Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

Alright I have been placed in charge of determining if my unit should change to a thigh holsters or continue to use our hip holsters. I am looking to hear from any and all handlers about, good, bad and ugly reasons for both. If you can help me with justification for either would also be great. I have never used a thigh so I am a little uneducated on the benefits of it over a hip holster.

USBP dosn't allow thigh holsters unles you are on the BORSTAR or BORTAC team. All I ever got to use was the standard hip. But I never had a problem with it either.

Alright I have been placed in charge of determining if my unit should change to a thigh holsters or continue to use our hip holsters. I am looking to hear from any and all handlers about, good, bad and ugly reasons for both. If you can help me with justification for either would also be great. I have never used a thigh so I am a little uneducated on the benefits of it over a hip holster.

Thigh holsters are worn (at least in our dept) to give ready access to those wearing heavy vests. Without a thigh rig you won't have access to your firearm. Those on patrol who wear them are usually assigned to a SWAT or Response team and could at any moment have to "Suit Up". It makes it easier to just put on the vest without having to change gun belts.

When I worked patrol K-9 many years ago, we wore shoulder holsters so our guns would not catch on things going through the brush. Now I will grant you this was in a galaxy far far way. :D

We carry G21SF with a light, and I have always worn a hip holster. I have tried a thigh rig once and it kept hitting the console and stuff in my car. My main complaint was is "flopped" around a lot. Now that was in 1999. Now thigh rigs are better, and have a more solid platform, so I am re-visiting the idea as well. I ordered a bladetech to try. It has a large solid platform, and should stay put on my leg. If it works out, Ill let ya know.

I'm a prior military working dog handler and I always favored the hip double retention holster but they switched us to the triple retention thigh holster (I always carried it on double retention though.) I couldn't stand it at first because it got in the way while driving and it felt funny when clearing corners but after you get used to it you realize that it takes strain off your hips and lower back and if you are doing patrol work it helps when kneeling or in the prone because it doesn't shift up and into your ribs and it's not constantly getting hit with your forearm. Now I prefer it over the hip holster. The only problem I may see is if you are one of the crazies who heel your dog to the same side as your weapon.

I was hoping that this thread was going to be about fried chicken. :o

A suggestion I got a few years ago, really worked well for me. I now have my thigh holster pulled up really high on my leg. That way, it still clears the vest, but doesn't flop around or get in the way when you need to run. My only complaint for a thigh holster in general is that it makes it so hard to draw your gun while seated in a vehicle.