Holster Observations

[Clemson]

I found the several posts on carrying guns on tractors interesting. I do carry while I am bushhogging and generally when I am working on the farm. I am not so concerned about the time that I am in the seat as preparing for when I have to get down to pull a fallen tree out of the way, examine a fence, or check on a sick or fallen animal. At any rate, I have used two different guns this spring and summer, for which I have different holsters, and I noticed something that I thought I would pass on: One gun is a small-framed S&W .22 revolver (Model 63) that I use a Bianchi leather holster for. The other is an older .38 S&W (Model 15) that I was carrying in an Uncle Mike's Nylon holster. After a day's bushhogging wearing the .22 in the leather holster, I noticed nothing at all noteworthy, but after a day's work with the nylon holster on my hip, I had to dump out a fistfull of grass, seeds, dust, briars, etc. when I pulled the pistol out to unload it. The gun itself was covered with crud. My conclusion is that leather is better suited to tractor work than the woven nylon holsters! Anyone else have similar experiences?

Clemson

 

[RanchMan]

/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif Hmmm. An interesting observation/conclusion.

I use a nylon holster that has a thumb break and a pouch for an extra clip, worn on the strong side, while on my tractor (and other places too). (1 clip has Hydra-shoks, the other has CCI shot shells - giving me the ability to "adjust" ammo based on the situation)

I've noticed some small amount of dust/dirt may collect on the rear of the grip, hammer assembly and slide due to direct exposure to the environment, but nothing ever goes down inside the holster itself. When removed from the holster, the rest of the pistol is clean & without problem.

/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif I'm sitting here trying to figure out why your results are so different than mine.....?

My best guess is that your nylon holster is shaped differently than your leather one at the top and somehow acts like a funnel to "catch" debris flying around. Granted, leather tends to be rather "slickery" /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif, but I don't see how this would change things much in favor of it since it seems to me that things should just "slide down" the funnel more easily with a leather holster. Of course if your leather holster is a "tight fit" while your nylon one is loose, that could explain a lot too, as there simply wouldn't be the space for stuff to go down your leather holster.

This is all just speculation, but it would seem to explain the difference in results between your experiences and mine.

PS: One question. By chance is your leather holster isn't "open ended" while your nylon one is "closed?" (I know it seems like an obvious question, but just thought I'd ask to confirm....)

 

[Clemson]

You may be onto the problem. The leather is open-end and the nylon is closed end. To clean the leather, you just knock on the side of the holster and whatever is clinging to it drops off. The nylon may take a trip through the washer to clean up. I'm just biased, I guess. I don't particularly like plastic guns or fabric holsters.

 

[RanchMan]

<font color=blue>I don't particularly like plastic guns or fabric holsters.</font color=blue>

Hey, thats OK! That's the great thing about it - lots of choices open for us. I've tried a LOT of holsters in the past - some of them "worked" for me, others did not. Just depends on the situation/use and the individual involved.

Personally I *generally* like leather for when a handgun is worn as a "sidearm" (e.g. no concealment) and fabric/nylon when it needs to be kept "under wraps." Of course this isn't ALWAYS the case (such as my tractor "rig" - found a nylon holster that just seemed to work really well) but more often than not.

As for the "Plastic" ones - I have to admit, I prefer metal myself. It's not a strength/function issue - just simply a preference as I know a lot of the plastics can shoot very well & hold up to a lot of abuse.

'Course, the thing that always got to me is how when someone says "plastic gun" a lot of people are under the misinformed opinion (due to the movie Die Hard 2) that "plastic" guns can get through a metal detector when in actuality they are readily detectible due to the amount of metal they contain. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[Hawkflyer]

I also use both nylon and leather depending on the situation. If I am on the tractor I usually carry a revolver in a nylon holster that rides high enough to stay out of the way. I have found that "stuff" (dirt, grass, dust, etc) does stick to the nylon easily. But sometimes (when I might frighten joggers or sensitive people) I will carry a leather inside the pants rig. Of course it stays clean unless something REALLY bad happens just because it is not exposed.I have often considered a shoulder holster but I find the straps confining, and I hate having the thing banging me in the side all day.