Why does everyone bash the Serpa Blackhawk??????

[bruce21b]

I have been carrying my Glock 26 in one for the past six months and LOVE it...........

I just bought a new Serpa for my Glock 23 and love it even BETTER.......

it conceals just fine under a t shirt....and im average size, wear an XL t shirt....

I have practiced dry and live-fire exercises for the past six months and still cannot get my finger to go into the trigger guard and pull the trigger prematurely....

have yet to get the release button to malfunction, even after practicing drills in the proned out position in dirt/grass.........

idiots on you tube who have had a negligent discharge with this holster would have one with ANY holster, not just the Serpa in my opinion.......

i think people judge this holster because of idiots like the above mentioned dont practice/train enough with their equipment

but i think the Serpa is a teriffic holster

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[wmhawth]

I have a couple of the Serpas and I like them. I think that in order to get your finger inside the trigger guard upon drawing from this holster you'd have to be trying. The Serpa is not optimal for concealment but it will work and it's a decent holster at a cheap price in my humble opinion.

[NC Bullseye]

Here's one example I shot myself! Original Upload! - YouTube

[Guantes]

Holsters are like underwear, what works for one will not necessarily work for another.

[TerriLi]

Eh, its mostly a personal thing I think, but personally SA triggers and Serpa are tricky and need a lot of practice to be acceptable to me.

[wmhawth]

Here's one example I shot myself! Original Upload! - YouTube

The guy in the Video was not using a Blackhawk Serpa but he ain't lying when he says NDs can happen.

[onacoma]

Maybe this is a better video for this holster as Tex admits he had a nervous trigger finger or as this young lady states, "Keep your Booger Hooker off the trigger!"

Blackhawk Serpa CQC level 2 holster - YouTube

Use one for both my P30 and my P2000 Sks when I carry OWB.

[boricua]

I almost always OC my G27 while riding my motorcycle using a Serpa. The holster was highly recommended to me by my first CCW instructor in NC. No regrets.

[roadsiderob]

There is a lot of hate for these holsters over at LF. They have a less than stellar reputation in the professional community (LEO & MIL) due to mounting system failures and release mechanisms jamming when filled with sand, snow, & mud. The Safariland ALS seems to be the current favorite of professionals who use & abuse stuff much harder than I ever will.

[NC Bullseye]

The guy in the Video was not using a Blackhawk Serpa but he ain't lying when he says NDs can happen.

It was still an index finger release mechanism just like the Serpa even if it wasn't a Serpa. I've seen first hand a student have the same results but thankfully without injury with a Serpa holster.

[bigjason6]

Mine works just fine for me! :)

[cj]

Bash? Lots of people defend the design (many rabidly so...you'd think people who don't like the design had tried to eat their first born child or something). I have some issues with the design based on my experience as a human interface designer (and yes, I've owned, used, and tested one myself), but if some people are happy with it, let them be. Many people also love all kinds of designs that don't protect the trigger, let their firearm be exposed to their sweat all day, and on and on...so something for everyone until someone gets a good enough lawyer and sues until the various designs are pulled.

[FatPants]

Several ranges around here do not allow them when shooting competitions. I have personally witnessed 3 ND's of people coming out of the holster with a Serpa under stress, two hit the ground in front of their foot, 1 nearly killed himself, just missed his femoral artery. Any holster that requires my trigger finger to do ANYTHING but stay off the trigger is a no go for me. I run an ALS when I use a retention holster.

[tbrenke]

I have a serpa and an mtac. The mtac is used less and less here in AZ because it is too hot. never had an issue with the serpa and I have used it for IDPA.
This is the same holster that I use on my motorcycle ride to and from work every day.

it is a lack of pratice for some. not the holsters fault.

XD40SC in Serpa or MTAC. always one extra mag with me.

[canav844]

Points from my observations from past threads around here....

1 People don't train with them, use them recklessly and get on youtube and show how fast they can empty a clip but end up recording and ND they blame the holster for. Everyone believes everything they see on youtube.

2 SERPAs used to have a design flaw years ago where debris could cause an issue, Blackhawk listened to its customers and users altered the design, problem goes away but haters still bring it back up, same reason you'll hear the Glock haters claim every Gen4 is a jam-o-matic yet many trying to make it fail can't get the update spring design to malfunction. Ruger's had several recalls on new guns over the years this is fact of life with mass production items.

3 It's not traditional leather with traditional thumb break, it's not what people are used to and change scare vocal internet ninjas. It's something that's fairly new and outside the box and many do not welcome that, every used to laugh at Glocks because the bottom half wasn't 100% steel, the firearm industry is conservative (not politically) and slow to change and new is the red headed step child until it can be labeled time tested. Also some people are just not preferential to plastic and prefer steel and leather look.

4 People claim it jams when the gun doesn't release while being pulled up only when resting or being pushed down, on the SERPA this is labeled a jam and a failure, on other holsters the very same action and performance is labeled retention.

5 It's less expensive than many holsters out there, so is again thought of as "cheap"; some people just need this comfort after they put down hundreds on a custom holster.

6 Enough people do it it's easy to be a basher and not have to back up your statement, boost the post count and be part of the in crowd all at the same time.

7 Every few months on this forum a "bash the SERPA" week rolls around where people dig up the same youtube videos and make all these comments about how everyone carrying one will surely die from a self inflicted gunshot wound while the gun is locked into the holster because of the wind direction that day; it is nature of the internet and internet forums to point out flaws, I'm not starting a thread every few weeks to point out "yup everything is working smoothly here". Notice your thread title even carries the negative, while your experience has been positive. And it is tiring to point out such items as the redesign or training issue everytime the topic rises up, so it gets easier to read the complaints and move along knowing that it works for me.

Personally I have one on right now, it's not my only holster but it's a frequently used holster, I've practiced with it and it works, I've run it through dirt and snow and not had an issue, and I like the active retention feature that's easy for me to access but helps make sure the gun stays where it belongs when negotiating obstacles in the forest or even sitting it a car's bucket seat. The SERPA was also the holster that managed to ingrain into my muscle memory the indexing of my finger on the frame so that it keeps away from the trigger when drawing, something i've been able to carry over to other holsters when going for that initial purchase on the firearm.

All of that said, my experience with the SERPA is limited to Glocks and SERPAs designed for Glocks and I notice Glock owners tend to have fewer issues on the whole with SERPAs than 1911 owners and S&W M&P shooters seem to fall into the middle; and in looking at photos I think the location of the lever for the SERPA action indexes differently on different firearms and that can cause issues for some individuals, and that is why it is critical to practice with any and every piece of equipment before relying on it in the field so that if you are in that category you identify the issue before live fire before stress and before it's in an extreme situation.