How about a classic, vintage holster thread for all of us to share?
I was cleaning up in the gun room a couple years ago, properly putting away all the stuff that inevitably stacks up on one's reloading bench. I was replacing some holsters in the holster bin and got to looking at the bin's contents. There were a lot of holsters in there. A lot of cows died for those holsters! Over the years holsters had accumulated: acquired with some handgun purchase, picked up out of a used holster bin on a gun show exhibitor's table, been given me, or occasionally purchased for cheap just because I liked the artistic carving or basket weave adornment. There were holsters enough to stack on shelves, several deep with three large paper grocery sacks full in the bin at the bottom of the metal locker where they are kept. Something clearly had to be done so I began sorting them into a keeper pile and a white elephant pile.
I was having a good time poking through this menagerie of leather. The more I looked through the holsters, the more I was liking a lot of them, just for what they were: Obsolete defunct manufacturers, bygone designs, trends from long ago yet many exhibited really outstanding materials and workmanship. Sure, some were a bit clumsy, not too cutting edge for concealment, and just generally out of style but then they were from another time. Yep, something clearly had to be done so, rather than divest myself of the holsters, I kept nearly all of them and then added the odd one along the way.
The inspiration hit me that it might be fun to feature old holsters in a Forum thread. That way everyone could pronounce judgement on them and we could just generally chew the fat on old holsters. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. I went insane in summer of 2013 and came back out of retirement to bite off more than I can chew as a one-person compliance department in a local bank so never seemed to get "a round tuit" on beginning a Forum holster thread.
So now, over two years later, we're going to give this a try. I'm going to try to resurrect this thread on occasion to add new photos of old holsters as time allows for photographing. Am hoping that y'all all will add photos and narrative of your own about holsters you have. We can all remark about each others' leather.
Rules (which are made to be broken)
Y'all be sure and participate in this as well by featuring photos of your vintage holsters. Any holster can be featured as long as its genu-wine leather.
Nasty ol' materials like Kydex, canvas, whether tacti-cool black or OD camo, don't really belong in this thread unless they hold special meaning to the member, in which case, stick 'em up too along with the tales to go with 'em. I'm sure that sometime later on, I'll get around to photographing some neato British WWII canvas Webley holsters and putting them up.
With such an astute membership, we're bound to cover some ground looking in from time to time on old holsters. I'm hoping some of y'all can help me figure out what I've got, help with holster maker history and lore and all for fun and frolic.
With all that introduction, here's the first holster I'm going to stick up here.
I was cleaning up in the gun room a couple years ago, properly putting away all the stuff that inevitably stacks up on one's reloading bench. I was replacing some holsters in the holster bin and got to looking at the bin's contents. There were a lot of holsters in there. A lot of cows died for those holsters! Over the years holsters had accumulated: acquired with some handgun purchase, picked up out of a used holster bin on a gun show exhibitor's table, been given me, or occasionally purchased for cheap just because I liked the artistic carving or basket weave adornment. There were holsters enough to stack on shelves, several deep with three large paper grocery sacks full in the bin at the bottom of the metal locker where they are kept. Something clearly had to be done so I began sorting them into a keeper pile and a white elephant pile.
I was having a good time poking through this menagerie of leather. The more I looked through the holsters, the more I was liking a lot of them, just for what they were: Obsolete defunct manufacturers, bygone designs, trends from long ago yet many exhibited really outstanding materials and workmanship. Sure, some were a bit clumsy, not too cutting edge for concealment, and just generally out of style but then they were from another time. Yep, something clearly had to be done so, rather than divest myself of the holsters, I kept nearly all of them and then added the odd one along the way.
The inspiration hit me that it might be fun to feature old holsters in a Forum thread. That way everyone could pronounce judgement on them and we could just generally chew the fat on old holsters. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. I went insane in summer of 2013 and came back out of retirement to bite off more than I can chew as a one-person compliance department in a local bank so never seemed to get "a round tuit" on beginning a Forum holster thread.
So now, over two years later, we're going to give this a try. I'm going to try to resurrect this thread on occasion to add new photos of old holsters as time allows for photographing. Am hoping that y'all all will add photos and narrative of your own about holsters you have. We can all remark about each others' leather.
Rules (which are made to be broken)
Y'all be sure and participate in this as well by featuring photos of your vintage holsters. Any holster can be featured as long as its genu-wine leather.
Nasty ol' materials like Kydex, canvas, whether tacti-cool black or OD camo, don't really belong in this thread unless they hold special meaning to the member, in which case, stick 'em up too along with the tales to go with 'em. I'm sure that sometime later on, I'll get around to photographing some neato British WWII canvas Webley holsters and putting them up.
With such an astute membership, we're bound to cover some ground looking in from time to time on old holsters. I'm hoping some of y'all can help me figure out what I've got, help with holster maker history and lore and all for fun and frolic.
With all that introduction, here's the first holster I'm going to stick up here.