Back in the early days the older family members that carried guns carried little wheel guns in leather holsters with snap tops in their waist bands. Shoulder holsters were a thing but most thought they were silly contraptions designed by and for police detectives.
When I started carrying I bypassed wheel guns and went straight to Semi-auto pistols. Synthetics were all the latest fad and felt so much more comfortable than hard leather so I used synthetic holsters.
Along came Glock and the shooting and CW market was changed forever. You just couldn't put a high tech wonder pistol in to a grandpa holster. But synthetic fabric holsters had been found to be too stretchy and not hold their shape well. Everything was good till the gun fell out. Something better was needed.
So along came plastic holsters. These were great. They held their shape forever. Especially if you wanted to move your bodily organs around from outside your body due to the lack of flexibility it was good for that. They were cold too. Until they made you sweat. Also they announced to everyone you had a gun with some clear printing. Uncomfortable and loud, really the worst of both worlds for concealment. Not too bad for open carry though, worn OTWB, where you want to announce.
Next came hybrids. Part plastic, part leather. The leather part goes against your body. This was more comfortable and smarter. The plastic part holds the gun. This was more practical in some ways although obvious printing was still obvious. Hybrids never really caught on though. Very few quality makers wanted to deal with them. Some have synthetic fabric with plastic on the outside. Then add some anti-printing feature to it. Seems complicated. And for what?
Which brings us back to the future.
Leather.
A well done leather holster is not only comfortable it holds the weapon securely and does not print easily. Seems everyone knew the answer all along.
When I started carrying I bypassed wheel guns and went straight to Semi-auto pistols. Synthetics were all the latest fad and felt so much more comfortable than hard leather so I used synthetic holsters.
Along came Glock and the shooting and CW market was changed forever. You just couldn't put a high tech wonder pistol in to a grandpa holster. But synthetic fabric holsters had been found to be too stretchy and not hold their shape well. Everything was good till the gun fell out. Something better was needed.
So along came plastic holsters. These were great. They held their shape forever. Especially if you wanted to move your bodily organs around from outside your body due to the lack of flexibility it was good for that. They were cold too. Until they made you sweat. Also they announced to everyone you had a gun with some clear printing. Uncomfortable and loud, really the worst of both worlds for concealment. Not too bad for open carry though, worn OTWB, where you want to announce.
Next came hybrids. Part plastic, part leather. The leather part goes against your body. This was more comfortable and smarter. The plastic part holds the gun. This was more practical in some ways although obvious printing was still obvious. Hybrids never really caught on though. Very few quality makers wanted to deal with them. Some have synthetic fabric with plastic on the outside. Then add some anti-printing feature to it. Seems complicated. And for what?
Which brings us back to the future.
Leather.
A well done leather holster is not only comfortable it holds the weapon securely and does not print easily. Seems everyone knew the answer all along.