buying a shoulder holster
TRX
November 06, 2013
Web site design for gunleather vendors; or "my online shopping experience."
Don't bother to differentiate between holsters. Just lump several visibly-
different models together on the same page, and let the order page sort it
out.
You only need one picture. Just the holster; don't worry about the rigging.
Big pictures waste time. Customers like low-resolution 1x1" pictures.
If you provide more than one picture, present them as pop-up windows. For extra points, make them Flash presentations. Even though Adobe is desupporting Flash on most non-Windows platforms.
For minimalist sites, don't bother with a picture at all. You're so famous, your customers all know what your product looks like.
Have several apparently-identical holsters, except with different names and model numbers.
Sell a "system" where each separate piece costs as much as a whole rig from somewhere else. Bonus points if you don't offer a complete kit, or indicate how many oddly-named pieces are necessary for a complete rig.
Don't bother to mention the adjustment range. All your customers are probably built like Slim Pickens anyway.
For concealment against the background of a white shirt, only offer black or dark brown for colors.
Use a model name that's also used by at least two other manufacturers. Unless "Jackass" refers to the marketing manager.
To save money, have your 14-year-old nephew do your web site. Customers like GIANT WEIRD FONTS PRESENTED AS GRAPHIC IMAGES, and they don't mind scrolling a 3000-pixel-wide image back and forth.
Hide all your link buttons as images, with no clickable text.
Your holster is virtually identical to a competing model that sells for $49.95. So you price yours at $280.00. Don't bother to explain why your version is worth an extra $230.05. If your customers can't tell by looking at a 100x100 pixel picture, you don't want to sell to them anyway.
No wonder shoulder holster sales are low; it's next to impossible to find out
what you're buying. And it's not like you can go to the Local Gun Shop, which
A) doesn't carry shoulder holsters in stock and B) wouldn't let you hacksaw
open the anti-theft blister pack anyway.
TRX
November 06, 2013
The Galco "Miami Classic" is extremely popular... but I don't know if it is because it works well or because it used an old TV show called "Miami Vice" as a marketing vehicle. I wasn't impressed by the narrow strap supporting the gun's weight - all the straps are the same width - but I recently found out they have (or had) an option I didn't see on their web site, for a wider support strap.
I've found a couple of pictures of Alessi holsters on the web. Alessi has none on their web site; all they show are the holsters themselves, I couldn't find any pictures of the rigging. To me, the rigging is the important part; I don't think my gun would know the difference between plastic and "the finest Corinthian leather."
Several manufacturers have bought out older companies, sometimes importing the other product lines, sometimes just using the names on their own stuff. There was a company called "Jackass Leather", which got bought by Galco... but I've now found four other companies selling "Jackass" rigs, all looking pretty much the same as Galco's. I guess "Jackass" is now a one of those words like "crayola" or "kleenex."
Some of those 1960s-1970s holsters had very thin straps and no belt loops; they probably worked fine for a 2" Airweight or a PPK, but a modern double- stack 9mm or .45 is a lot heavier. Not even counting the accessory load. Spare magazine? Wimp. Two spare magazines? Wimp. Andrews makes a carrier that holds TEN 1911 magazines. To be extra tacticool, you can get the "fighting knife sheath" integrated into the mag carrier... or just a two-mag carrier and a second holster for your back-up piece. Or, I forget who makes it now, a strap arrangement that holds a pump shotgun opposite your pistol. I guess you need the Keanu Reeve leather trench coat accessory to cover it all up...
All I want is something to comfortably carry my little 2" Taurus .38. I'll leave the portable arsenals to the "tactical wheelbarrow" crowd.
TRX
November 07, 2013
I have a Bianchi X-15 for my Auto Mag. It doesn't fit me well at all. Now
that I'm more clued-in on how shoulder holsters work, I need to try it
again... but a lot of rigs just don't work well when you're built more like
John Candy than Steve Martin.
TRX
November 08, 2013
If I could fit into 30-38 jeans, I'd be walking around in a Speedo going "eat your hearts out, you fat ****s!"
Unfortunately, there seems to be little chance of that. If I get any bigger, astronomers are going to have to make gravitational corrections as I move around.
TRX
November 08, 2013
If anyone cares, this holster seems to be working for me so far:
http://nevadagunleather.com/Upside-Down-Shoulder-Holster-155.htm
I'm carrying a .38 snubby, which tucks right in against the shape of my body. The side shoulder strap carries all the weight, and the elastic offside strap is only to keep the big strap from sliding off.
