imported post
WOW! I just stumbled on this thread. In fact, I believe I was the messenger who had his retention hood down. I work for GARDA, and I carry an XD. And around the time of your post, I was working in Midtown/East Side.
So, onto the real reasoning... I probably made some remark about using the gun too frequently, because I have no idea who you are and I'm on a tight schedule.
I have a Level II Rentention Holster. I is the hood, II is pulling the gun straight up to get it out. This makes it difficult for most people who are not attached to the holster itself, and I try my best not to let very many people get that close to me.
There is no rule saying I have to have my hood down. But, obviously it's recommended to maximize the safety of the holster. The truth is, my vest pushes down on the hood and often releases it. So I tend to leave it down for the whole "muscle memory" part of training. If I need to draw in a big hurry because a situation just went real bad, it's not going to be good to fumble with a hood that may or may not be secured. So, I train with it down.
I hope this satisfies your curiousity!
I'll leave you with some hood down action