Novelty Holsters vs Proper Training

As one of the co-owners of Just Holster It – Concealed Carry Made Easy, a manufacturer of concealed carry holsters, we receive numerous custom build request for magazine and handgun holsters. Most of these we are eager and excited to build, however many times we are asked to build a holster that is similar to many of our competitors for which we decline as we are not in the business of copying our competitors. In addition we are asked to build our holsters with certain features similar to other products on the market. Typically what happens is we have customers that love the Just Holster It quality of concealed carry holsters, but feel they would like it with a custom feature while still getting that Lifetime Warranty that is found on all of our products.
Many instances this is a certain style of clip, color of material or even an adjustment ability that the customer’s wants integrated. For which these are typical and seen by anyone in the holster business. However for some time now we have repeatedly been asked to add a specific feature to our concealed holsters that some of my competition has put out on the market and I have come to term this as a “Novelty Holster”. Every time I am asked for this feature I find myself compelled to try and help my customers try and rethink their request. You are probably wondering by now what feature could cause so much concern and heartache that we could write an article about it.
Constantly we are requested to add a magazine holster to our Hybrid Holsters or our Rigid IWB Holsters. Now at first you might think that would not be a bad idea, or you may say to yourself….”Oh yeah I remember that holster”. So are you wondering what the issue with such a feature like this might be. To answer that question we need to take a step back to the basics. We need to revisit why you are carrying your handgun. And then we later need to ask why would a company develop and sell a product with this feature other than to try and sell more holsters.
So let’s focus on the basics and why we all carry our handguns besides it being our right. We carry our handguns for person protection, for fear that we may someday be confronted with some of the evil in this world and possibly may need to protect ourselves, our family or even our neighbors. Now imagine yourself in one of these situations and you are wearing this “Novelty Holster”, you draw your weapon and find yourself firing to protect yourself. As you empty your magazine you remember you have the second magazine and realize you need to reach for it on the same side as your gun was, however the hand you need is holding your gun pointed at the bad guy. So you have two options switch hands or lay your weapon down to pull out the other magazine. By now you can see the dilemma here.
What everyone needs to remember is no matter what you purchase you should practice, practice, practice with it. And this does not just mean wear it to the gun range. This means practice drawing your weapon and shooting as in a crisis situation. And if you have a mag pouch you should also practice reloading. In fact this can be done at home with an unloaded weapon. So what about these “Novelty Holsters” as I call them, well this brings a new level of practice because now you need to learn to practice being an ambidextrous shooter as well.
But let’s take one step back again, what necessitates the need for a second magazine. Remember part of your responsibility as a carrier of a weapon is to not allow yourself to get into those situations where you are required to use your weapon, but let’s say you do and have no choice, with proper training I would not think you would need more than one magazine of ammo. In fact I would think either the bad guy should be dead or have retreated wounded in fear. So again we come back to training, proper and repetitive training will improve shooting accuracy and reduce the likelihood of needing another magazine.
But if you feel you need a second magazine on you, we respect that and simply recommend buying a mag pouch that allows you to effectively draw and reload with your free hand. And no matter what please spend time at the range practicing what you are preparing for. There are a variety of classes offered on the market that will actually go through these steps with you. So let’s get back to the basics.