Tag: holster

Gear Review: Galco Walkabout for J-Frames

Thanks to the generosity of The Tactical Professor, I have been able to spend some time with the Galco Walkabout for small revolvers. Here is a quick review based on living with it for the last week or so.

  • Shown with 5-Shot Speed Loader
  • Ambidextrous ability

Historically, holsters with on-board spare ammo storage are the laughing stock of serious gun people the world over. If you want to feel discomfort, get a tactical codpiece and try to go about your day with it. It’s terrible (for me) and I simply can’t use one. See the T-Rex Arms Sidecar for proof.

  • Why is anyone buying 20″ wide rigid appendix holsters?

The mission of my J-frame is being a clip and go, around the house, errand run, simple to carry gun. The limited capacity warrants having a backup ammo supply nearby. Given the size, weight, and geometry of the J-frame, it could be feasible and comfortable. The cylinder leaves a perfectly matched cylindrical void just outside of the holster that would fit a speed loader perfectly. I was pleased to see something like this existed in the Galco Walkabout.

The Pros

The fact that this concept exists is a pro. Googling wouldn’t yield any other holsters that attempted this concept, so I was glad that there was at least one. The holster does what a good holster should do. It protects the trigger, it stays put on the belt, allows a full firing grip, and the mouth of the holster contains a wire that keeps it open when drawn.

The holster is comfortable suede and has the hardware to mount for either hand, as well as whatever cant you desire, including a negative cant for cross draw applications if that’s your thing. I set it up for zero cant to wear AIWB.

The Cons

I think if there were a few things done differently, this would be a must own. Here’s my gripes.

  • The belt clip is trash. I think the quick fix to make this thing 10x better is to swap the clip for a Discreet Carry Concepts spring steel clip. This is my biggest gripe.
  • It only accepts HKS and 5-star speed loaders. No Safariland or Jetload or anything like that.
  • The ride height of the speedloader sits exactly in-line with the cylinder of the gun. It makes sense from a space-saving standpoint, but means you have to reach into your pants to grasp the loader. I’d like to see it ride higher, closer to above the belt line.
  • The retention snap will get you killed in the streets. I have it clipped out of the way because when I tried using the retention snaps, the grip of the speed-loader gets hung up in the suede and is guaranteed to make you bobble the reload. Also, when you unsnap it, occasionally the loader comes out with the strap, flinging the loader into the ether. I have several ideas to fix this, but I’ll keep them to myself for now.
  • Death in the streets. (colorized, 2019)

I think an enterprising kydex maker or leather worker could optimize this idea and make a very workable solution (holla at ya boy). But in the meantime this is the only game in town.

If you find value in my ramblings, please subscribe, share, and shop through our amazon affiliate link. Or consider a small donation through PayPal.

Universal Revolver ClipDraw Install

I’ve been outfitting my new Ruger LCR for carry, and I wanted to install a clip to allow easy carry around the house. ClipDraw doesn’t make a custom LCR clip, but they do make a universal revolver clip that uses 3M adhesive tape and a screw together mount.

I’m a big fan of this style of ‘holster’ for small double action revolvers and small DAO pistols. I do NOT recommend them on anything resembling a Glock’s SFA trigger.

I snapped some photos and will outline the simple install.

  • Clean the surfaces with an alcohol prep to remove crud.
  • Confirm where you want to install the clip, and trim the adhesive strip so it fits in the available space on the frame of the gun. Take care to keep it on a single flat surface so it bonds well with the steel mount.
  • Firmly press the mount onto the adhesive at the desired location. If you have a weird application, like trying to work around a crimson trace laser for instance, you can trim the parts as desired. Since that wasn’t needed here I just simply mounted.

Note there are three threaded holes. This allows two positions of the clip that grabs the belt, for some fine tuning of ride height. This gives a bit of control over getting a full firing grip vs more deep concealment. Screw the screws and away you go.

  • The Universal ClipDraw on an LCR

Craft Holsters Review and Holster Thoughts

I was sent this holster free of charge with the intent to review it honestly. I'm happy to check out your gear. Just don't be surprised if I let people know the good AND the bad.

A company called Craft Holsters contacted me about testing one of their holsters a few months ago. They boast 250 different holster options! I think what they do is have many holster makers under their banner. The holster I received even has another company etched into it. The Rep was kind enough to give me free choice of any holster on their website (including with monograms! ). I scoured the site and was having trouble finding anything that looked like it fit my criteria. I talked with their rep, telling them how several of their holsters seemed pretty close to sufficient, but all were lacking one or several requirements I had. I even wrote a list detailing what could be fixed about their holsters to make them useful for people who actually carry their guns.

I looked through their catalog with the hopes to find a leather 0-degree cant holster for my Beretta 92A1 that would work for appendix carry. I found one they make that most closely fit the bill. I mentioned to them that I wouldn’t buy this holster, but if they wanted me to choose one, this was it. I have been struggling with, I mean *using*, their holster all summer and here’s my thoughts.

