Blackhawk SERPA Holsters, simply not worth the risk!

[SIG_Fiend]

Accountability - YouTube

The shooter is always ultimately accountable for their actions. The holster doesn't ND the gun in to your leg on it's own. That being said, I would like to pose a question:

What if a car's parking brake was not a lever, but was instead a button on the dash, placed directly next to another commonly used button such as the A/C or Radio power button? Although a person could operate their other buttons in a perfectly safe manner, would that not still be a serious design flaw?

Suffice to say, some things are just a bad idea. A person can learn to use a Serpa just fine, and be safe with it, until they don't. At the end of the day, it is still a bad design. I'd rather a competent shooter not only learn to be safe, but also learn not to use poorly designed gear in the first place and save themselves a whole lot of trouble.

 

[Txpitdog]

I like my Serpa, but I just use it for when I am working on my uncle's land. No quick draw Mcgraw stuff though

 

[40Arpent]

Your finger shouldn't be indexed on the side of the frame above the trigger??

Have you even looked closely at how these holsters work? Because when you take a grip on an unholstered handgun and index your finger along the frame, that is where the release is when you grip a pistol holstered in a SERPA.

Admittedly, I will have to dig my Serpa out of my holster box and take a look....it's been a long time. I do know one thing though, I'm not putting near the amount of pressure downward with my index finger when drawing from any other holster.

 

[T-FAST]

I prefer my Blade-tech revolution holster, but my experience with the serpa wasn't negative either. I just would rather not have an active retention holster.

 

[txinvestigator]

I prefer my Blade-tech revolution holster, but my experience with the serpa wasn't negative either. I just would rather not have an active retention holster.

 

[T-FAST]

Question???? I just don't want to press a button. All I want to do is grip the gun and unholster. Hence why I prefer my blade tech

 

[txinvestigator]

Question???? I just don't want to press a button. All I want to do is grip the gun and unholster. Hence why I prefer my blade tech

Are you carrying IWB, OWB, or just for the range?

For OWB, I just cannot carry a level 0, no active retention.

 

[T-FAST]

It's just for range/IDPA/hunting. When I CC I carry IWB

 

[556.45.12]

Accountability - YouTube

I agree 100% with the poster of this video. A ND is embarrassing and most people would much rather blame their gear than take responsibility for their own screw ups. I was just having this discussion with my bro last night and we came to the same conclusion. I can understand why an instructor wouldn't want them in class though - because 99% of people are morons.

 

[M. Sage]

The shooter is always ultimately accountable for their actions. The holster doesn't ND the gun in to your leg on it's own. That being said, I would like to pose a question:

What if a car's parking brake was not a lever, but was instead a button on the dash, placed directly next to another commonly used button such as the A/C or Radio power button? Although a person could operate their other buttons in a perfectly safe manner, would that not still be a serious design flaw?

Suffice to say, some things are just a bad idea. A person can learn to use a Serpa just fine, and be safe with it, until they don't. At the end of the day, it is still a bad design. I'd rather a competent shooter not only learn to be safe, but also learn not to use poorly designed gear in the first place and save themselves a whole lot of trouble.

I'll have to try getting some pictures, but Audi and BMW both do almost exactly that. BMW is the worse of the two, with the newer cars having four stalks around the steering wheel; turn signal, cruise control, reverse/drive (not a proper shift lever, but a limp noodle-feeling switch!!) and windshield wipers. That's in addition to the park button next to the headlight switch. Audi puts the button on the center console right next to the gear shift and their audio controls, including their ripoff of BMW's pain-in-the-ass iDrive thing.

Admittedly, I will have to dig my Serpa out of my holster box and take a look....it's been a long time. I do know one thing though, I'm not putting near the amount of pressure downward with my index finger when drawing from any other holster.

I don't actually put pressure. If you try yanking the pistol out before your finger is on the button, yeah you're going to have to push it. A slight downward push when you grip the pistol and all you have to do is lay your finger on it.

 

[London]

I use one of those cheap Israeli holsters just like this one:

Glock 20/21/30/37/38 Retention Black Holster New Israeli Tactical

Open carried with it in NM and wear it around the house. I love it. If you think it's dangerous because dumbasses shoot themselves with it, you are wrong. That's a training (and respect for your weapon) issue, NOT a gear issue. A holster can't shoot anybody. Blame their fingers.

As far as Blackhawks falling apart, how many out of 1,000 do this? I'm no Blackhawk fanboy (in fact I thinkt heir marketing is highly douchey), I'm just saying every company that makes plastic products makes a piece of shit from time to time. I remain unconvinced.

 

[txinvestigator]

I use one of those cheap Israeli holsters just like this one:

Glock 20/21/30/37/38 Retention Black Holster New Israeli Tactical

Open carried with it in NM and wear it around the house. I love it. If you think it's dangerous because dumbasses shoot themselves with it, you are wrong. That's a training (and respect for your weapon) issue, NOT a gear issue. A holster can't shoot anybody. Blame their fingers.

