Holster Selection – Food for thought.

Holster Selection – Food for thought.

What holster you use and what position you carry in is a very personal one. Here at IDS we are not dogmatic about it and have found that through the natural training progression employed at IDS people usually end up at a fairly common destination when it comes to their holster selection.

This invariably results in hundreds of dollars spent and boxes or drawers full of holsters that didn’t make the cut. My goal here is to point out one of the most often overlooked aspects of holster selection in an effort to save you some hard-earned money and perhaps shorten your holster selection journey.

We have pretty much seen it all when it comes to holsters and methods of carry. Some clearly superior to others and generally speaking as long as there is some form of rigid cover over the trigger so it cannot accidentally be activated and the weapon unintentionally discharged it’s all good.

Here at IDS, we look at a lot of data and our focus is on personal self-defense for the average civilian or what we like to call the Citizen Defender. Data indicates that a lot of violent encounters happen at very close distances and often result in hands-on skirmishes, stand up grappling and even on the ground grappling.

We are big proponents of concealment for Citizen Defenders, one of the easiest ways to retain your firearm is to not let anyone know you even have a firearm on you. With that being said however, there are times when you may print or a minor skirmish may involve an attacker feeling your firearm in a scramble. When that happens it’s critical that the weapon stays in your control, ideally in the holster until you need to draw it. If the attacker knows what they felt and actively tries to take your firearm they are now upping the ante and bringing deadly force into the mix and it’s your responsibility to make sure you can and do retain control of your weapon.

To that end, where your holster sits on your body as well as how your holster is attached to your body plays a critical role in weapon retention. Any holster that does not have solid hoops securely fastened to the holster that allows for running a sturdy belt through them will, without a doubt, be inferior to one that does when it comes to retaining your firearm.

Also, remember that holsters are consumable items. They will suffer wear and tear so every time you put one on make sure to doublecheck it for cracks or loose hardware.