So far, it mostly stays put when bending, reaching, twisting, etc. If it moves after a contortion, I just roll my shoulders and it settles back into place.
TRX
November 14, 2013
I've only had a chance to wear the Nevada holster a few times when out and about, but I'm generally happy with it. The wide part of the harness over my collarbone tends to pucker up a bit, probably due to my shape.
The only real annoyance is fastening the seat belt. One of my cars has the newer-style belt with the buckle more or less underneath my right buttcheek, which is hard to manipulate even with just a T-shirt. With a coat, it's much harder, and with the holster, harder yet. I managed to dislodge the gun from the holster while fighting the buckle. Getting the gun back in required some youtube-worthy contortions; it's an awkward process while you're wearing the holster, made more so by being buckled into the seat. Any bystanders would have wondered if I was having some kind of seizure.
Two of my other vehicles have seat belt extenders. I think I'm going to order one for this vehicle too. The belt is plenty long enough from the factory, but moving the buckle up where I can reach it would really be nice.
An unforseen feature of the upside-down holster is that it is immune to what I
call the "Chee-To Effect." Back when I wore a belt holster on the job, the
holster seemed to collect lint, dust bunnies, bits of food, and food-like
substances such as chee-tos. Since the Nevada holster is upside-down, the only
thing that can fall out is the gun... I'm still leery about that, and will
report back later on how that works out.
Meanwhile, I dug out the Bianchi rig I'd bought earlier this year. It's a
left-hand X-15 to fit my Auto Mag. Better, it's left handed, and better yet,
it was only $35 through eBay. I tried it on a few times, hated it, and put it
aside. Now that I know how to adjust a shoulder holster, I dug it back out and
tried it again. After some fairly major adjustments, it works fine. It uses
single-sided rigging like the Nevada, with the straps in somewhat different
positions. The top strap rides high behind the neck, to keep the holster
pulled forward, instead of directly under the armpit like the Nevada. Which is
a good thing, considering how big the Auto Mag is. The holster has a belt
loop, and the end of the holster can fit into the top of my pants pocket... I
can't sit in any of the armchairs in the house while wearing that thing. Not
the holster's fault.
The Bianchi came with its original packaging and sales slip, from 1982. The leather is pretty hard, and it creaks more than a cheap horror movie. I spent several hours researching leather dressings and the like, getting more and more confused. Galco sells a kit with conditioner, oil, application pads, and probably chakra-balanced all-natural protein rinse; it was $15.98 with free shipping from Amazon, so I just clicked "buy now" and gave up on trying to sort through the conflicting horror stories of leather (mis)treatment.
TRX
November 28, 2013
Quote from: shooter17
IMO...The original Jackass suede harness was the best.
I recently discovered an FEG GKK-45 that I'd forgotten I owned. It has nearly identical dimensions to the 1911, except it has a larger trigger guard. Most modern holsters are formed around the gun, and use a divot into the trigger guard for retention. The Miami Classic does that, but the Classic Lite (in suede) does not; it's just a pocket with a retention strap. The fitment list had a number of not-very-1911 shaped guns listed, so I took a chance and ordered the Classic Lite.
I had never planned on lugging around a full-sized .45 for CCW, and I've
snickered at some people who do.
Rig A) aluminum frame, 5-shot snubnose .38. Upside-down vertical holster
with a single wide strap, plus an elastic band that goes around the offside
arm to keep the strap from sliding off.
Rig B) full size .45, horizontal holster, conventional X-style straps
I never could figure how the X-style rigs stayed put without belt loops, but
I guess I'll find out when the Galco rig shows up. Galco bought Jackass in
1980 or so, and the Classic Lite is fairly similar to the old rig, depending
on which pictures I find.
Quote from: eth77
That's a nice chest rig, and much lighter than most of the "hunting" rigs
which, in my opinion, are bulkier than they have to be.
I like the inverted-carry model the best; just reach up and grasp the gun
instead of "Hey, Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat" up-and-over
motion the rightside-up model would need. Also, the CG of the gun is below
the straps, so it should hang normally. The rightside-up one would have the
top strap trying to keep many guns from falling forward; I don't think it is
as "natural" a layout as the inverted.
I've been out and about enough with the inverted rig that I don't worry about
losing the gun any more. Granted a Taurus Ultralight is only a $300 gun, but
that's doesn't mean I want to drop it onto concrete somewhere...
TRX
November 28, 2013
In case you hadn't seen this site
http://www.survivalsheath.com/main/home.htm