Cowboy Holsters

I've been in the Cowboy Fast Draw game for about a year and a half now, and thought that it might be a good time to highlight the leather that the family uses.  I'm certainly no expert, but I've had enough experience now that I can evaluate a good holster and make some recommendations to folks who might be considering a western holster.  Let's take a look at the ones we normally take to a competition.  This list certainly isn't comprehensive, just what we've got in our bag. From 12:00, clockwise.

12:00.  That brown left-handed holster was one of the first western holsters made by my son.  He blogs here, and he calls his leatherwork, Lazy JD Leatherworks.  We've got a couple of his holsters that are routinely used in competition.

At 2:00, we have a brown holster by Ken's Leathercraft.  I've been using Ken's since Day 1.  He was recommended to me by other shooters, and I still give him a recommendation to beginning shooters.  His holsters are very well made, and the price point is outstanding.  If you're not really sure that you want to get into the game, but would like a nice holster, Ken will sell you a belt and holster for $130.00.  That's a screaming deal on a semi-custom holster and I frankly don't see how Ken does it.  But he does, and we use his work.

Just below Ken's holster is a russet right-hand, by Crease N Corral.  The proprietor is a cowboy shooter, probably the fastest man in Texas.  He's known worldwide for his whips, but he makes very good holsters as well.  Milady (Blue Eyed Belle) likes his work and she has two of them.

At 5:30, the black right hand with the JD brand is another Crease N Corral.  Also Milady's holster, she commissioned it from Dusty at an invitational shoot this past autumn.  That's her "bling" holster and she's personalized the belt with conchos.  If anyone wants conchos to "bling" a belt or other leather goods, you'd do a lot worse than Conchos.com.  They've got every kind of concho you can imagine, and probably some that you couldn't.

Going around to 7:00 we see a brown left-hand long-gun holster in the California pattern.  That one was made by my son at Lazy JD Leatherworks.  It's probably the finest holster I own.  Very nice work.  It will be going with me to Kentucky in September for their State Championships.

Then, up at 11:00 we see a right-hand, black, Ken's Leathercraft holster.  That's the grandson's rig and he's used it to nail down trophies all over the Southern Territory.

I know that there are other fine holster makers in the US.  Mernickle Holsters and Shaniko Holsters are both well known makers of fine leather.Reddog Leather is another up and coming name in custom leather goods.  I've heard good things about his work from people I trust, but I haven't yet been able to inspect his stuff for myself.

That's what's in our competition bags.  We've got some others in the spares bag, but those go with us when we travel.