serpa holster not worth the money
- Thread starter docryan61
- Start date
No it is not safe for "range use" or any other use, I wouldn't even use one to fuel a fire. They are garbage and an accident waiting to happen. As others have stated they are banned by FLETC, most top flight instructors and units, and have been the root cause of many many serious accidents. The holster sets you up for failure through it's design. There is nothing safe about it. Arguing that it is good for anything is showing extreme levels of ignorance of the subject and safe gun handling, period.
Yes, military contracts sold to the lowest bidder equates to the best quality product for the civilian consumer.
It's funny really. Guys want to emulate military gear, yet when you talk to the guys who used it in that capacity it they all say the same thing.
F**k, that, s**t.
punkrockboy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Eastern Bantario!
We use Serpa holsters at my employer. Over a hundred Serpa Holsters, I have not heard of a single holster falling apart, locking up, causing an ND.
Must be something wrong with ours.
And we shoot and train a lot
I also find them to be tops for weapons retention.
This is just my ( our) experience. Clearly the internet is saying otherwise.
Must be something wrong with ours.
And we shoot and train a lot
I also find them to be tops for weapons retention.
This is just my ( our) experience. Clearly the internet is saying otherwise.
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Not the internet, Subject Matter Experts, such as Craig Douglas, the late Todd Green, FLETC and hundreds of others, whose job it is to train the best of the best, and even just train regular people. Your personal anecdote is meaningless compared to the information gathered by people and agencies who actually know what they are talking about.
Consider it like this, if your agency issues these and not one incident has been recorded, that's good news. However, there is proven information courtesy of many other departments and industry professionals documenting numerous incidents. This cannot be refuted.
Further more, the serpa is a cheap budget option. It's attractive for new shooters because certain agencies still issue this thing and new shooters still associate that all issued gear or "mil spec" equates to quality. Here in lies the issue.
Sure, competent shooters should be able to successfully employ a flawed or poor design without incident.
For the guy whose just bought his first handgun, the results aren't always going to be the same and there are more documented ND's and lower extremity injuries caused by this thing than any other holster. Maybe save for leather holsters but luckily those died in the 90's.
You wouldn't buy a vehicle with a poor safety rating.
Why would you buy a holster that you are statistically more likely to shoot yourself with?
I'll never get it, but I guess those who do give my trauma kit a purpose on the range.
Then again, people still buy Ford trucks....
As I have said before, it is a retention tool, not a fast draw holster.
The people that use them, use them so their sidearm doesn't fall out when they are rappelling, jumping, moving around vehicles, or in the event they get into a fight with the bad guys.
Most police have the ability to unholster early in an encounter (if deemed necessary when they get out of their car... or should the situation escalate) and far less often do they have to draw quickly. Not that the Serpa isn't able to be draw quickly when you are comfortable and proficient with it.
Sure, there is a documented safety issue with these holsters, but there is also a documented safety issue with glock pistols too.... as in don't let your jacket bungee pulls get into the trigger guard when holstering.
Many police officers that have been in scuffles with bad guys have attributed retention holsters like the serpa as life saving because the bad guys couldn't get the gun out.
(Why they were designed in the first place)
Further, The instructors and ex-sf guys quoted, teach all manner of people coming through their various schools (people that are there to get training... as in they don't likely have it already). And groups like IPSC also have to deal with all manner of people (of all experience levels). So if they want to ban the use of the holster they can reserve that right. And I do agree with their reasons in their circumstance. But it doesn't change my opinion of the holster, or the fact that the holster is very prevalent in LEA and MIL operations, used safely on a daily basis, for years, and trained with often.
You say you wouldn't buy a vehicle with poor safety rating?
I say you wouldn't bring a prius to the race track.
If you want to shoot from a holster for speed, get a competition holster.
If you want to put your pistol away and have it stay there, get a retention holster.
The people that use them, use them so their sidearm doesn't fall out when they are rappelling, jumping, moving around vehicles, or in the event they get into a fight with the bad guys.
Most police have the ability to unholster early in an encounter (if deemed necessary when they get out of their car... or should the situation escalate) and far less often do they have to draw quickly. Not that the Serpa isn't able to be draw quickly when you are comfortable and proficient with it.
