Looking for that Cross Draw Holster

As much as I like D.M. Bullard's leather holsters (I have three of them and two mag carriers) I am looking for a less expensive alternative to cross draw holsters. I also like Remora holsters and have found that they function very well in the cross draw position and are very easy to get on and off, and to re-adjust if necessary. They seldom shift position and only do so if you do a bunch of extreme up and down movements, like bending way over and squatting, etc. Even then, they don't tend to move much. It's more in my mind than in actuality. The thing I don't like, and it's not particular to Remoras, it having it shoved inside my waistband. It's fine for a few hours, but for an all day carry, it gets wearisome for me. Some people don't mind at all, but they like IWB carry anyway, no matter what holster they use.

I am looking for a good alternative OWB cross draw holster. I found interesting ones at texasdonkeys.com which is also Rising Star Holsters. Jim Crawford is the owner and holster maker and he does a very nice job of making holsters of Herman Oak leather. I bought an LC9 cross draw OWB from him. It was a beauty but with the size of the LC9 that particular design did not work out well. The holster had a large, long belt loop but because of the size and weight of the LC9, that design did not pull the butt of the gun in close enough for good concealment. I called Jim and discussed this with him and we agreed to exchange the LC9 cross draw for an LCP cross draw. The smaller size and weight of the LCP should keep the gun in proper position. I should receive it in a day or two so I will report, with photos, the results.

For the LC9, not to mention the SR9c, an OWB holster must have a design capable of pulling the butt of the pistol into the body. Jim's other designs, for larger guns, have two "loops", one on the back and one on the 'inboard' side of the holster nearer the belt buckle, which should do that nicely. I haven't tried one yet. I might as Jim's work is first class and the design looks right.

On aspect of cross draw holsters that are overdone in my opinion is the tendency of makers to put a significant cant on the holster. I don't think this is necessary for quick access, nor is it a feature that helps conceal the pistol. A cross draw position is more difficult to hide due to the fact that the butt of the gun points toward your midline, getting the butt closer to the belt buckle and closer to view if you are wearing an unbuttoned shirt, or more prone to printing under a loose shirt. If the gun is worn more straight up-and-down, the butt is further away from midline and tends to tuck in close to your body reducing printing and visibility. For example, today, going for a quick morning walk with my wife, I grabbed the SR9c in the Remora and wore it IWB, cross draw, straight drop (vertical, no cant), under a light sweater. Invisible, fairly comfortable and as easy to get to as a holster with a cant.

My experience with D.M. Bullard's work is that his designs work, and work well, and the end product fits the gun it is designed and made for and will last as long as the gun lasts, certainly longer than I will. But, at this point the demand for his holsters far exceeds his output. He's expanded and is training more help, but his standards are so high that it will be a long time before his lead time gets back to "reasonable". Right now, if he starts taking custom orders again, it is still likely to be three or four months. And you can expect to pay a premium for his work, which I do not begrudge him. It's worth it.

So, the search goes on. I have enough carry systems to be effective now so I'm in no great hurry to find the best cross draw setup. I'll report here from time to time on my findings.

Getting Back to Basics

Ruger's LCP (Light Compact Pistol)

After one decides to carry a concealed handgun for defense and goes through the necessary bureaucratic procedures to get the carry permit, and trains to become proficient, then attends more classes, or does some extensive reading and discussion with friends or forum friends, then decides on the ammunition that best serves the carry needs, schools oneself on the possible aftermath of a legal self defense shooting and, finally gets a few holsters that satisfy concealment requirements, it is apparent that the situation has become somewhat complicated. Like that last sentence.

Much energy, time and conversation is devoted to the accessories, guns, ammo, shooting and all that goes with them, but it is easy to lose sight of what brought you to this pass in the first place. That would be, at least for me, the desire to not go defenseless into the world, to be ready to stand up to evil and craziness where and when necessary. So, let me try to find the basics in all of that.

The basic requirements are, I think, these:

1. Be armed where ever legally possible, all of the time.
   
2. Commit to the real possibility that sometime in life you will be forced to use your gun to apply deadly force in the defense of yourself or others, and you will do this without hesitation once that situation is reached.
   
