I live within twenty miles of where Breonna Taylor was murdered by the local gestapo,er, LMPD.

People close to me are street medics, and have been busy in the protest space for a year now (indeed, the anniversary of the onset of local protests was Friday), and I've done some support (i.e. hauling supplies) for the medics, and have spent some time in the protest spaces, supporting (and agreeing with) those who believe Black people have been killed at inordinate rates WHILE UNARMED. I haven't been participating when LMPD brought out riot gear and overreacted to people holding LMPD accountable for their brutality, but several friends have been tear-gassed (including some attorneys and trained Legal Observers--LMPD fired pepper rounds or rubber bullets at credentialed members of TV news crews last year, to give a hint as to how far out of line the department's behavior has been).

Anyway, I have seen a few folks with drop-leg holsters.

One looked like the person had a clue. The others looked, well, sloppy. The holster flopped around on the straps with every leg movement. I don't see how it would be comfortable (and I've worked as a carpenter, and was accustomed to stuff hanging on my belt slapping around).

A preliminary web search shows a couple of insanely-expensive drop-leg rigs--some that even claim to fit my P10F, the pistol I would carry if I was to be that brazen about open carry. I've seen a couple of "one size fits some" rigs on Amazon that cost less than $30, and expect any "satisfaction" to be commensurate with that price.

I'm kind of drawn to the Alien Gear drop leg (I am reasonably happy with their Cloak Tuck 3.5 as an EDC holster for my P10S), but note that theirs doesn't offer Level II retention. If I'm going to carry openly, I feel like Level II retention is a starting point, especially given that I might be in close quarters (or at least closer than I'm happy about in the COVID world).

I did see one option that appears to be of Israeli origin. I have an OWB holster for my P10F (the P10S also fits) that uses a thumb lock as the Level II retention release, and I like the thumb lock idea better than a trigger-finger lock like the Bulldog OWB holster I found for my wife's SigSauer P365XL.

What good ideas am I missing?

The only reason you want a drop leg holster is when you absolutely have no space on your waist, like when you have a full body armor rig. Look at people who carry a pistol for a living, like cops. The waist is the optimal placement for a pistol, because it’s right at the major pivot point of our body. The further it is from the center, the more it swings around when you move, necessitating a tighter (and less comfortable) strap on your leg.

If you only need a little clearance on your waist, as a compromise you can have a low-ride holster. Orpaz (from Israel) makes good open carry holsters in various configurations.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N7QDTLY/re ... J6DN?psc=1

You have the right idea with retention. I personally think any open carry holster must have at least level II retention, and the safe way is through a thumb lever / button. A lot of pistol training courses have banned trigger-finger release holsters, because an over excited draw can easily place that finger in the trigger inadvertently.

Stiff gave you a great answer.

Stiff wrote: Sat May 29, 2021 9:59 pm The only reason you want a drop leg holster is when you absolutely have no space on your waist, like when you have a full body armor rig. Look at people who carry a pistol for a living, like cops. The waist is the optimal placement for a pistol, because it’s right at the major pivot point of our body. The further it is from the center, the more it swings around when you move, necessitating a tighter (and less comfortable) strap on your leg.

If you only need a little clearance on your waist, as a compromise you can have a low-ride holster. Orpaz (from Israel) makes good open carry holsters in various configurations.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N7QDTLY/re ... J6DN?psc=1

You have the right idea with retention. I personally think any open carry holster must have at least level II retention, and the safe way is through a thumb lever / button. A lot of pistol training courses have banned trigger-finger release holsters, because an over excited draw can easily place that finger in the trigger inadvertently.

Thanks for the feedback!

I see your point regarding "when you want a drop-leg holster." I've seen people with cosplay chest rigs in and around protest spaces (there seems to be some attractant operating on boogaloo bois), and I would be reluctant to wear a chest rig with six AR magazines in public, lest I be mistaken for a 3-per or a boog. I have felt reason to wear body armor at times, not to protect from protesters, but from antagonists/3pers/bootlickers who seem drawn to protest space in order to discredit the protesters.