Sure, there is a documented safety issue with these holsters, but there is also a documented safety issue with glock pistols too.... as in don't let your jacket bungee pulls get into the trigger guard when holstering.
Many police officers that have been in scuffles with bad guys have attributed retention holsters like the serpa as life saving because the bad guys couldn't get the gun out.
(Why they were designed in the first place)
Further, The instructors and ex-sf guys quoted, teach all manner of people coming through their various schools (people that are there to get training... as in they don't likely have it already). And groups like IPSC also have to deal with all manner of people (of all experience levels). So if they want to ban the use of the holster they can reserve that right. And I do agree with their reasons in their circumstance. But it doesn't change my opinion of the holster, or the fact that the holster is very prevalent in LEA and MIL operations, used safely on a daily basis, for years, and trained with often.
You say you wouldn't buy a vehicle with poor safety rating?
I say you wouldn't bring a prius to the race track.
If you want to shoot from a holster for speed, get a competition holster.
If you want to put your pistol away and have it stay there, get a retention holster.
So I have to ask: How much hands on training/real world experience do you have with a serpa? I'd love too meet one of these guys you speak of? And as far as their gear being cheap you obviously have no idea what you talking about. CANSOF guys get what ever they want and those guys are wearing Crye G3 combat pants (not cheap) lol. I’m sure they can afford any holster on the market. And I never said it was a good choice for a civilian or duty holster. That is the problem, guys want to use one and end up getting hurt and then people blame the holster instead of the user.
Still alive
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Rainy mosquito infested part of BC
Daver II has given a very balanced response to this issue.
I have used them with zero issues, as mentioned. But it’s not worth the hassle anymore to continue using them in competition and courses. You get the stink eye from everyone and they avoid you like bad BO.
Blackhawk must have deep pockets to keep these holsters in production with no major change in design and to handle, I’m sure, the lawsuits against their product. Have they ever issued any statements defending the Serpa holster?
I have used them with zero issues, as mentioned. But it’s not worth the hassle anymore to continue using them in competition and courses. You get the stink eye from everyone and they avoid you like bad BO.
Blackhawk must have deep pockets to keep these holsters in production with no major change in design and to handle, I’m sure, the lawsuits against their product. Have they ever issued any statements defending the Serpa holster?
I’m clearly not going to be swaying anyone’s opinion but I’ve personally witnessed a Serpa where the gun couldn’t be withdrawn because the mechanism became jammed. That #### will get you killed and is a good enough reason for me to not use them.
I don’t give a damn who uses them. Just because some SOF guy is wearing one in a photo doesn’t make it GTG.
Safariland and GCode for this guy.
I don’t give a damn who uses them. Just because some SOF guy is wearing one in a photo doesn’t make it GTG.
Safariland and GCode for this guy.
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
Nothing like a good old fashion Serpa thread to get peoples blood boiling.
Just remember to keep things civil
Haha, so true. I love a good serpa thread, it’s almost as heated as a “what’s the best oil to use in my motorcycle?” thread over on SOHC4 forum. Pure entertainment.
Retention during a 3 gun stage is very reassuring to me, we can move around with a long gun fairly vigorously and not worrying a bout the pistol is comforting.
Absolutely!
No squabbling on this one, IPSC is clear, you cannot participate with one, period.
Well they did circle the problem...and I (un)fortunately own one...
MWL and Slavex are spot on.
I personally don’t give a damn on any arguments being made for the product because the product has a known higher safety failure rate and when someone, anyone, experiences this failure it will be on a range and that range will now have to deal with the fallout of that failure which at best is a pain in the a$$. Seeing it’s possibly my a$$ dealing with it, for me it’s real simple -buy another holster or shoot at another range...
1riot1ranger
CGN Regular
- Location
- Calgary, AB
I have not measured , but have not noticed that. The reason it will not work is because if the trigger guard is square, and the front of it will hit the holster, so gun will not drop in far enough, the uncle mikes are open at the back for the adj screws, so they work, sometimes, have to use a bit of heat gun.
