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22 G&A February 2020 | hAndGunninG
The Safariland Model 6360 ALS/
SLS Mid-Ride Level iii retention
duty holster is a popular rig
for law enforcement. Available
in seven colors, finishes and
patterns, it is also available to
accept pistols with a red dot
(6360RdS shown) and/or those
pistols equipped with a light.
MSRP ranges $189 to $245.
thousands of professionals in uniform
from all over the world, and there
is one incontrovertible truth when it
comes to holstered handgun retention:
The further away the holster is
from the torso, the harder it is for the
shooter to maintain control of the
pistol. The further away the holster
is, the more the arms need to be
extended to control it. The further
extended the arms are, the weaker
they become. Again, physics rears its
head. Don’t believe me? Then why do
PERFORMANCE
running backs hold the football high
and tight in the body? That’s right,
HOLSTER
because when that arm comes out it’s
easier to strip the football away.
For smaller statured officers, an
often-taught retention technique is to
wedge an arm under the holster, forcing the butt of the gun
into the abdomen and making it almost impossible to strip
the gun out; this technique is not possible with a drop holster.
Likewise, the default technique of “capping” the pistol
in the holster becomes much more difficult and less effective
with a drop holster. Building on the capping technique
is the consideration that in the event of a fight over your
gun occurs, the primary hand should be able to control
the holstered primary firearm on its own while the support
hand does something useful, such as parrying blows to
the face or drawing a backup gun to end the fight quickly.
Every year people are disarmed and killed with their own
pistols. Stop thinking that it’s never going to happen to you
and start training like it might.
Moving on from the fighting aspect of holster control,
let’s take a look at another area of concern for drop holsters:
running or climbing. I try not to get into telling too
many cop stories, but this one is particularly relevant. As a
young police officer working in Los Angeles’ Rampart Division,
my partner and I were involved in a foot pursuit with
a robbery suspect. At the termination of the foot pursuit,
I had taken the suspect into custody. I looked down at my
partner’s holster and it was empty! During the chase his
holster snap had come undone and his Beretta 92FS had
launched itself, unknown to my partner who’d been running
as fast as he could to catch the bad guy. Luckily, it was
recovered about a half-block down in the gutter resulting
in some good-natured ribbing rather than if he would have
AVERAGE TIME
(SECONDS)
Safariland 6360 ALS/SLS DFL 1.31
Safariland 6360 Sam Browne UBL 1.13
Note: Draw time is the average of a hit in the A-zone from 7 yards.
lost his sidearm. This scene
is not unheard-of when
running with a drop swivel.
It happens. But hey, gotta
look the part, right?
Now let’s take a look
at the shot timer. While my old Hoyt drop swivel and the
boat anchor of a Smith & Wesson 4506 that rode in it are
long gone, I still own one drop rig: My High Speed Gear
Battle Belt with a Safariland 6360 mounted on a Safariland
6004 Drop Flex Adapter (DFA) with a single leg strap kept
strapped high and tight (highspeedgear.com; safariland.
com). This is the rig I wear when I’m serving warrants, and
the butt of the pistol sits just at the bottom of the belt so
that it has clearance from my external ballistic vest and
plate carrier. I would prefer to use the Safariland Rigid
Universal Belt Loop (UBL) shank, but because of my height
and build that set-up makes it impossible to sit without the
gun driving up into the vest and becoming inaccessible.
My uniform holster is the same 6360 attached on the Sam
Browne with the UBL, which keeps the butt of the pistol
aligned with the top of my belt. There is less than a 3-inch
difference in height between the two, but the difference in
the draw times was a noticeable .18 second. My average
time from the Sam Browne to an A-zone hit at 7 yards was
1.13 seconds. My average time from the DFA was 1.31.
The difference of .18 second is an eternity in a gunfight.
If you’re running a drop rig because of external armor,
make sure that the butt of the pistol is as high up as
possible. If you’re running one because you like the way
it looks, or because it’s more comfortable to swivel on top
of your leg in the car, then please reconsider your choice.
Your life and the life of the people that you are sworn to
protect are more important than style.