3. Understand absolutely the legal and moral requirements incumbent on you who have chosen to carry a concealed weapon.
   
4. Be proficient with your gun and particular with your ammunition so that you only hit what you intend to shoot.
   
5. Choose a gun for defense in an environment that will most likely contain other people than just the bad guy(s). A .44 magnum is not a good choice.
   
6. Use a gun that you will always carry. Again, a .44 magnum or other two pound massive pistol is not a good choice.
   
7. Use a quality holster in such a position that you can get to your pistol quickly whether sitting or standing.
   

Assuming that one has accepted and practices numbers 1 through 4 above, there is still much dispute and endless discussions about the best defense pistol and how to carry it concealed. Much of this is really beside the point. It is entertaining and fun to get into these things, but, for real, my philosophy has boiled down to a few basic facts.

 

I always carry when legally possible with a gun suitable to the occasion, and in a position where I can access it quickly sitting, driving, standing or walking. This means it has to be in a cross draw or appendix carry position, or a shoulder rig.

D. M. Bullard Cross Draw Holster

I would guess that the majority of legal concealed carry permit holders, when they carry, use the strong side position. It's kind of become the sanctioned or "approved" way. However, I think it is not the most effective. Even worn at 3:00 o'clock for a right handed shooter, the pistol will not be as easy to get to when one is sitting, or, especially driving buckled into your car seat. Moving the gun further back to 4:00 or 4:30, or worse, small of the back, just makes it worse.

Cross draw, especially for a right handed shooter, is the optimal carry position. You can get to your weapon quickly from almost any position. The seat belt doesn't interfere in a car. It is easy to get your gun hand on or in close to your gun without drawing attention to that fact. The same goes for appendix carry (1:00 o'clock for the right handed) but a little more complicated if sitting in a seat with a back, but not as bad as a strong-side position.

 

Cross draw has gotten a bad rap over the years, even though you'll see many photos of the old lawmen and Texas Rangers wearing their pistols cross draw. Must have been a reason. These days, if you were open carrying, like most law enforcement officers do, this would certainly put your gun in an easily accessible position when standing face to face with a bad guy. However, for us, wearing concealed, the bad guy likely won't know you have a gun in the first place.

 

It's a good position to use if, for example, a bad guy is close to you and you suddenly have to fend him off with your non-shooting hand. You can quickly fend, or block with your left, stepping back with your right leg, which is a natural movement in a fight, quickly drawing as your body turns and as soon as your gun becomes level it's pointing directly at him.

 

There are other reasons for considering cross draw. I had pretty much bought into the often stated notion that cross draw was old-fashioned, unsafe and not as effective as strong side carry, until I read a long piece on it in Gun Week by R. K. Campbell. You can find it here: http://www.gunweek.com/2005/feature0101.html

 

Given his experience and his reasoning, I had to re-evaluate my opposition to cross draw even though I was initally attracted to it. I suggest you read Mr. Campbell's article and decide for yourself.

 

Offering the Old Faithful Holsters for sale

As many of you do, I have far too many holsters. I bought the two Old Faithful holsters to evaluate here and for the members of my forum. I have finished now, and am putting these two holsters up for sale to recover paper of my purchase costs. They are essentially new and will come with all the extra hardware I did not use in assembly. $25 each plus $4 shipping. Email if interested.

Misinformed. Again

Easter Sunday. I am sitting in the back of the church in my usual spot, wearing a nice jacket, shiny boots and my Ruger LC9 discreetly tucked away when the guest preacher launches into a mini-tirade against the "make my day" law. His problems were three: he absolutely does not understand the specifics or intent of the law, he fails to see how protecting property justifies applying the law (basically the castle doctrine) to businesses, and he thinks people who have guns do so because they are afraid.
He and his wife also revealed later that they think anyone can go to a gun show and buy a fully functional "AK-47" which they equate with "machine guns."

I had the opportunity to discuss their assumptions with them, at some length, so that they were at least exposed to the facts of the law, that it is intended to protect people, not merely property, from harm regardless if one is in your home or place of business. That people should be afraid when encountering criminals or crazy people with guns and the way to not be afraid and to offer an effective way of protecting oneself and others is to legally carry and know how to use a firearm responsibly. And, I also disabused them of the notion that one can walk into a gun show and buy a machine gun.

