Holster Makers Are Like House Painters

Folks who simply MAKE holsters are much like house painters: in both cases, all one needs is the raw materials and someone to pay for labor. It's not EXACTLY like house painting because materials are far more varied and expensive in the leather trades.

I'm thinking about this because a 'small' maker has failed, name not important but also not a major maker with a long history, and I'm puzzled by how it had accumulated 600 orders it could not complete. That's a LOT of orders for a holster maker of any size much less a no-name outfit in Texas of all places. Below, my example is on its way from America:

Which begs the question, why would so many people send their money to a maker without a longtime track record, like Aker has and Galco and today's Bianchi? What made them think they were going to get something 'better' from the newbie? How many times have I/you/we seen posts by someone who has made his own holster, it's ghastly (which I never say to their faces), and many people posting want to know how they can get one just like it?

As if their 'box of holsters' weren't full already.

I can tell you right now that workmanship means nothing to your ability to draw and fire, timely and accurately enough to survive a shootout. I'm not calling it a gunfight because that implies your opponent is shooting back, and there is little evidence that anyone on any forum we're members of has ever been in a gunfight unless they were hardened LEOs working undercover. Survivors of same, anyway, because the dead ones aren't on our fourms. Think about it, just as those who died carrying/holstering AIWB aren't on our forums, either. In long forum threads about drawing against a human opponent, neither BRAND nor QUALITY nor STYLE has ever been mentioned as a factor. Indeed, even firing a first shot is almost never a factor.

Below, the so-called 'steel belted gunleather' is also on its way to me, for evaluation. You'll see how and why stiffness along the LENGTH of a trousers belt is a handicap, and it is only across the WIDTH that a belt's stiffness helps with holstered pistols.

'Workmanship' is that finely polished leather edge, that straight machine stitch (hard to get a machine to stitch any other way), that tight machine stitch (ditto) or strong thread (no other kind is on offer); or handsomely finished leather finish that is waterproof (they all are). The right sewing will keep your holster from tearing apart and that's about it. In which case it is needle size, and point style, and stitch length, that create or destroy seam strength. Below, the operators don't even USE holsters:

'Craftsmanship' w/b attention to the cosmetics. Yes, one has to know how but once one does, then that finish repeats for literally decades. H.H. Heiser was owned by the Heiser family making gunleather from 1905 to 1965; so 60 years.

"Design', well, this is where all small makers fall down on the job. None of them know the science and don't even know there IS a science. Nor do their customers, which is why I had to explain to a longtime gunman why my Avenger has its belt loop and trailing slot configured the way it is. What he was thinking of was the OTHER avengers he had seen, of which the Asksins I designed with JB was the FIRST; so how could my latest version be LESSER than that? Skill failure, which was his implication? Below the original Baker pancake was a TERRIBLE design compared to what smart people have done with it since 1972:

So when a maker is simply copying, the stitching may be too far from the edge; but his customers don't know that's why the edges split open. He may not know to use glue between the layers because all he's copying is an online image. Nor to place the mag button just above the uppermost trousers belt edge; ditto because they're not shown from the backside on a belt, online. Wouldn't know one carry angle from another (the ideal angle is the same for all pistols and revolvers when worn at 4:00). Doesn't know that choice of carry angle determines where the holster's new owner MUST carry his new holster along his belt (24 degrees positive CANNOT be drawn from when positioned at the navel; 0 degrees positive MUST be worn ahead of the front pocket; 60 degrees positive MUST be worn SOB; 60 degrees negative MUST be worn crossdraw or over the belly; etc.). Below, some dumb secretary must've put this together for Galco, because you must NEVER wear a loaded handgun between 2:00 and 9:00 unless it is crossdraw:

Because Americans die in multiples per years doing so:

The newbies copy only that which they can see ('monkey see, monkey do); and ignore that which they can't see. One maker even puts SHEET METAL inside his spring shoulder holsters, when no maker for a hundred years ever even IMAGINED a reason for it. Same chap doesn't even temper his springs, although the same makers of a hundred years' standing DID temper their springs and for good reason.

My question, then, is WHY are any of you imagining that a maker you've only HEARD of online, going to be worth buying from? They don't even know what they think they know about a good holster, which is all about its DESIGN and NOTHING to do with how well it has been engraved (Karla Purdy's work comes to mind).

Because gunleather, unlike making wallets, IS NOT A CRAFT. The making of a safe and effective holster for a loaded pistol is supported by SCIENCE. And these little makers don't know the science that the likes of Galco et al have learned the hard way, over a half century in the biz (yes, they were experimenting on YOU, Gallagher was a rock musician/sandle maker in the beginning).

The Legacy of Gunleather

At the top of every page of my website, there’s a link leading to my book with John Witty, titled "Holstory - Gunleather of the 20th Century - The Third Edition". This edition features the original book as its core, now buttressed by an all-new Prologue about the late 19th century's contributions to American gunleather. Plus, there’s an all-new Epilogue that highlights 50 years of my personal contributions to innovations for various companies from 1970 to 2020.