It's Been a Minute.

A recent, excellent image on eBay of a vintage Seventrees SSS model for the 1911 pistols, inspired me to compare it with my TCAT ('To Catch a Thief', a Cary Grant film that made a big impression on me as a teen). The latter holster was inspired by the former but it is not a copy, with both having their own points of excellence.

A forum post, though, made me realise that it's quite hopeless to think consumers can become educated enough to buy the very best holster for themselves, because all they know to ask about is 'which brand'. Without realising that 'brand' is no indicator of their designs' performance, which, really, is all we want. Right? Straight stitching is standard, don't tell me about that. Tell me what WORKS.

Compare the SSS, which is a 60-year-old design by now, with my Berns-Martin (Australia) holster, which I'm happily comparing because I'm not selling you anything; production of it was discontinued 5 years ago.

Below, "a little something I prepared earlier" that was/is an explanation of the various details on the TCAT, that readily go unnoticed by any but the most sophisticated consumer:

Let's not overlook that TCAT is/was made of Horween horsehide. Theodore's and Gaylord's holsters were often made of the same leather, but both men did use cowhide, too. I, however, made the complete transition to HH because the cowhide I can get here is Wickett & Craig, and far too soft and thick to make premium holsters from; once split to thickness it had to be lined. HH requires no lining, and w/b a travesty if one covered the smooth backside with any lining. Despite my using 1mm thick kangaroo leather lining on the cowhide products in my prior Red Nichols Holsters line, which were named for Bogart films.

Many ways to skin a TCAT; below, notice that this cowhide holster is similar but not identical to the Berns-Martin (Australia) design:

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