PSA: Check your Safariland Holsters!

[NCPatrolAR]

With a recent story about a Lodi CA police officer having his weapon discharge when someone worked a finger into his holster caused me to take a look at some of the duty holsters I have. Upon inspection I've found that it is possible to get a finger inside the holster body of certain Safariland holsters that are designed for use with weapon mounted lights. So far I've been able to recreate this issue with a 6360 for 9/40 M&Ps and 6378 holsters for Glock 21s. I could not replicate it with the 6280 body. Be sure to check your holster and see if this might happen with your kit.

Here's a video of it happening with the 6360:

6360 Holster Problem

[Michael2007]

My ALS 6378 for a light does it as well

[ST911]

Worthwhile to check your 6280-types as well, as it has been experienced by those users as well.

http://www.safariland.com/NewsPressDetail.aspx?Id=132

Advisory for Handguns with Lights and/or Lasers Attached
October 21, 2005

Safariland® has been manufacturing holsters for handguns with lights mounted to them for over 10 years. The need for this application with the Law Enforcement, SWAT and military communities has grown into a requirement to include lasers as well as lights for duty applications.

At Safariland, we design all of our holsters to meet the rigorous standards we have set for function, reliability, security, ease of re-holstering along with the ability to obtain a shooting grip before the draw.

The design of a duty or tactical holster demands the existence of an opening large enough to allow the holstering of a given weapon, as well as any other equipment affixed to it. This can include custom grips, extended safeties, sights, de-cock levers, extended magazine releases, lights, lasers, etc.

Ultimately, the design for the opening of the holster is required to be slightly larger than the pistol accessory or light attached to it. Currently, there are many light/pistol/holster combinations on the market. The holster design is driven by the dimensions of the handgun and attached light and/or laser.

In the same manner that an agency would test, evaluate and approve a duty holster for retention capabilities, Law Enforcement agencies have the responsibility to evaluate and approve any modification to their duty handgun (including the addition of a light or laser), to ensure the weapon and holster are still operable in a safe manner that meets their requirements. Please be aware
that handguns with lights mounted to them create a necessarily large opening in the holster that could possibly allow access to the trigger of the holstered handgun.

For further information regarding “How to Evaluate a Holster” along with “Levels of Retention”, please review our training video TV-1027 (TV-1037 in PAL format). Customer Service would be happy to ship one to you at no charge.

Thank you for your interest in Safariland holsters

[alvincullumyork]

With a recent story about a Lodi CA police officer having his weapon discharge when someone worked a finger into his holster caused me to take a look at some of the duty holsters I have. Upon inspection I've found that it is possible to get a finger inside the holster body of certain Safariland holsters that are designed for use with weapon mounted lights. So far I've been able to recreate this issue with a 6360 for 9/40 M&Ps and 6378 holsters for Glock 21s. I could not replicate it with the 6280 body. Be sure to check your holster and see if this might happen with your kit.

Here's a video of it happening with the 6360:

6360 Holster Problem

It looks like the place were you wiggle your finger into is flared out wider than is needed even for a light? Would it be possible to heat it up and bend it inwards a little?

Guess I should go buy a Serpa.

[chitownpig]

I've noticed this with my Safariland 6365 for a while now. May have to reconsider options. Its not easy to get your finger in there but stranger things have happened.

[NCPatrolAR]

It looks like the place were you wiggle your finger into is flared out wider than is needed even for a light? Would it be possible to heat it up and bend it inwards a little?

Bending it in would likely cause issues with holstering. A solution for the M&P holsters would be to add material to the top edge of the opening which would block off more of the opening (in a vertical orientation).

The Glock 21 6378, while allowing finger insertion to happen, has a higher "sidewall" which makes it more difficult for a finger to be inserted. With the 6360; an object can be inserted from close to a 50-55 degree angle

[gschoellles]

Why not just lop that finger off.

If a suspect got that much retention on my firearm, my response would be at level III and he'd be retracting a bloody stump as it were!

I carry a TDI for just such occasions!!

http://www.kabar.com/knives/detail/76

[jck397]

I e-mailed Safariland about this issue last year, and this was their reply:

Jeffrey,This is the response to my inquiry for you from our R&D department.*First, we need to build the holster at least as big (slightly bigger) than the widest part going in. With a light like the SF and TLR series, the batteries are mounted horizontal, or side by side, so the light it wider. On some other lights, the batteries are on top of each other, making for a slimmer profile, narrower opening, therefore this situation does not exist.*So if you want a light with side* by side batteries, many holsters will allow for enough room for SOME sized fingers to get inside. This is a training issue, and decision on the part of the user.*Last, many thousands of these holsters have been approved, purchased, and issued by agencies with the full knowledge of this being a possibility. Different light, different pistol (fire control mechanism), and the entire picture changes.If you have additional questions feel free to call me.Mike435-671-6376---------------

It seems to me that they're more interested in having a holster mold that fits as many lights as possible than addressing the issue, and putting the responsibility on the end-user who may or may not be aware that this has happened multiple times. I e-mailed them about the timeline for the light-bearing 7-TS holsters and again raised the issue. The customer service reps seemed receptive, but we'll see what (if anything) R&D does with it.

[diving dave]

Upon seeing the article about the kid working his finger into the holster, I checked my duty rig and sure enough I could get my finger right onto the trigger. However I run a 1911 , and the thumb safety is well covered.. Striker fired pistol I would be more concerned.

[TN-popo]

Our Dept (TN) had an incident with one of these holsters (Glock model) about 5-6 years ago.
Officer taking a patient to the ER for an eval.
Psych starts to fight and grab for the officer's G22.
One round discharges inside the hospital causing property damage.
G22 never left the holster.