Safer Holster?

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SwampWolf

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I've often wondered if it would make any sense to put a steel "plug" in the toe of some holsters to help mitigate the effects of a negligent discharge when holstering a weapon. It would also seem to be a good idea to have a steel plug inserted in the toe of a shoulder holster that carries a handgun horizontally (where the weapon is always pointed at anyone standing behind the wearer). Just wondering...o_O
 
SwampWolf said:
I've often wondered if it would make any sense to put a steel "plug" in the toe of some holsters to help mitigate the effects of a negligent discharge when holstering a weapon. It would also seem to be a good idea to have a steel plug inserted in the toe of a shoulder holster that carries a handgun horizontally (where the weapon is always pointed at anyone standing behind the wearer). Just wondering...o_O
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I don't know. My first question is, what are you going to make the rest of the holster out of so that the plug does not just rip out and become a projectile? The energy would be reduced by whatever was expending in ripping it loose, but the diameter is now much bigger. On the other hand, maybe you want the plug to fail; the benefit then would be slowing down the bullet.
 
Some Speed- and Trick-shooting holsters used to have a chute of sorts to attempt to deflect the slug and blast just a bit away from the users leg. That was for very low-power ammo. . .

You probably can't carry enough holster to stop a bullet. I'd recommend you focus on learning to holster without giving yourself Glock Leg. It's not that complicated.
 
Monac said:
I don't know. My first question is, what are you going to make the rest of the holster out of so that the plug does not just rip out and become a projectile?
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Second question should be; how are you going to do that and make it light enough that people will actually wear it?
 
SwampWolf said:
I've often wondered if it would make any sense to put a steel "plug" in the toe of some holsters to help mitigate the effects of a negligent discharge when holstering a weapon. It would also seem to be a good idea to have a steel plug inserted in the toe of a shoulder holster that carries a handgun horizontally (where the weapon is always pointed at anyone standing behind the wearer). Just wondering...o_O
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Huh?!

Proper Training is the issue here, not unsafe holster design.
 
It should probably work given the strength of kevlar and such. Here they shoot a baseball cap with a ballistic insert (1:10 in)

 
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I wouldn't think putting material to catch a bullet at the muzzle end of a holster would be beneficial, only unintended discharges would be caught obviously , if you consider a holstered discharge acceptable or even possible you need to change your gun or your holster or something so that you have confidence that you won't trip the trigger and the rig won't either. Guns don't just go off, negligence sets them off 99%+ of the time.
 
Obturation said:
I wouldn't think putting material to catch a bullet at the muzzle end of a holster would be beneficial, only unintended discharges would be caught obviously , if you consider a holstered discharge acceptable or even possible you need to change your gun or your holster or something so that you have confidence that you won't trip the trigger and the rig won't either. Guns don't just go off, negligence sets them off 99%+ of the time.
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I doubt that:

upload_2020-10-9_21-1-18.png
 
Obturation said:
Fair enough.
You had any guns discharge while holstered without human error being involved? If so, share the details. I did say 99%+ of the time, not 100%.
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I have not, however I have seen videos. One I remember was a policeman demonstrating to a school classroom who had a ND during holstering. The culprit there was a hybrid leather kydex holster thaat snagged the trigger.
 
Even if we caught a bullet without ripping out the holster the splatter of the lead would still be a concern so the sides of the holster would have to be reinforced as well. I know there is a term for the splatter, comes up when talking about armor a bunch, but can't think of it right now.
 
SharpDog said:
I have not, however I have seen videos. One I remember was a policeman demonstrating to a school classroom who had a ND during holstering. The culprit there was a hybrid leather kydex holster thaat snagged the trigger.
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Right.
Obturation said:
you need to change your gun or your holster or something so that you have confidence that you won't trip the trigger
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Thats what I said.
 
somethingbenign said:
Even if we caught a bullet without ripping out the holster the splatter of the lead would still be a concern so the sides of the holster would have to be reinforced as well. I know there is a term for the splatter, comes up when talking about armor a bunch, but can't think of it right now.
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Fragmentation is bullet splattering against a hard surface, spalling is material being ejected from the back of a hard surface on impact to the front. One of those?

Larry
 
DT Guy said:
Fragmentation is bullet splattering against a hard surface, spalling is material being ejected from the back of a hard surface on impact to the front. One of those?

Larry
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Spalling is what I was thinking of. Did not know the distinction between fragmentation and spalling. Thanks for the lesson.
 
Kevin Rohrer said:
Not much. That bullet is still going to go somewhere, or be forced to stay in the barrel and damage the gun.

There are reasons why no holster has ever had this "feature", Safety and Common Sense being two of them.
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I wasn't advocating anything when I started this thread but guns have safeties and holsters have retention devices for reasons: people make mistakes (i.e., negligent discharges) when common sense and safety protocols are ignored. I'd rather have a damaged gun than have someone being injured or dead, even if they acted negligently. My idea is only an idea; no reason to dismiss it out of hand simply because people acting safely and exercising common sense is assumed.
 
SwampWolf said:
I wasn't advocating anything when I started this thread but guns have safeties and holsters have retention devices for reasons: people make mistakes (i.e., negligent discharges) when common sense and safety protocols are ignored. I'd rather have a damaged gun than have someone being injured or dead, even if they acted negligently. My idea is only an idea; no reason to dismiss it out of hand simply because people acting safely and exercising common sense is assumed.
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Not dismissing anything. As a matter of fact, I like your idea and don't think you should dismiss it, either. Why don't you have such a holster built and personally try it out a few times. If you survive, post your test results here. If you don't survive, have your next-of-kin let us know what happened.
 
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Did you pick up on the first words of my post; "I've often wondered if it would make any sense..."? I never advocated or recommended anything; only threw out an idea to maybe think about. If you're so committed to a theme ("proper training is the issue here, not an unsafe holster design"), I guess there's no reason to explore any idea any further. I thought I was addressing a mature audience (members of The High Road); members well versed in what constitutes proper safety protocols. Most of us would never disagree that "proper training" is important-but I wasn't referencing training. Nor was I referencing an "unsafe holster design".

Call off the straw men, I'm not looking to shadowbox red herrings.
 
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