My “Ideal Holster” Criteria

  • Must allow full firing grip (FFG) in holster
  • Must cover trigger guard and not allow trigger press through body of holster
  • Must allow one handed holstering (mouth of holster must not collapse under belt pressure)
  • Must retain pistol sufficiently for my needs. (if I can do some handstands without the gun falling out, I’m happy)
  • Sufficient comfort and concealment for my needs

The Good

  • Leather is more comfortable than kydex. So the material was a good choice. It’s also pretty, for what that’s worth.
  • Tuckable leather belt loop allowed the gun to move with my body. This increased comfort but made concealment poor.
  • Retained gun well. I was doing handstands, cartwheels, and chasing my son around parks all summer and the gun stayed put.
  • Reasonably good ride height. FFG was no problem.
  • Holster covers trigger, albeit “lazily”. A small flap of leather hovers over the opening, leaving the space behind the trigger open. Given time, sweat, and use, I fear it might create an unsafe condition. Like this guy’s leather rig.

The Bad

  • Uses a standard snap on the belt loop. There is no excuse for a holster maker NOT to use a pull-the-dot style directional snap. The ability to unsnap the holster as you’re clearing your cover garment is an immediate no-go. They need to fix this. I was accidentally unsnapping it during the draw in dry- and live-fire.
  • Poor concealment. I understand I’m spoiled with excellent concealment holsters, but the floppy leather belt loop allows the butt of the pistol to stick out from my body more than I’m comfortable with. The leather loop itself is quite thick also. I believe they could fix this with a hardware adjustment and perhaps integrating something like a Tuck-Strut into their design.
  • The mouth of the holster is single-ply, and consequently collapses when the gun is removed. This will only get worse with wear. At minimum they need a second ply of leather, but more ideally they need to sew in a steel or kydex band that will add structure to the mouth of the holster to allow one handed holstering. When a holster collapses, it requires you to use the muzzle to try to finesse the holster open, which often puts the muzzle in an unsafe direction as you rock it back and forth.

Conclusion

What does a good holster look like? Here’s an example of the Excellent JM Custom Kydex AIWB 2.5 holster.

I gave the Craft Holsters rig a fair shake this summer. I wore it daily and on a couple long road trips. I wouldn’t recommend it in its current configuration. I think it could be reworked into something useful, but it would increase the cost and complexity. In a world of uninformed gun owners, and being able to mass market easily to them, I don’t think most companies would be interested in improving their designs for people who actually carry a gun every day. To be fair, I haven’t given any feedback to Craft Holsters, so I’m not sure what they’d do. My guess is they’ll say ‘thanks for your time’ and go to the next thirsty blogger who wants free shit. I’ll update this post if they surprise me.

There are trade-offs in holster design. There is some sort of Speed, Comfort, Concealment, Safety, Robustness interaction chart that I haven’t worked out. But everything is a compromise.

This, kids, is how I remove myself from the list of blog gear reviewers that companies try to use to get exposure. I’m making myself irrelevant one review at a time! I’m sorry for my lack of posts, it’s been a busy summer being Daddy Day Care. I’ll be writing more in the coming months.

If you find value in my ramblings, please subscribe, share, and shop through our amazon affiliate link. https://www.growingupguns.com/2018/12/07/brazil-bar-gun-grapple-analysis/

Review: High Noon Holsters – Mister Softy

A few years ago, I was looking for a holster for my Glock 19 as a temporary setup to hold me over until my custom kydex order showed up. Several of my trusted friends recommended the Mister Softy from High Noon Holsters. Even after receiving my high-speed kydex stuff, I’ve found myself going back to it again and again. Here’s a brief review.

Glock 19
Glock 19

Things of note:

Price – At $30, it’s a really good value. It is also in stock and ready to ship. Mine has held up really well. I’ve got my money’s worth. The price point means that if I have a friend who is carrying in an Uncle Mike’s nylon job, I wouldn’t feel bad giving them this one as a solid upgrade from nylon.

Sig P250
Sig P250

Multiple Gun Fit – It fits all of the G19 sized guns I own. I have successfully carried the Glock (26,19,17), the Beretta PX4 Compact, and now the Sig P250. The pliability of the cowhide allows slightly different guns to fit the same holster. I usually would poo-poo a ‘universal holster’, but this one does a good job of doing what a holster needs to do, while accommodating several guns. It’s like a quality gun sock. That’s a win.

Beretta PX4 Compact
Beretta PX4 Compact

Belt Clip – The stout spring clip snaps over belts with ease, and stays put. I have used this in force on force and in a lot of range trips and competitions. Never a hiccup. It DOES require a belt though.

Belt Clip
Belt Clip

Concealment – This is a good carry holster, but not a great training or competition holster. It’s a basic holster with no wedges or claws to tuck the grip into your waist, but still does a fine job. You can see where the top of the clip meets the grip/trigger guard that the holster rides low in the pants.  This is great for concealment, but requires you to tilt the holster as your fingers slide into position to establish a full firing grip before drawing. Retention is provided via friction by the rough side of the leather. I carry this at 1 O’clock. It is a straight drop holster.

Construction – The small gripe I have with the construction is that the mouth of the holster is not reinforced besides a second layer of cowhide. I’d love if it were steel or kydex reinforced, but that adds to price significantly. While it’s new, you can still holster the gun easily. The lack of reinforcement means the mouth of the holster closes a bit once you draw. The more sweaty and worn it gets, the worse this issue will get. This is why I say it’s not a great training or competition holster. For daily carry, it’s perfectly serviceable.

No reinforced mouth
No reinforced mouth

That’s pretty much it. It’s a holster that I have no problem recommending for an off-the-shelf option.

Thanks for reading,

Mark

If you find value in my posts, please consider subscribing and sharing. And please do your Amazon shopping through our affiliate link.