Now, I am not at all certain that they believed me or will approach this with a more objective perspective. Likely not, especially since he was invested in convincing people that if one believes in Jesus, then you don't have to be afraid, because if someone kills you, you are going to heaven anyway. I'm not kidding. This was the underlying message he gave to the congregation.

I am not buying into that. To state only one objection: would it be all right if I did nothing while innocent people were murdered and I had an opportunity to stop it because they might be going to heaven anyway?

All that aside, the essential issue is a common one. People are misinformed about the reasons why our rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are fundamental and, in many cases, can only be guaranteed by our right to bear arms to protect ourselves from others who would seek to take those rights, and our very lives, away from us. People are misinformed. Why?

I suspect it is because of fear and ignorance. Fear of guns, since they only know what they see in the media - and by that I mean film and TV as well as gun-hostile press - and ignorance of basic facts regarding self-defense shootings and crime. A prime example of this is when the preacher also said that the number of self defense shootings had "doubled" over the last few years. That is statistically incorrect, however, he mentioned nothing about the curious facts that while the number of citizens arming themselves and acquiring concealed carry permits had grown tremendously, the violent crime rate has significantly dropped during that same period. That this interesting connection was not mentioned by the preacher tells me that he didn't know this, or, if he did, it did not fit his preconceived notions about guns and people. Certainly didn't fit with his "it is ok to be afraid" sermon.
I couldn't help wondering, sitting there with my legal, concealed 9 mm, if he would have condemned me should I have had to protect him and the others there from some crazy with a gun come to church to settle the demons in his head?

Old Faithful Holster - LCP Update

I noticed that the LCP and LC9 holsters share the same leather backing, the only difference in the holsters being the size of the kydex part. I am testing this holster in the cross draw position for use while sitting - in the car, for example - and for general use. I think the cross draw carry position has suffered from rumor and bad press.

So, today, I trimmed 1" off the bottom portion of the leather backing and smoothed the edges with sandpaper. Since it does not now protrude so far down, sitting is much more comfortable with this modified backing. I was tempted to move the rear clip in toward the kydex as well, but will leave it where it is while I break in this new modification.

The clips on these holsters are so strong that I have taken to wearing them clipped to the pants, and under the belt. The holster is still very secure and the black belt hides the clips. I suggest this arrangement if you intend to wear a shirt tucked over this holster. It would virtually disappear like that.

 

 

A Review: Old Faithful Holsters IWB

For the Ruger LCP

For the Ruger LC9

Last week I bought two Old Faithful Holsters kits, one for the Ruger LCP and one for the Ruger LC9. I was intrigued by their concept for a tuckable, hybrid IWB holster designed along similar lines of the Crossbreed holster types. The most interesting aspect, or at least the one that first got my attention, is the price difference. Old Faithful offer holsters in four versions with four different prices:

1. Premium Kit - $38.95
2. Molded Kit - $32.95
3. Un-Molded Kit - $ 27.95
4. Fully Assembled - $72.95

Starting with the Un-Molded kit, more work is involved in getting the holster ready for assembly than in the other, more expensive versions. The Premium Kit comes ready to install. No cutting, sanding or drilling is required. See the Old Fashioned Holster site for photos of the different kits, parts and assembly videos. http://oldfaithfulholsters.com/

So, make it yourself and save from 50% or more off the assembled kit price. The Crossbreed holsters, which are basically the same type - leather backing, kydex holster and metal belt clips - run $69.95 for the SuperTuck Deluxe, without extras such as horsehide or special cut on the leather.

Old Faithful Holsters also claim adjustability for the kydex so that the amount of tension holding the gun in place is adjustable by the user, and thicker kydex than that used by Crossbreed.

I will skip a detailed rundown of the assembly process, except to note any differences or issues I encountered that depart from the assembly sequence that is shown in excellent videos provided on the Old Faithful site. These will give anyone a very accurate depiction of how to assemble and adjust these holsters and are highly recommended if you are contemplating buying and assembling one.

I ordered two of the Premium Kit holsters, one each for my LCP and LC9 pistols. Mine arrived well packaged in individual heavy zip-lock bags for the overall package, the leather, the kydex and all of the hardware. Referencing the assembly videos on the Old Faithful site, I assembled the LC9 holster first.

