Alaskan style chest holster

[DeWayne Hayes]

Decided I wanted to make an Alaskan style "guide holster" or chest rig, which allows you to fish up to your belly in water while keeping your self defense sidearm close at hand and dry.  I could have bought one of these, but I wanted to have some flexibility - I wanted to simply use my standard cross-draw holster and be able to remove it when I want to wear on my belt. I also wanted something that would break apart for ease of packing/transport - in other words, not a complicated 3 dimensional "cage" but something that could easily lay flat or be rolled up. Finally, a last value add is I can use the horizontal strap as a belt when needed. So, theoretically, it's a chest rig AND/OR a cross draw belt holster rig. 

Good ol' Fiebings English Bridle Pro Dye, followed by Leather Balm + Atom Wax.  Very simple (as is my style and limit of my abilities!). 

Hope you all enjoy. 

DeWayne 

 

[Dwight]

That's cool . . . quick . . .  simple . . . and tastefully done . . . 

Make the next one green . . . looks better in a fly fishing setting . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

[DieselTech]

Looks great! Nice setup. You do fine work. 

[DeWayne Hayes]

1 hour ago, Dwight said:

That's cool . . . quick . . .  simple . . . and tastefully done . . . 

Make the next one green . . . looks better in a fly fishing setting . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

I should make one with a sheep's wool fly patch sewn onto the shoulder strap!  

[WalterF]

That is great, may have to use some on one. You have me rethinking my pattern.

 

[DeWayne Hayes]

I'm thinking I probably better use some brass washers on both sides of where the shoulder strap attaches to the horizontal strap - otherwise those small brass bolt heads are going to compress too deeply into the leather - not to mention, the washers will add rigidity to that intersection. 

Does anyone know a source for brass washers? Maybe 7/8" OD, 1/4" ID? 

[DieselTech]

27 minutes ago, DeWayne Hayes said:

I'm thinking I probably better use some brass washers on both sides of where the shoulder strap attaches to the horizontal strap - otherwise those small brass bolt heads are going to compress too deeply into the leather - not to mention, the washers will add rigidity to that intersection. 

Does anyone know a source for brass washers? Maybe 7/8" OD, 1/4" ID? 

Weaver leather has them. 7/8" diameter with a 5mm hole. So you might need to drill it out. 

[DeWayne Hayes]

Awesome - thank you!

[Hags]

Nice work! I do a lot of chest rigs, never thought about them being able to "break down". Nice looking as well. 

[Frodo]

Because of the ability to break it down it gives you the option to switch out holsters 

and carry different calibers of pew pews

nice

[DeWayne Hayes]

16 minutes ago, Frodo said:

Because of the ability to break it down it gives you the option to switch out holsters 

and carry different calibers of pew pews

nice

Right on. Since all the holsters I do are cross-draw, so long as they have a 1.75" belt loop, I can slide them on there. I think I'll probably make one in black for the black holsters. 

One other benefit of this "modular" system that I've found is that I can easily pop the shoulder strap over to the other side of my neck. I imagine if I were wearing it all day, it might be really nice to swap sides to take the strain off the left side of my neck and even things out a bit. 

Edited January 8, 2024 by DeWayne Hayes

[chuck123wapati]

great work indeed I made one similar a few years ago and they work great. I can carry either my 44 mag , my 1911 or my g3 on the same harness and surprisingly they all are very comfortable and secure. 

[MarshalWill]

Not only is it a clean looking design but it's versatile. all around a good design. Nice looking, too. This gets a hearty thumbs-up!

[DeWayne Hayes]

Thanks, guys! 

[JSage]

Great idea!

And impressive work!

I've found brass washers at Lowes and True Value Hardware.

[Sinbad395]

love the creative solution and the clean looks