Holster Stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5x4BwB7Muc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsQ0hs6CvcI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab04InKIkOU
Kramer Leather is supposed to be shipping my new holster in the next couple of days. I ordered their horsehide #3 IWB with a matching belt and magazine pouch for my Taurus 24/7. I’m anxious to see how it turns out. I really like the Kramer I got for my S&W model 19.
There are a lot of fine holster makers out there but many of them are so backlogged that they’re not accepting new orders. 5 Shot leather has an interesting IWB and Clint Smith keeps talking them up but it’s kind of pointless since they’re not accepting new orders. I found another fellow doing nice work with some of the old George Lawrence, Bruce Nelson, and Milt Sparks designs who is also not taking orders. DelFatti leather is in the same boat. I guess that’s a pretty good litmus test; if you can’t order from them, they’re making good stuff.
Many of the makers I was used to were not young men and have passed away. Sometimes the shop keeps turning out quality product (Milt Sparks) but often some offspring takes over and starts selling cheesy imported stuff (El Paso Saddlery). Lou Alessi passed recently and they’ve changed his website considerably and I have no idea if the quality has remained high.
I have certain tastes in holsters and generally choose a maker based on their available holster designs. If you have a less popular model of pistol, you may be severely limited in holster choices. Mitch Rosen makes superb stuff but he doesn’t offer any designs I prefer so I don’t buy Rosen holsters. I generally look around until I find a maker turning out a design I like and then try to find some good reviews. Then, I take a chance and order a holster. I don’t trust the reviews in magazines as they’re generally just ads. I’m also careful with reviews from new shooters as they often don’t have any experience with real quality work so have nothing to compare to shoddy work.
If I didn’t have such a fondness for leather, I’d probably order all my holsters from Comp-Tac. There are a lot of Kydex holster makers out there but only Comp-Tac offers the design I like. I did find one other custom Kydex maker who made them the way I prefer but I can’t remember who he was and I can’t find him again.
When I get a new pistol, I will generally pick up a nylon holster to tide me over until I can get a quality rig. I’m pretty fortunate that my holster box isn’t overflowing with holsters I can’t use. I have a Bianchi that I don’t care for but I got it before I knew any better. I also have a couple of Hunter holsters that are serviceable but have been permanently replaced with better stuff.
Makers I would currently order from include Galco, Comp-Tac, Mernickle Leather, Milt Sparks, and Alfonso’s. While I like Kramer Leather, there were some issues with my last order that are making me a little nervous. I’ll wait until I have it in hand before I continue to recommend Kramer. For generic nylon holsters I like Bagmaster but there’s really not a lot to choose between nylon makers.