The most onerous part is driving the "T" nuts into the pre-drilled holes in the leather. Four are used for the kydex and two for the clips. I found the best way to do this is to obtain a piece of soft wood, like pine, and drill a hole big enough to accommodate the tube part of the "T" nut that contains the threads. This will poke through to the front of the leather after it is driven into the leather backing. Using a the soft wood backing and a soft mallet - plastic or rubber works best - you must drive the "T" nut flush with the back of the leather so that it doesn't protrude and rub against your skin or shirt.

When the kydex holster part is screwed into the the "T" nuts with the screws and washers provided it is held off the leather backing with short sections of PVC hose. You are provided with long, short and medium cut sections, as well as a long piece of hose that you can cut parts from if you need them. I discovered that it is best to use the shortest sections, along with the shortest screws possible so that the holster can be screwed down tight enough for a good fit to the gun and the screw ends will not protrude beyond the back ends of the "T" nuts and possibly dig into your skin or shirt. Here is where the greatest difficulty in assembling the holster came for me.

It is not easy to use the shortest screws with the short sections of PVC. The medium screws are long enough that they engage the threads in the "T" nuts easily, but you can't tighten the kydex down enough to the leather backing to get adequate tension on the gun. The short screws can be made to fit by applying pressure to the holster and leather enough to get a little compression in the PVC so the threads can be caught. In one instance, I had to trim a bit off one short PVC section in order to make it work. This was a minor hassle but with perseverance was done successfully.

In the end, the gun was a good fit, tight enough to hold well, but still easy to draw. Having the clips mounted on the short PVC sections also makes it easier to tuck a shirt, and does not allow the holster to squeak when you are wearing it and moving around as holsters having the clips attached directly to the leather sometimes do.

I found that for both holsters, the LCP and the LC9 fit well and are adequately covered. In fact, I would trim the top of the kydex where it covers the top part of the slide. I think it is a bit too long. When the holster is empty, and worn properly, that part of the kydex tends to collapse a bit toward the leather backing, closing down the top of the holster part way, making it a little more difficult to one-hand re-holster. A minor issue, but one that bothered me a bit.

The holsters are as comfortable to wear as others of this design and provide a very stable and well hidden platform for concealed carry. They, like the others, will break in to the user's body shape and become even more comfortable with time.

Another benefit for me is that since I did not pay big bucks for them, I feel more free to modify them to fit my body shape and my guns. Trimming the upper part of the leather, the "sweat shield" portion, to a more exact shape of that part of the gun is a good idea. The extra leather there tends to poke into your side or ribs and isn't really necessary. Also, the leather backing part of the holsters are identical for both the LCP and the LC9. The LCP is a much smaller gun than the LC9. Consequently, there is much unnecessary real estate left over in the LCP version. The leather backing on the LC9 version extends a little over an inch below the bottom of the kydex while on the LCP version, there are two inches of extra leather. Consequently, for a more comfortable ride, I would recommend trimming one inch or a little more off the bottom edge of the LCP holster's leather backing.

Also, I think the rear clip on the LCP holster is set too far to the rear, and could be repositioned at least another inch closer to the holster. This would be easily done with a drill, and trimming another inch or a bit more from the rear edge of the leather. This would result in a considerably smaller holster, making it more comfortable and, if one chooses a straight drop, no cant, design, which I did, will make it very easy to carry the LCP in this holster in cross draw, appendix or strong-side carry positions.

My conclusion is that these holsters, especially in kit form, are great values, the kits being considerably less expensive than other varieties. The kydex is thicker and less prone to flex, but could be modified a bit so that re-holstering is easier. The ability to adjust the tension of the fit, especially as the holster breaks in, is a plus as well. I think one improvement would be the ability to order different styles of clips from. I saw no provision for this on the Old Fashioned Holster site. My personal preference is for a "J" type clip. I don't like the protruding lips on the standard clips as they are more visible when wearing the rig with a tucked shirt, and can be prone to hanging up on an overgarment with a sewn hem, like some sweaters and sweatshirts.

Old Faithful Holsters - a good alternative at a good value and one that can be customized to a large degree to fit the individual. Worth serious consideration.

LC9 Holster