self defense carry: Hays Cross Draw Holster

About SD Carry

As a young boy in Texas, I grew up with guns. They were basic tools, much like my grandfather's mitre box or pipe wrench, there to perform specific tasks when called upon. I was taught gun safety by virtually every male adult in my family. I spent eight years in the US Navy operating and maintaing various guns from .30 caliber to 5" rifles.

After a few years as a moderator on a popular gun forum, I learned that there is much disinformation, prejudice and plain ignorance about guns posted constantly on the internet.

This blog is dedicated to sharing worthwhile information about the increasing acceptance and practice of legal concealed carry in our country. There is much mis-information and wild opinion about this topic among its practitioners and the public in general. The moral, social and legal responsibilities of concealed carry are immense and must be understood and practiced by all who legally carry a gun.

There is also a vast amount of practical and useful information about carrying and the weapons themselves and I hope to be able to share some of that here. Your comments are welcome, but will be moderated by me before appearing on this blog.

Stay safe.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Hays Cross Draw Holster

As you will know if you've read the entries in this blog, I favor cross draw for concealed carry. If you don't and are interested in why, check the prior blog post on that here.

I contacted Jeff Hays of Colorado about his cross draw holsters for the LCP after reading complimentary postings on the forums I frequent and moderate. I like to carry OWB when I can, especially around the house with the LCP, but I had not been able to locate a really good holster for that. The other OWB holsters I have tried have one issue in common: they don't keep the gun tight to the body, which is essential if you don't want the grip to print. Those holsters work well if you will be wearing a coat, jacket or vest, but with a light shirt, which is what I normally wear in the summer, they do not adequately keep the gun from printing.

Jeff sent a cross draw holster made for the LCP with Crimson Trace Laserguard. I have been wearing it for most of the day and evenings for about a week now and can report that it works, and works very well. In addition to keeping the LCP reasonably tight to the body the holster is made to ride high on the belt, keeping the vast majority of leather out of sight. Now, these are characteristics of a concealed holster that work against one another - tight is compromised by the fact that the majority of weight of holster and gun is above the belt. This will promote a tendency for the top of the gun to lean out away from the body. Some makers may use very thick and stiff leather to counter this, but Jeff has chosen to do this by the way in which the belt slots are placed and designed. They spread the force across a wide area which, so far, has worked very well. He uses quality leather, but not overly thick, which can be uncomfortable for daily wear.

Overall, I am very pleased with Jeff's holster design for the LCP cross draw. As I continue to wear it daily I will be able to report on how well it holds up over time. His prices are very reasonable and the quality of workmanship is first rate. If you are at all interested in a good cross draw holster, or the OWB pancake design of Jeff's other offerings, contact him at: www.haysholsters.com (hayesholsters will get you to a different site, so don't add an "e" to hays...)

Here are a few initial photos. More and better ones will follow.