Online: | |
Visits: | |
Stories: |
Story Views | |
Now: | |
Last Hour: | |
Last 24 Hours: | |
Total: |
I really like Safariland’s retention holsters. I wear an ALS holster at work and occasionally even wear one off duty when I choose to carry behind the hip. I refuse to open carry in any type of holster that doesn’t have a retention device, therefore the Safariland retention holsters are in a constant carry rotation with me.
While I prefer the ALS retention locking mechanism (activated with the thumb), many people think the GLS model (activated with the middle finger) is actually faster. Both are quality designs and exponentially better in a fight than an open-top holster.
John Motil, general manager at The Tactical Defense Institute sent me some photos of a situation that a student at TDI experienced when using her GLS holster. Take a look at the pictures below and see if you can see what the problem is:
Do you see the problem? The GLS retention lock was activated when the student threw the holster (without gun) into her range bag. When she inserted the weapon, it wouldn’t properly seat in the holster. Here is John’s description of the incident:
“We had a new shooter using a GLS Holster this weekend, and ended up in a situation where the gun could have fallen out of the holster. Can you tell that the gun isn’t seated properly in one photo? Somehow the latch mechanism moved to the retention position while the gun was out, possibly while in her range bag. If something doesn’t feel right check, never force a gun into a holster.”
Shooters using the GLS should be aware that a problem like this is possible. Two negative outcomes could occur using a holster that is malfunctioning like this. The first is that the gun will remain loose in the holster and potentially fall out. The second is that the user could attempt to force the gun farther down into the malfunctioning holster, thereby causing an accidental discharge.
If something feels wrong when reholstering, take the time to figure out what is causing the problem. Don’t just ignore it or attempt to apply more force to “fix” it.
If you would like to read more articles like this one, please sign up for my email updates.