Anyone Want To Build This Holster?

[Shooter McGavin]

So one of my friends brought his fried by the shop the other day to get a holster made. His buddy carries the S&W Bodyguard revolver.

So heres the issues, and why I dont want to make it myself:

1: He wants it IWB with a single spring steel clip.

2: He wants his name on it

3: He wants it to have a thumb break, but wants no extra material above the snap itself.

4: He wants the butt of the gun to be just above the top of his pants.

5: He always wears jogging pants. ( no belt obviously )

I told him that I didnt think I could accommodate his requests, but would try to draw something up in the next few weeks. I told him that I didnt think he would like it if I built it per his requests.

My friend told me to "build him what he wants and then when he dont like it he can pay me to build another one the right way".

So what does the LW.Net mindhive say?

Anyone wanna give this one a go?

[TwinOaks]

Get him a Uncle Mike's nylon IWB holster with a velcro strap and paint the spring clip silver.

There's a few things that could go wrong with his "ideal holster", and I think you did the right thing. However if the guy wanting the holster is insistent that his design is what he wants......require payment up front and make the holster like he wants.

[rickybobby]

Kindly decline.

Add up the time you have already spent talking to him, thinking up a design in your head (you could be thinking of other ways to make money with regular orders). And he probably thinks it should be the same price as one of your other designs.

When someone wants something that is a little different and we can accommodate a change in our pattern/method of building a holster, that is a CUSTOM request. When some one wants something that will not work, it becomes your/our problem and the customer expects you/us to make it work (after all we are the experts, their design does not work, it must be our fault!).

Early in my leather working career, I would try to make everyone happy. What happened is that one order takes so much time, the customer is not real happy, he does not tell anyone about you (no additional business from friends) and all you did is the best you could for very little money per hour spent with him.

I have stuck with doing the best I can within parameters, if a customer has a wacky request and is real pushy about it, I send them down the road. It just does not pay off. Step outside of your comfort zone with a product or a task for yourself or to build a prototype, not for a customer that will only talk crap about you because fill in the blank it took longer, cost more, did not work, ect.

When in doubt, follow your instincts, if you thought you should do it, it would be in process.

Just my thoughts,

Rick J.

[steelhawk]

I think I would turn this one down. I had someone want an IWB with a thumb break back in November because the wife was afraid it would come out of the holster in her purse. After explaining that it wouldn't, they decided to go somewhere else.

Another time I turned down a job for about $200 because I had never built anything like it and they wanted it in 4 days for a hunting trip. There was no way I could deliver anything that fast anyway, even if I had a pattern.

[Cattle Hide]

I do not usually comment on liability regarding holsters. However, when something does not work right with this one you may be left with the bag as the designer. I would choose not to do something I do not believe will work.

I am an Ohio CCW instructor and would highly advise against his carry method.

No belt+jogging pants, where is the gun when he needs it?

Thumb break slower when he finally finds it!

No material above the snap... Slower yet to draw.

Butt just above the top of his pants... "Hey buddy why are you pulling your pants up like that, I said give me your wallet or I will shoot!"

I like the name on the holster, the police will have less trouble identifying the body!

[wolfe9]

It sounds like the biggest problem here is a customer with with very little or no experience carrying a firearm . Is he carrying now and if so how and in what , if he doesn't have a cheap off the shelf IWB holster I think I might tell him to try that before he spent money on a real holster from you & then he might be able to come up with some intelligent idea of how to proceed . I don't see a problem with a standard thumb break (not what he described ) Im not a big fan of clip in holsters but thats just me . Jogging pants ....... LOL , maybe he wears suspenders with them or there is no gravity where he runs ....LOL

Bottom line IMO is that if you cant steer him in a direction that you feel will work I think I would pass because when he tells the story it will be all your fault .

[Dwight]

It is not very often that I send a customer to a gun shop for a pre made holster, . . . but this is one time I would most certainly do so.

Last thing any custom maker needs is a customer looking for a reason to sue when the "custom" product doesn't deliver as he thought it should.

Heck, . . . i might even print out Google directions for this guy, . . .

May God bless,

Dwight

[Reaper]

He would be better served with either a Belly Band, a Fanny Pack or an ankle holster using a revolver while jogging.

Or, he could get a Clip-Grip....