deepdiver
Campaign Veteran
imported post
I recently acquired a new Blackhawk CQC SERPA Level II holster for my P228. One thing of note is that the paddle is not nearly as beefy or as stiff nor as wide as the paddle that came with the XD.45 holster I bought a year ago. Also, the new paddle has hooks molded into the part of paddle that goes over the front of the belt, rather than having removable/adjustable belt hooks. The molded in hooks are flat topped and do not retain as well as the removable hooks from the earlier holster and are obviously non-adjustable. Furthermore, the hook on the paddle portion that goes inside the pants is smaller. The belt attachement appears to be the same. A buddy recently purchased a Blackhaws CQC Level I holster for a 1911, that is identical to the Level II SERPA excepting the SERPA system and he also received this "new design" paddle. Mine was a matte finish, his was a carbon fiber finish.
On the one hand, I like the changes because it is much easier to get on and off during the day and admittedly, I took off the outside hooks of the older paddle because it was such a hassle to get on and off (which I have to sometimes do several times a day at the office depending on what I am wearing). On the other hand, for open carry, it is not as well secured as the earlier design. As the paddles are interchangeable between the holsters, I will use the older design for open carry with the outside hooks back in place.
The new design works well on my 5.11 Tactical gun belts, but it will not properly secure (at least to my satisfaction) on a non-gun belt or a belt of a different width. With a regular good quality dress belt I felt secure that the older paddle design, with all hooks in place and properly adjusted for belt width, was not going to go anywhere as I could barely remove it myself. However, the new design, with a regular dress belt or most non-gun belts, I wouldn't feel entirely comfortable with in a retention battle as I think it would be pretty easily removed, paddle and all. If the BG grabbed the pistol's grip and pulled, the hooks would likely hold, but if he grabbed the holster around the barrel and pulled, the paddle is so flexible that it would take little effort to then pull the holster up and out of the pants. For CC it's fine and probably an improvement, for OC, I would have returned it if I didn't have the other paddle to use between holsters.
I'm curious to know if this is an overall redesign or if it is just for certain pistols.
I recently acquired a new Blackhawk CQC SERPA Level II holster for my P228. One thing of note is that the paddle is not nearly as beefy or as stiff nor as wide as the paddle that came with the XD.45 holster I bought a year ago. Also, the new paddle has hooks molded into the part of paddle that goes over the front of the belt, rather than having removable/adjustable belt hooks. The molded in hooks are flat topped and do not retain as well as the removable hooks from the earlier holster and are obviously non-adjustable. Furthermore, the hook on the paddle portion that goes inside the pants is smaller. The belt attachement appears to be the same. A buddy recently purchased a Blackhaws CQC Level I holster for a 1911, that is identical to the Level II SERPA excepting the SERPA system and he also received this "new design" paddle. Mine was a matte finish, his was a carbon fiber finish.
On the one hand, I like the changes because it is much easier to get on and off during the day and admittedly, I took off the outside hooks of the older paddle because it was such a hassle to get on and off (which I have to sometimes do several times a day at the office depending on what I am wearing). On the other hand, for open carry, it is not as well secured as the earlier design. As the paddles are interchangeable between the holsters, I will use the older design for open carry with the outside hooks back in place.
The new design works well on my 5.11 Tactical gun belts, but it will not properly secure (at least to my satisfaction) on a non-gun belt or a belt of a different width. With a regular good quality dress belt I felt secure that the older paddle design, with all hooks in place and properly adjusted for belt width, was not going to go anywhere as I could barely remove it myself. However, the new design, with a regular dress belt or most non-gun belts, I wouldn't feel entirely comfortable with in a retention battle as I think it would be pretty easily removed, paddle and all. If the BG grabbed the pistol's grip and pulled, the hooks would likely hold, but if he grabbed the holster around the barrel and pulled, the paddle is so flexible that it would take little effort to then pull the holster up and out of the pants. For CC it's fine and probably an improvement, for OC, I would have returned it if I didn't have the other paddle to use between holsters.
I'm curious to know if this is an overall redesign or if it is just for certain pistols.