging it was to the finish.

[Charles L. Cotton]

This is a great list, thank for posting it. I just made it an "announcement" so it will always be at the top of the category.

Chas.

[tlt]

[Mrfriendly93]

http://www.comp-tac.com/

Also a very good choice for a retention holster. IWB, OWB, even some that can be used for both.

[Excaliber]

This is a decent one, quite comfortable. I like the suede liner option. Not real practical for concealed, but can be done.

http://www.kirkpatrickleather.com/conce ... llenger-79

The company has a few other options available as well. It takes time but worth the wait.

The thumb strap makes this a level 2 retention holster in the technical sense and it does help to keep the gun from falling out of the holster, but it does very little to inhibit an active gun grab attempt. Comp-Tac makes several models of very fine holsters too, but none of them are designed or advertised as retention holsters.

This thread was not intended to become a list of nice concealed carry holsters. It was to provide a resource for holsters with active retention mechanisms that are designed to delay or defeat a gun grab attempt, since that will be an increased hazard when open carry begins. In order to preserve this purpose, I ask that contributors only post additional models that meet the "active mechanism designed to delay or defeat a gun grab attempt" and that are advertised by the manufacturers as retention designs.

Thanks for your cooperation!

[kauboy]

I didn't see it mentioned, but I'll be picking up a Galco Fletch high rise.


I want OC to look as professional as possible, and warm brown leather almost fully enclosing the gun says "smart and professional" to me. I want to avoid "tacticool". That's not to say I don't have kydex holsters all over the place, I just don't think they make a good first impression to a public slowly getting used to seeing civilian carry. Just my opinion, carry what you're comfortable with.

[kauboy]

The thumb strap makes this a level 2 retention holster in the technical sense and it does help to keep the gun from falling out of the holster, but it does very little to inhibit an active gun grab attempt. Comp-Tac makes several models of very fine holsters too, but none of them are designed or advertised as retention holsters.

The "level 1" retention holsters linked in the OP are all designed with intuitive levers or buttons that would be depressed during any gun grab attempt. A thumb-break requires the correct grip AND knowledge of how to properly disengage it in order to draw the gun, as it requires an action not required of a normal draw. Disengaging it is not as intuitive as depressing a button that one's finger or thumb would naturally fall on during a draw attempt.
For this reason, if the premise is that OC *could* increase the number of gun grabs (though I doubt there is much evidence supporting this), a thumb-break would be the superior option.
This is likely the reason that most duty holsters use thumb-breaks.

[Excaliber]

A
The "level 1" retention holsters linked in the OP are all designed with intuitive levers or buttons that would be depressed during any gun grab attempt. A thumb-break requires the correct grip AND knowledge of how to properly disengage it in order to draw the gun, as it requires an action not required of a normal draw. Disengaging it is not as intuitive as depressing a button that one's finger or thumb would naturally fall on during a draw attempt.
For this reason, if the premise is that OC *could* increase the number of gun grabs (though I doubt there is much evidence supporting this), a thumb-break would be the superior option.
This is likely the reason that most duty holsters use thumb-breaks.

You are correct that there is little history of gun grabs from civilians in Texas. That is largely because open carry won't begin until this coming January. Right now a criminal doesn't know someone is carrying a gun until it is drawn, and he doesn't try to grab what he doesn't know about. However, there is extensive history of gun grabs from the openly carried holsters of law enforcement officers. Prior to the invention of retention holsters, the vast majority of these were from holsters with simple thumb snap retaining devices. I believe this history is worth learning from, because the hard way to learn about this hurts a lot.

I had an opportunity to explore holster retention pretty thoroughly while I was writing the requirements for a 200 officer police department's holster regulations. Level 1 is friction only. A secondary device like a thumb strap or lever is Level 2, and two active devices or actions required to release the gun are level 3 (See Mas Ayoob's description of the level rating system here.)

A thumb break is not only intuitive for the wearer, it is in fact very easy for an observer to analyze and attack. It is even easy to do from the front, and this was proven many times in actual incidents. That method (which I won't describe here) is taught in prisons and is very well known among the criminal element. Our training cadre demonstrated it to every new officer at the range to make sure they were aware of just how easily and quickly it could be done. A thumb break is also easy for an adversary to release during a gun grab from the rear because placing the hand on the grip naturally places the thumb in position to release the thumbstrap. Even without releasing the thumbstrap, a vigorous yank will usually free the gun.

Simple thumb strap holsters are rarely used by uniformed officers in agencies with high levels of contact with suspects because of the danger they represent. You'll see things like hoods, shield, and hidden levers, but rarely thumbstraps except for nonuniformed or administrative personnel and the occasional old timer who's still carrying a revolver. Level 3 (2 active retention devices) was my standard choice for uniformed duty.

The retention mechanisms in the original list are relatively intuitive in that they are placed in positions that are readily activated by the person wearing the holster and both less obvious and more difficult to release by someone else. They are specifically designed to not be obvious, although if an opportunity is given for a close look it will often reveal where they are. However, even if they are correctly identified by an adversary, they are designed to be difficult for anyone but the wearer to actually remove the gun.

I provided the original list and requested folks stick to the retention definition I outlined in order to provide a resource for those who recognize the hazards involved in gun grabs and want equipment that is well designed to make them significantly more difficult. When open carry becomes legal, folks can of course carry holsters with simple thumbstraps for retention. If they choose to do so, I sincerely hope that they make that decision with full knowledge of the drawbacks and that they invest in a good hands on weapon retention course (which is a great investment for anyone) to learn how to defend it.

[K5GU]

Thanks for posting this handy listing!