OutdoorDad
Master
With cold weather just around the corner, I'd like to remind / inform about an issue with those OWB plastic holsters.
I usually keep a pistol in the glove compartment of my car in one of those plastic holsters that come with SIG and XD's. You know the kind. They clip onto your belt and have an adjustable retention screw to keep your firearm secure in the holster. I like them because they cover the trigger in a positive manner and can be snapped on your belt in a second or two. And I have to do the "can't carry during work" dance like many do.
A few years ago, I was traveling with the family on a vacation. We made our first gas stop. It wasn't the best nor worst place we could have stopped. I neglected to put my IWB holster on. And I figured I'd just snap the OWB holster on my belt while I did all the gas stop activities.
When we got back into the car, I decided I'd just as soon switch to an IWB holster for the remaining 12 hours of driving.
IMAGINE MY SURPRISE when I tried to remove my pistol from the plastic holster to place it in my IWB... and it wouldn't budge.
Seriously. It was a true eye opener!
Sitting in the cold car, the plastic holster had become dramatically more rigid than it was at room temperature. The snug fit that ensured good retention when everything was warm, now had become a death grip on my pistol. I would have snatched my britches off before that holster would have let go of my pistol.
I backed the retention screw off with my thumbnail, and made a note to myself to account for things changing with the temperature. A little warmer, and I'm sure I wouldn't have experienced it. But I did. And it sucked.
Hope you take a moment to check, if you use those types of holsters in the same manner.
I usually keep a pistol in the glove compartment of my car in one of those plastic holsters that come with SIG and XD's. You know the kind. They clip onto your belt and have an adjustable retention screw to keep your firearm secure in the holster. I like them because they cover the trigger in a positive manner and can be snapped on your belt in a second or two. And I have to do the "can't carry during work" dance like many do.
A few years ago, I was traveling with the family on a vacation. We made our first gas stop. It wasn't the best nor worst place we could have stopped. I neglected to put my IWB holster on. And I figured I'd just snap the OWB holster on my belt while I did all the gas stop activities.
When we got back into the car, I decided I'd just as soon switch to an IWB holster for the remaining 12 hours of driving.
IMAGINE MY SURPRISE when I tried to remove my pistol from the plastic holster to place it in my IWB... and it wouldn't budge.
Seriously. It was a true eye opener!
Sitting in the cold car, the plastic holster had become dramatically more rigid than it was at room temperature. The snug fit that ensured good retention when everything was warm, now had become a death grip on my pistol. I would have snatched my britches off before that holster would have let go of my pistol.
I backed the retention screw off with my thumbnail, and made a note to myself to account for things changing with the temperature. A little warmer, and I'm sure I wouldn't have experienced it. But I did. And it sucked.
Hope you take a moment to check, if you use those types of holsters in the same manner.
