Holsters on Etsy

I've had good luck with BRHOLSTERS for a Glock 43, on Etsy. Great quality.
I bought a holster from BlackOpArms, for a 1911, but they haven't listed in some time. Good quality.
I bought a holster from SolGear, for a Glock 23, but they closed their shop, also good quality.
I bought a holster from TheArmedAdvantage, for a 1911, I wasn't happy with, inferior design.

A friend of mine makes leather holsters and sells them on Etsy, along with many other products. “Bean Brothers Leather”.

That's nice if looking at it from a distance. Up close it loses it's appeal to me.

I am not thrilled with the idea of buying a holster from some unknown person on Etsy. Like many things, it probably looks like designing and manufacturing a holster is simple, but there are no doubt nuances that are not real obvious that might only show themselves when something bad goes wrong.

I would be inclined to stick with a recognized holster manufacturer. Even they sometimes have issues. Some guy making them in his basement as a hobby business is not going to have the R&D and testing to back the product up.

There are a lot of good vendors of various goods on Etsy. Never have bought a holster and I can understand people’s reluctance.

But I had an El Passo Saddlery holster that was supposed to be an 8 week wait take something like 16 or 17 weeks to show up. I inquired with them if my order was still in the que or if it’d been lost after about 11 or 12 weeks. I was ignored. No response. The holster just showed up one day.

I don’t mind waiting longer. No biggie. But I don’t like being ignored when I’ve already been charged like $150. A simple “We are sorry but we are behind schedule. We are working in your order.” would’ve sufficed. Had to completely cancel an order for another holster from Optics planet.

So as with any internet purchase, you’re always taking a chance.

Sovblocgunfan said:

A friend of mine makes leather holsters and sells them on Etsy, along with many other products. “Bean Brothers Leather”.

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Nice Ortgies. Small or Large frame?

I believe that’s a large frame.

My friend does lots of different leather products. His are typically hand-carved.

You get what you pay for.

I bought a holster off Amazon specificly for the Taurus TX-22
What I did not see on the sight nor mentioned was that it could be swapped to Right or Left carry by swapping the belt clip and velcro straps.
How the holster is without modification would have some security issues.
The holster included a magazine pouch that did not secure the magazine in its pouch securely.
The base holster is useable but the velcro straps need replacing.
And a magaine cap secured on the strap securing the mag.
I think there are better holsters out there.
As for the one I bought I can live with as long as I take measures to beef up the straps (too narrow and small contact areas of the hook n loop)
For general use the holster is ok.
For securing my firearm for travel out on the wilds of Alaska it needs some tweaking.

This is my planned retirement business,,,
Making holsters and selling them on ETSY.

Many folk have asked me why I wouldn't just open my own business,,,
Complete with it's own website.

ETSY is there and already has ba-jillions of viewers,,,
I don't want to make standardized holsters,,,
I want to create one-of-a-kind art works.

Aarond

.

It always gets me when someone proclaims that their favorite, well known maker is "the best". There are literally countless numbers of very talented leather craftsmen that most people have never heard of. Many of them sell their wares on Etsy.

ilbob said:

I am not thrilled with the idea of buying a holster from some unknown person on Etsy. Like many things, it probably looks like designing and manufacturing a holster is simple, but there are no doubt nuances that are not real obvious that might only show themselves when something bad goes wrong.

I would be inclined to stick with a recognized holster manufacturer. Even they sometimes have issues. Some guy making them in his basement as a hobby business is not going to have the R&D and testing to back the product up.

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That's the fear of the unknown talking. Some of the best I know of do it as a hobby. Personally, I prefer one hand-crafted by someone who loves what they're doing over one punched out by a machine, stitched up and finished by line workers.

aarondhgraham said:

I don't want to make standardized holsters,,,
I want to create one-of-a-kind art works.

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I can relate to that. I got burned out doing the same thing over and over again.

460Shooter said:

There are a lot of good vendors of various goods on Etsy. Never have bought a holster and I can understand people’s reluctance.

But I had an El Passo Saddlery holster that was supposed to be an 8 week wait take something like 16 or 17 weeks to show up. I inquired with them if my order was still in the que or if it’d been lost after about 11 or 12 weeks. I was ignored. No response. The holster just showed up one day.

I don’t mind waiting longer. No biggie. But I don’t like being ignored when I’ve already been charged like $150. A simple “We are sorry but we are behind schedule. We are working in your order.” would’ve sufficed. Had to completely cancel an order for another holster from Optics planet.

So as with any internet purchase, you’re always taking a chance.

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I had a similar experience with El Paso Saddlery. However, I wasn't ignored but the lady on the phone acted like she hated her job. When the belt and holster finally arrived they were okay, but nothing special. I have since ordered my leather from Kirkpatrick.

I used to sell leather items on Etsy. I got a bit tired of folks contacting me about special commissions they wanted built. I know commission work is what many folks strive for but for me that is a lot like work. I already have a job and I didn’t want another. Plus, I want to make what I want to make not what someone else wants. That was also one of the times Etsy decided to do a hike in their fees so I got away from it entirely.

I do a few local sales now and then but have almost entirely gotten out of leatherwork. Too many people are into it anymore too and the cost of entry is pretty low to still be able to do really nice work. Saturates the market fast.

I’ve since tooled up to do some higher volume woodworking for a single local client who gives me ample artistic freedom.

I used to do a lot of custom leather work as a second job. Then my first job got very busy and started a paying very well and I dropped the second job. I just did leather work for myself and some gifts and have just about quit now. I'll make a fancy holster for my self now and then and never use it. It's become kind of pointless and as my tremors worsen harder to do.

There are a bunch of capable craftsmen doing leather work now along with some not so capable. The trick is in sorting them out.

earlthegoat2 said:

I used to sell leather items on Etsy. I got a bit tired of folks contacting me about special commissions they wanted built. I know commission work is what many folks strive for but for me that is a lot like work. I already have a job and I didn’t want another. Plus, I want to make what I want to make not what someone else wants. That was also one of the times Etsy decided to do a hike in their fees so I got away from it entirely.

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Wow, that is eerily familiar!