I was talking with one of my street medic pals yesterday, and he wears a drop-leg rig when he's carrying his medic pack to reduce interference between the two. Most of the medics I know don't carry a firearm when they are acting as medics--they want to reallocate the attention they would keep on the firearm to being able to treat people.

That Orpaz stuff looks good, and seems to be a good value for the money. I mentioned that I have a paddle holster currently, and that I like its retention mechanism. My only quibble with that holster is that it seems the grip lays out away from me more than I would like. The Orpaz Low-Ride might resolve that issue for me, AND address some limb flexibility issues (I sometimes have a hard time bending my elbow far enough to draw quickly from my 4:30 IWB holster--a topic for another thread--getting older has some new challenges).

I had seen a couple of videos that mentioned the problem with index-finger retention release, and can see how that would be a real problem when stressed. I have Bulldog OWB holsters to fit each of my M&P pistols (an M2.0 compact and a Shield 9), and the finger tab for the release almost aligns with where I keep my finger when it's off the trigger, but it's closer to aligned with the trigger than I like. Probably not going to be openly-carrying either of those guns, anyway. If I'm going to carry openly, I'll carry my P10F or my P10S.

I'd like to have one for when I must get into the full on gear. It could sit with the other twenty holsters I don't ever use.

Personal opinion from a guy that wore them quite a bit in the Navy (and who makes holsters) - they are the worst holster type for almost any possible reason. I wore them as part of my gear conducting VBSS boardings. They hang up on Everything, and are almost impossible to get rock solid. I lost a M-9 mag at sea, in the RHIB, Becuase it popped out of the thigh holster. I had the guys in the weapon locker find me one of the old waist duty belts. Thankfully my torso was long enough that it did not interfere with my armor & tac vest. You have to wear a retractable lanyard that I affixed near the holster on the belt.

Cops and competition shooters don’t use them either. They are floppy and move around too much. As stated - the really only real reason is if you have heavy body armor that interferes with a duty belt.

You can have a longer “drop” loop on a retention holster that will ride below pack belts.

Another reason not to wear them is morons like Lauren Boebert use them as performative prop tropes to show how much of a phony “2A” supporter she is. You don’t know how many idiotic Trumpers I see around here OCing with flimsy holsters with no positive retention devices.


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INVICTVS138 wrote: Sun May 30, 2021 1:11 pm
You can have a longer “drop” loop on a retention holster that will ride below pack belts.

Another reason not to wear them is morons like Lauren Boebert use them as performative prop tropes to show how much of a phony “2A” supporter she is. You don’t know how many idiotic Trumpers I see around here OCing with flimsy holsters with no positive retention devices.


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Yeah, the cosplay commandos (usually 3pers or boogaloos) I see sometimes have thigh rigs, and the floppy-sloppy results are reason enough to not do that. Add that I don't want to be mistaken for a boogaloo boi, and, well, I'll just say that part of me was looking for rational reasons to NOT buy a drop-leg holster.

Since Stiff brought the Orpaz low-rider to my attention, I'm more inclined to go that route, if I go for an "ostentatious carry" at all. It looks pretty stable, and has Level II retention, which as I noted earlier is a starting point for me if I'm going to carry openly.

I'm reminded of the old westerns and the quick-draw artists who had their revolvers (capable of shooting twenty rounds before reloading, and with dead-eye accuracy from the hip at twenty yards...) slightly below belt height (probably more to get the long barrel out of the holster) and with the bottom of the holster tied to quicken the draw that little bit more.

I've a basic hip holster for a 6 7/8" target pistol under the notion that I should have some provision for open carry for every one of my guns. It is not a quick-draw rig. It does take a little more effort to draw than I would like, if I were forced to draw down at high noon. It is undoubtedly slower than a skilled shooter with a pocket revolver. I wouldn't look graceful on the draw. It's not terrible, though.