Duty gear/holster reccomendations?

[Pigeon]

Currently exploring options for Reserve Peace Officer. Looking for reccomendations for duty gear and holster. Material composition, retention level, manufacturer, etc. Will most likely supply all my own duty gear. I think I would prefer nylon gear, if allowed.

Also would like opinions of leather vs. nylon. Not opinions concerning appearance, but rather the functionality, ease of maintenance, and durability of each.

Thanks

[Michael Brown]

The Safariland duty holsters are the best on the market.

The SLS and 070 series are the premier duty holsters available. Anything else is a compromise.

I prefer the 070 but I a lot of folks whose opinion I respect prefer the SLS.

Speed of draw and retention are the primary attributes of the 070.

Ease of reholstering under pressure (a rela important issue for LE) and the ability to holster the gun with a flashlight attached (if you have the model for it) are the primary attributes of the SLS.

Safariland has been marketing its Raptor series hard, but I am strongly against it since I believe they have gone too far toward retention and made the gun too difficult to draw under stress.

A lot of people are buying the Blackhawk Serpa these days as well.

One word: DON'T!!!!

Go with the tried and true 070 or SLS. There's a reason the vast majority of major agencies issue one of these two holsters.

Michael Brown

[liliysdad]

Im with Mike. I tried just about every kind of duty holster out there, till I found the 6285 SLS. Great holster at a great price. The FineTac, which is basically a Kydex type material, runs right at 65.00.

I had an 070 for a while. I loved the holster. The quality was great, I just could not get used to the draw, and the forward cant was way too much for me. If I worked any sort of crowd work where a gun grab was a definite maybe, the 070 would definitely be my preference.

As for the remainder of the gear, it depends. If you want nylon, I would go woth the STX Tactical finish gear from Safariland. If leather is your thing, as it is mine, do yourself a favor and get real leather. Shy away from the synthetics. The only excpetion I have to this rul is the belt itself. I use a Gould and Goodrich K-force laminate belt. It uses the sam Browne type buckle, and is indistinguishable from leather, while being lighter. I absolutely despise the Uncle Mikes Mirage, and Bianci Accumold Elite faux leather stuff. Looks like fake leather, and wears terribly, in my experience.

For cuff cases, mag pouches, etc, personal preference rule. I am a a fan of the open top on both. I Use the open top safriland cuff holder, and an open top G&G mag holder. I have a Looper Leather Custom open top mag holder on order as we speak.

One last thing. I dont care what the manufacturer or salesman says, even with Velcro inner and outer belt, get keepers. You will thank me later.

[Hoov]

Depends on what your department requires or allows. OCPD uses that Clarino fake leather stuff. Oklahoma county uses Bianchi Accumold. I prefer leather, but the good nylon stuff you can hose off or throw in the washer if you get blood on it. If you use nylon, by all means use keepers! By the way Bianchi was bought out by Safariland. I personally like the Serpa, but only for concealed carry. Hoov

[Michael Brown]

Just so everyone doesn't think I'm anti-Blackhawk, the reason I don't like the Serpa is that I believe its unsafe.

There are four documented A.D.'s that resulted in injuries using the Serpa because of the need to use your trigger finger to deactivate a release mechanism, especially in the same direction (convulsive) as pulling the trigger.

And to forestall the obvious question, one of those was a nationally-known and very competent instructor.

Strongly consider any decision to go with the Serpa.

Michael Brown

[liliysdad]

The Blackhawk Serpa is a poor design, In my opinion. The base holster is just poor quality, a fancy Fobus. Add the need to place your finger in a position where firing is possible, and you have a bad combination.

[Hoov]

As duty gear, absolutely not! I use it only for concealment for my 27. It is one step above Fobus and two steps above that clip for Mexican carry. I still prefer leather. Hoov

[ndenway]

I use the bianchi accumold gear when I working security, I can't vouch for overall retetion, but I've been in some ruff and tumble stuff and my pistol stayed put, course it didn't have anybody trying to yank it out either, some of the guys I worked with were using the safariland holsters, they had a bit of trouble drawing smoothly and were slow as hell, thats not a slight towards the holster, cause their well made, it just that the guys that had them didn't take the time to practice and get used to them and learn to draw from them properly.