heresyourdipstickjimmy
Regular Member
Ask yourself a question: Do you wear the correct holster when you OC?
The likely answer for many is no, though many will think they do. I apologize in advance if you have been duped into thinking your holster is appropriate for OC as it may not be. Trust me, I've been down this road and I'm still torn as to if I'd ever go back to a Level I retention.
Examples of no-go OC holsters are ANY holster that is open top and has no retention other than possibly a pressure screw. Fobus open tops, Blackhawk open tops, leather open tops, and many others fit this bill and should be considered a BAD idea when you OC. No matter how much you think being able to draw with only that retention screw or pressure from the rivets is essential, it can be a negative even more than a positive.
Any person at any time could easily walk up and remove your firearm from the holster and by the time you feel the action starting it's likely already too late to go into retention mode. Retention screws and rivets give out and the rivets can eventually weaken the kydex or plastic.
To prevent this issue a minimum of at least 1 secondary retention device should be incorporated in your holster. Be it a top snap (must fit properly too), a trigger guard catch (like in the Serpa and CQC and some others), and other retention options. Granted I'm not suggesting a LEO level III or IV, I'm suggesting that you, the shooter, realize that your bottom level I holster likely is inadequate for OC and in some cases for CCW.
When I was deployed at Ft. Benning, Ga., we were issued the military death-flap holsters and quickly discarded them and went with Safariland. I failed to see any reliability in them as they were used and abused to say the least...snaps didn't work, some were missing snaps or straps, and even the retention screws didn't work. I stepped it up a notch and went Uncle Mike's Duty Level III and was pleasantly surprised.
This was a holster that allowed someone else to pick me up off the ground without breaking my holster or removing my firearm...unless they knew exactly how to remove it from the holster which was tricky. I had a new found faith in Level II and Level III holsters for OC at that point. I even managed to be able to draw from that holster much faster than the other guys could from the Safariland or the death-flap.
So evaluate your holster choices carefully as you might be making a bad choice.
The likely answer for many is no, though many will think they do. I apologize in advance if you have been duped into thinking your holster is appropriate for OC as it may not be. Trust me, I've been down this road and I'm still torn as to if I'd ever go back to a Level I retention.
Examples of no-go OC holsters are ANY holster that is open top and has no retention other than possibly a pressure screw. Fobus open tops, Blackhawk open tops, leather open tops, and many others fit this bill and should be considered a BAD idea when you OC. No matter how much you think being able to draw with only that retention screw or pressure from the rivets is essential, it can be a negative even more than a positive.
Any person at any time could easily walk up and remove your firearm from the holster and by the time you feel the action starting it's likely already too late to go into retention mode. Retention screws and rivets give out and the rivets can eventually weaken the kydex or plastic.
To prevent this issue a minimum of at least 1 secondary retention device should be incorporated in your holster. Be it a top snap (must fit properly too), a trigger guard catch (like in the Serpa and CQC and some others), and other retention options. Granted I'm not suggesting a LEO level III or IV, I'm suggesting that you, the shooter, realize that your bottom level I holster likely is inadequate for OC and in some cases for CCW.
When I was deployed at Ft. Benning, Ga., we were issued the military death-flap holsters and quickly discarded them and went with Safariland. I failed to see any reliability in them as they were used and abused to say the least...snaps didn't work, some were missing snaps or straps, and even the retention screws didn't work. I stepped it up a notch and went Uncle Mike's Duty Level III and was pleasantly surprised.
This was a holster that allowed someone else to pick me up off the ground without breaking my holster or removing my firearm...unless they knew exactly how to remove it from the holster which was tricky. I had a new found faith in Level II and Level III holsters for OC at that point. I even managed to be able to draw from that holster much faster than the other guys could from the Safariland or the death-flap.
So evaluate your holster choices carefully as you might be making a bad choice.