Mattkcc

Since I want a thumb break on my holster I have the gun ride a little higher then normal. This way I'm not having to try and jam my thumb down into my belt. However, I rarely carry this way. I've learn that the guy who draws first normally wins and you can't walk around with your hand on your gun every time your around a scary person. But I can and do walk with my hand in my pocket,gripping my j-frame in a pocket holster, if I have to walk by a couple of thugs on the streets. I can clear leather a lot faster then a thug trying to pull a gun out of this belt. Currently I don't even have an IWB every time I make a holster a buddy or one of my students,college, has to have it. I need start charging for the materials, leather cost are killing me.

The last thing I have worried about in deadly force encounter is re-holstering, where are you going to put the bad guys gun? If you disarm or neutralize a bad guy you can't just leave it on him or laying on the ground. I''ve taken a lot of guns off bad guys and the larger guns got jammed in my belt and the smaller ones got put in my pocket. The important issue is to make sure the gun is safe before doing this. All of the concealed carry guns I've carried, including my Glock 23, will fit in my front pocket. I want a comfortable holster and I could care less if it doesn't stay open, you have a deadly force encounter you are going to be giving it to the Po-Po soon enough.

I wouldn't worry about a LEO having a thumb break, most departments will require it. For the officer it's not an extra step because his duty holster is a thumb break in most cases. Due to muscle memory even if you don't put one on the holster his thumb will still be reaching for it. You may have a bigger liability concern not having some type of retention strap on the holster. You would have a hard time convincing a jury that molded leather and a belt were enough to hold a gun in a holster if something goes wrong. The big liability is when the gun is out of the holster either intentionally or unintentionally. Example your customer is fighting a bad guy rolling around on the ground and his gun pops out of the holster. It can happen trust me I know from experience, I had a buddy dancing in a club and his snubbie fell out and got kicked around the dance floor. There are good reasons departments require a retention strap, if a department requires the strap they are assuming the greater part of the liability, they have much deeper pockets, they wouldn't require it if it increased their liability.

I'm a retired LEO and while I'm new to making holsters, I'm an old hand at carrying. I carry a S&W 38 snubby and a little Ruger 380. I started making my own due to being a lefty and I didn't like what's on the market. I make my holsters for the front pocket since even my little 380 is tuff to conceal in the back pocket, also there are tatical reasons for wanting it the front. First I don't wet mold any leather in the finger guard or any tight place, also I don't mold past the center of the trigger guard. When I grab my gun I want it to come out of the holster. I have the grain side against the gun and the flesh side on the outside. This helps ensure a smooth draw and the flesh side provides friction against the pocket. Another reason not to do much wet forming is I don't want the gun "printing" on the pocket. The holster is supposed to conceal the gun not advertise it. I find no difference in comfort with having the back total flat vs somewhat shaped. I also stitch about a half inch from the edge, this way I can trim the holster if my new pants pocket is smaller. I make mine from one piece of leather folded over and I have more the one holster for each gun. The reason for this is simple my pants pockets vary in size and so must my holsters. The commercial holsters are made one size fits all, that means they have to make it for a small pocket so it will fit any any pocket. When you use the holster in pants with a larger pocket it wont sit where you want it. It will flop forward or back or even on its side. Also I want the handle of the gun toward the top of the pocket so I don't have to dig down in the pocket to find my gun, more of a issue with the little 380. Another problem that I'm going to have to tackle is sweat. It is highly corrosive and will quickly rust a blued gun. Since my 380 is blued its back to the drawing board. I'll probably need to make the holster in pieces. The back which is against my leg will be made up of a piece of plastic sandwiched between two pieces of thin leather. The plastic will act as a vapor barrier and hopefully protect my gun. The front will be a separate piece of leather with no vapor barrier. When I make a new pocket holster I wear it all day and until I go to bed for several days to see how the holster performs first is it comfortable if not it gets scrapped, I don't want to feel like I'm toting a gun and is the gun held securely and not shift around in my pocket.