Holster size marketing

J

Johnny3333

Inactive
This is more a rant to all the holster manufacturers than a question. Gun manufacturers are making CCW weapons as thin as possible and marketing thickness measurements in hundredths (corrected) of an inch, 0.75". Holster manufacturers who ultimately control the overall thickness of the cancelled carry package offer no indication of thickness. I recently purchased a positive retention holster that more than doubled the thickness of the CCW package, I would expect a positive retention holster to be thicker. I started looking closer at holsters and cannot find one marketing their dimensions. Looking at my limited collection of holsters they can tend to waste a lot of thickness although sold as concealment holsters. Holster manufacturers how about full disclosure in your marketing with hard numbers and not just tag lines "deep concealment".
 
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marketing thickness measurements in hundred thousandths of an inch, 0.75"

Huh? Leather is thicker than Kydex, and most Kydex is typically 2-3 mm thick.

.1" is tenths of an inch
.01" is hundreds of an inch
.001" is thousands of an inch
.0001" is one hundred thousands of an inch

What holster did you get? What is the thickness?
 
I misstated the hundredths, sorry. I'm talking about the overall thickness of the holster not how thick the material is used to make it, although that does impact the overall dimension. The CCW package meaning the gun in the holster, that is what needs to be concealed. I'm not out to bash a holster just bring to light the lack of disclosure in holster marketing.
 
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Buying a holster is like buying an off-the-rack suit. Sort of fits, but it's not quite right.
Retention isn't about size or thickness. It's about fit. None of the manufacturers market holsters by dimensions. They market 'em(that has nothing whatever to do with 'full disclosure' of anything) to fit a particular barrel length and action type.
What pistol is only 3/4" wide? Even the Ruger LCP .380 is .82" wide.
 
I've gone thru a couple of dozen in the last 45 years. Kydex was the single greatest improvement in holsters. In the beginning of time everyone used a Milt Sparks IWB Summer special, today I use a Alabama Hooker, IWB appendix for carry and a 15 year old BladeTech solid laminate (no longer made) straight drop belt holster for competition.
 
My concealed carry holster, a Crossbreed Super Tuck, is exactly one layer of kydex and one layer of leather thicker than the gun. No, I don't know how think each layer is but I do know it couldn't be much thinner and still actually hold something.


You say you want to know "the overall thickness of the holster not how thick the material is used to make it," but how much wasted space is in a holster? There's not a lot of "air space" in any holster I've ever seen. They pretty much are DEFINED by the thickness of the material plus the thickness of the gun. You'd need a 5th dimension to make them thinner than what you're going to put in them.
 
There are some OWB holsters (a Blackhawk Serpa comes to mind) that adds extra dimension with attachment methods, but any mainstream IWB holster is pretty much going to be the width of the gun + the holster material widths.

IWB = Skin > Leather > Gun > Leather/Kydex > Pants.

Like I said, some OWB holster attachment methods push it way off the body, but if I were to carry OWB (NEVER outside the gun range, personally) it would be a full size weapon and so the dimension matter a lot less!

Personally I like the hybrids... not too thick leather against skin for comfort, kydex for retention, lovely.
 
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