Something truely unique..
I'm premeiring two new things in one post here.
A while ago, a female officer who works in the northwest (getting no more specific because she works undercover) contacted me regarding making a female-specific holster. We had met at a law enforcement instructors training conference and discussed some details there. I told here I had a few prototypes kicking around and gave her one to take home with her and try. She contacted me to discuss some modifications to that version, and she started asking me about exotics. She stated that she understood that all the exotics use cowhide as a foundation leather, and asked me how thick the exotic hides were. I explained that I skive them down thinner than they are when I receive them, to add less bulk to the holster and allow for detail molding. She asked if they were as thick as a piece of denim? I told her a little thicker than that and she hit me with "Well then, do you think you could make a holster covered in blue jean denim?"
Hhhmmmm...What have I gotten myself into...
Always up to a challenge, and always tempted by the desire to produce something truely unique and one-of-a-kind custom, I said I'd give it a try with the design modifications we'd decided upon. I immediately figured the two biggest challenges would be finding an adhesive that would not bleed thru the demin. This proved to be true and the normal leather glue would not work. The second challenge was keeping the cut edges of the denim from fraying. The end result is basically a modified Nelson Professional. The rear of the holster features a folded over loop instead of the traditional belt slot. This drops the holster about 1/2 inch lower on the waist, making it more adaptable to a woman's short torso. The rear belt tunnel is not sewn at the top. It is attached with screw posts and rubber spacers, allowing adjustment of how close or far the pistol cants towards the body. A typical holster on a woman will cant the muzzle outward and push the grip into their ribs based on their hip structure. The object was to get the muzzle inward and push the grip out some.
She's apparently a bit of a wild child, (into Harley's and horses) and asked if the mouthband could be done in black leather from a leather jacket, which she supplied. Anyway, here is the end result:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y76/MG-GGL/Denim3.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y76/MG-GGL/Denim5.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y76/MG-GGL/Denim4.jpg
