In your opinion David, what makes a GOOD owb holster?
Good question! As we've seen in this thread, not even a well known and established maker is immune from making a holster with a serious flaw. That said, a ramped front sight would minimize this flaw, altho it would result in a shiny front sight and a beat up holster over time. The Zip Slide also requires a ramped sight. A post sight will likely catch on that one, too.
I use a Heinie designed holster in my classes to demo that very thing. I get someone from the class to put it on and then make a draw. On their 2nd or 3rd attempt, they finally get the gun out.
1) A good holster should securely retain the gun. (gravity isn't enough!)
2) The gun should not flop around or rattle in the holster.
3) The holster allows a full firing grip at initial contact. The base of the trigger guard should be exposed at least a fingers width, not covered with holster. (if it's not exposed, it forces the hand to take a high grip.)
4) Besides an exposed police duty holster, it should not fight the user and should not require contortions or tricks to draw the gun.
5) Related to #4, the holster should align the gun with the hand for the draw. If the muzzle is pointing significantly away from the feet, the dreaded "Leaning Tower of Pisa" draw is required to get a proper grip on the gun. Fobus is notorious for requiring this draw.
6) The holster should allow a smooth draw, preferably from start to finish.
7) There should be a sight channel and it should go all the way up. (Most Galcos do not)
8) Holster should allow one hand reholstering without looking or "pecking." (like that Zip Slide video shows at the 1:33 mark)
9) Holster should remain in a fixed position on the belt, not sliding or tipping.
10) Holster should be durable.
11) Holster should not cause blisters or bleeding during a gun class.
12) The gun should be fully covered. The "belt slide" style holsters will give up the gun if the wearer sits down and hits the muzzle on the arm of the chair, etc.
13) If necessary, the holster should protect the mag release button from being inadvertantly activated. This is important for a left handed shooter where the mag release is facing away from the body, or for some models that have an ambidextrous mag release. It's critical for a pocket holster.
14) A nice, but not required feature of a holster is when it engages the safety of a 1911, or at least protects it from coming off while in the holster. The only ones I'm aware of that activate the safety are the handmade holsters of a THR'er here (can't recall his name) and KyTac's BraveHeart IWB.
www.kytac.NET
These are most of the features a "good" OWB or IWB holster possesses. Remarkably, damn few holsters embody all of them.