Although this story is primarily geared towards women in the police force, any lady who wants a holster for her pistol or revolver could benefit from the advice, too.
Courtesy PoliceOne.Com
Make sure that you do all that you can do to not only examine the holster but to try it out before purchasing.
I started the last chapter of this series by mentioning my tendency to repeat things of importance so that they stick in the minds of my students and readers. Therefore, I’d like to do that again here by opening the door to the subject of “little holsters for little guns.” Why on earth would anyone throw out the advantages of carrying one of today’s small-sized but adequately-powered pistols or revolvers by carrying it in a holster that is larger than it needs to be and that in itself, is a problem to conceal? And why would most women — whose body shapes and contours allow even less available “space” to place a holster against than most of their male counterparts — chose a holster that is not only bigger than necessary to carry the gun but also of a size that is difficult, if not impossible, to conceal?
Let’s look at a number of holsters that not only provide the characteristics that would facilitate the strong side, in-front-of-the-hip concealed carry concept (the designated “starting point” in our study) that we discussed the importance of last time but that should also work well with many women’s figures for they are all relatively small in size and many have additional features included specifically to facilitate their use by women.
The late Bruce Nelson developed a number of holsters that live on in the designs of others. The influence of his #1 Professional holster (body) can be seen somewhere in almost every serious holster line made by other people today. Its “open top” design allows for a fast and unencumbered draw. Depending on the maker, current incarnations utilize molding, tensioning devices or internal locks to retain the firearm. In the shorter lengths used for the kinds of guns often associated with concealment, its original, almost vertical (no or limited rake) configuration makes it a great holster for the in-front-of-the-hip configurations we have been discussing. And for some people, its current availability in either adjustable or front rake designs, makes things even better.
The Galco Avenger holster is a heavyweight leather model that carries the gun in a vertical plane and uses an adjustable tensioning device to hold it in place. It draws very much from Nelson’s original idea. Alessi Holster’s two “Department of Justice” models also derive heavily from what it seems that Nelson had in mind. Both are made from leather and offer a non-adjustable 0º rake but one has a cut down front wall that requires even less of an upward movement before the gun is driven forward toward the threat — in essence making it “faster” and certainly making it more compatible with shorter torsos.
Story continued here.