As far as Blackhawks falling apart, how many out of 1,000 do this? I'm no Blackhawk fanboy (in fact I thinkt heir marketing is highly douchey), I'm just saying every company that makes plastic products makes a piece of shit from time to time. I remain unconvinced.

I don't mean this the way it will sound, but I am not surprised. If you trained people for a living and had that experience I imagine your opinion would be different.

I have carried for living, and now I train folks. I agree with the premise of this thread.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

I use one of those cheap Israeli holsters just like this one:

Glock 20/21/30/37/38 Retention Black Holster New Israeli Tactical

Open carried with it in NM and wear it around the house. I love it. If you think it's dangerous because dumbasses shoot themselves with it, you are wrong. That's a training (and respect for your weapon) issue, NOT a gear issue. A holster can't shoot anybody. Blame their fingers.

As far as Blackhawks falling apart, how many out of 1,000 do this? I'm no Blackhawk fanboy (in fact I thinkt heir marketing is highly douchey), I'm just saying every company that makes plastic products makes a piece of shit from time to time. I remain unconvinced.

Considering the price range we are talking about ($20-50), I mean there are a multitude of better options out there. Anyone that has an ND is partially if not primarily responsible for it to be sure. That doesn't change the fact that the Serpa and it's knock offs are just generally poor designs. There are retention holsters out there with demonstrably superior designs, such as the Safariland ALS or SLS series, and heck even the Blade Tech WRS.

I agree with TXI. The more you see, the more you experience, the more you train, the less you will want to waste any time or money with things like Serpas, Kel Tecs, Taurus', Hi-Points, etc. I don't mean that to offend anyone that owns any of those things.

 

[hkusp1]

I like my serpa more than I like my safariland. Never had an issue with either I just don't like the safariland thumb button.

 

[Mexican_Hippie]

I get the training issue argument. Still, you can train constantly and still make a small error under stress. It happens all the time. You can try to do things like training to reduce them and that helps significantly, but no single human being alive is immune from mistakes.

If there's something out there that increases my chances of success, at the same price, why would I not go with that?

 

[M. Sage]

Pics of the parking brake switches, as promised. FWIW, the kind of people who typically drive the following kinds of cars (especially the 7) aren't what I'd call "drivers"; they use these cars as ego boosts and status symbols, which is good because these cars aren't good cars to begin with (again, especially the 7).

E60 chassis 7 Series BMW. Parking switch right next to the light switch.

Shifter switch goes up for R, down for D. Push the button on the end for P... or just push the ignition button and remove the key and it does it for you. Just below that; wiper switch. It goes up and down to select which wiper mode you want (auto, delay, slow, fast, deep fat fry) with the washer button on the end. IIRC, from the "off" setting, a push upward is the mist setting. There are a total of four stalks around the steering wheel on this car.

And just because it annoys me and I feel like sharing, the two silver buttons at 10 and 2? They do absolutely nothing on any of the E60s I've driven:

2005 Audi A6. Parking brake button is literally right next to the audio controls.

I don't have much of a point here, just sharing because SigFiend mentioned this scenario.

 

[Mexican_Hippie]

Those buttons are for boost bro! Seriously though, I'm thinking machine guns on the left and missiles on the right.

 

[M. Sage]

Those buttons are for boost bro! Seriously though, I'm thinking machine guns on the left and missiles on the right.

Kinda hard to have boost without a 'charger.

MG and missiles? When did a 7 become half as cool as that!?

 

[Texanjoker]

I use one of those cheap Israeli holsters just like this one:

Glock 20/21/30/37/38 Retention Black Holster New Israeli Tactical

Open carried with it in NM and wear it around the house. I love it. If you think it's dangerous because dumbasses shoot themselves with it, you are wrong. That's a training (and respect for your weapon) issue, NOT a gear issue. A holster can't shoot anybody. Blame their fingers.

As far as Blackhawks falling apart, how many out of 1,000 do this? I'm no Blackhawk fanboy (in fact I thinkt heir marketing is highly douchey), I'm just saying every company that makes plastic products makes a piece of shit from time to time. I remain unconvinced.

I use my FOBUS like that for years. After many years one was showing wear, fobus replaced it for free with no ? asked. I still use the fobus for my kel tec. Saw somebody on that wagon in here. I had to do the 50 round qual (to 20 yards, 1 hand, off hand ect) with that kel tec pf9 to carry as a back up... I hit a 98... one round was on the line and that dropped me to 98 from 100...works for me. It's small, cheap and I have no complaints. I wish glock had a single stack 9mm that was small like that.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

I wish glock had a single stack 9mm that was small like that.

LOL I think Glock will end up producing one in the next few years......after literally every other company has offered a single stack, compact, 9mm. They're kind of behind the curve on that one.