lemondrop9344 wrote,
The pictures on the web site reflects what appear to be will boned holsters. This led me to believe the mouth of the holster would remain open to facilitate re-holstering the weapon one handed.
I found this holster to be completely unsuitable for use where one handed re-holstering was needed (Mas Ayoob's Mag/40 class). The class requirement was to re-holster the revolver, one handed, trigger finger down the side & thumb on the hammer. I can't tell you how miserably I failed to accomplish this task with the Simply Rugged holster.
A couple of points. In the big picture of custom holster makers, Simply Rugged holsters are some of the
least boned custom holsters made. A quick look through their site and just about any custom holster makers site will show how little detail boning Simply Rugged holsters have. Since most of their models are of the basic pancake design, retention is provided not by the holster's boning, but by the basic conceptual design of the pancake holster (that I pointed out in post #18). When worn on the belt, the out layer will be drawn close and provide retention. When the pistol is drawn, that outer layer will tend to close up and often make reholstering difficult, especially with something like a revolver with a thick cylinder.
If you needed a holster for range use, that would require many presentations and reholstering, a pancake holster, regardless of the maker, is usually a poor choice simply due to the way the holster is designed to work.
From Simply Rugged's site
http://www.simplyrugged.com/about/
For competition and range use, we developed the Cattleman an easier packing, low cut holster, with easy to holster capabilities.
Here is another maker, Horseshoe Leather's take on basic holster designs
http://www.holsters.org/holster-design.htm
For training classes, a wraparound style, such as a Milt Sparks 55BN or Galco Avenger, is a much better option because the design of the holster will allow it to stay open when the holster is drawn.
The ease of drawing and reholstering is the primary reason kydex holsters have become the most popular holsters for training/range/competition.