It’s that time of year, when the summer gear goes away and the winter gear starts gradually coming out. And this morning I got to obsessing about holsters. Because there’s something about my holsters that has always perplexed me. I mean I don’t lay awake worrying about it but still – it’s been a persistent question.
Okay, so the set up: Longtime readers know that after a couple of years of thinking about it, I finally switched from a .44 revolver to a stereotypical plastic striker 9mm about eighteen months ago.
It was actually a birthday gift from Gun Jesus, who’d been touting this obscure Slovenian gunmaker for quite some time. And at first I wasn’t sure I agreed with his assessment of the Arex Delta Gen 2 but that turned out to be an ammo compatibility issue that has largely gone away. I mean the gun is almost guaranteed to jam under one particular circumstance but it’s a circumstance that almost never happens outside practice sessions and is easily avoidable and it’s a good gun with all the modern bells and whistles and anyway that’s not what this post is about.
I needed a holster quick, and found a cheap one on Amazon.
I got confused about Delta M versus Delta L, so I ended up immediately introducing my new no-name holster to Mr. Dremel, but that happily didn’t cause any issues. The holster fit the gun, it was comfortable, I could wear it under a shirt in town, and I hated it. I hated it because the old man with the bad shoulders had a terrible time drawing and reholstering with it. Especially reholstering. But it was never intended as anything but a stopgap so I didn’t worry about it. I replaced it with a much better one, which was not at all cheap.
It’s a drop holster with a lot of standoff, it’s a dream to draw and reholster from and I wore it every day for like a year. It’s absolutely not intended for concealed carry so sometimes I had to spend a few hours with the no-name holster and one day this past June I did something financially irresponsible…
And bought another highrise. Which I expected to use no more often than I did the old no-name. I really felt bad about spending the money but then something weird happened. I loved this holster. It’s not only comfortable to wear, which the old is, but it’s also comfortable to draw and reholster with. I wear it every day. It replaced my low-ride.
THIS MAKES NO SENSE. Look!
I kind of assumed that the old highrise was just that much higher than the new one, which is why I had trouble using the old one but not the new one but side by side, there’s no perceivable difference with the single exception of presentation angle. And maybe that slight difference makes the difference? I don’t know.
So anyway – we’re getting to the season of winter coats, which is always a problem when it comes to holsters but my drop holster mostly solves it so it’s coming back into use for the next several months. I just thought it was weird, that’s all.
