I'm looking for sugestions for a carry/pack holster for my 4 5/8" Super Blackhawk. Galco Alaskan holster? Cross draw? I do not want a belt held holster due to pants constantly being pulled down.. Shoulder rig?
Carrying as a back up on Alaskan Moose float trip. Probably carrying while bowhunting also.

Bob

I’d look for a Diamond D holster. I have one for my S&W629 and really like it. The Galco would be fine as well.

I'd try to find a chest holster.

https://www.diamonddcustomleather.com/products/guides-choice-chest-holster

El Paso Saddlery 1942 Tanker

Diamond D.

El Paso Saddlery won’t get another dime from me.


Edited to add- the EPS 1942 holster, and others like it are particularly bad for woods carry for bear defense. Those retention straps don’t come off quickly with one hand. Definitely not fast enough to draw against a charging bear. For this reason, stay away from cheap nylon holsters as well.

The Diamond D is perfect and is popular with Alaskans for a reason.

As someone who has worn heavy handguns literally hundreds of hours in the field, I can tell you that generally speaking belt rigs are most comfortable for guns with barrels under 6"s. If you are having issues with your pants getting pulled down (and that is not at all an uncommon issue) then a very practical and comfortable solution, is to use suspenders that attach to the belt.

I use Dickies suspenders with hooks that attach under the belt. The wide elastic straps are very comfortable and distribute the weight on my belt quite nicely. I have been using them for hunting for quite some time, and used similar ones for when I used to work, carrying a bunch of stuff concealed on my belt (gun magazines, radio).




https://www.amazon.com/Dickies-Perry-Suspender-Black-Size/dp/B001VNBAYA/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3G1UQNUFPRF5V&dchild=1&keywords=suspenders+with+hooks&qid=1629985354&sprefix=suspenders+hook+to+%2Caps%2C259&sr=8-6

The Hill People Gear kit bag is another option. However, as a user, I can tell you that having had one a few years now, it takes a fair bit of practice to deploy a handgun from one quickly. You are unzipping it from a bag on your chest, then withdrawing it. This takes repetition to do quickly and efficiently. Most guys I know who have these, never actually practice and are slow as crap with them. If you get surprised by an animal, well you may not have the typical 5 seconds it takes most guys to get a gun out and onto target with one.

I am not knocking the HPG bag, as I like mine. I am simply giving a real world, practical report after using one for a number of years.

My son has a Kenai chest holster by Gun Fighters Inc which seems to be a very well built design. Only issue he has experienced is when wearing in warm weather with no base layers and thin shirts the hard Kydex holster hurts his sternum somewhat. Being Kydex and synthetic I would think it would be preferred over leather in a wet environment like you would see in Alaska.

Mac,

On my HPG pack, I bring the zippers together in the upper right corner, and leave a small gap, where I grab and rip the front panel open and draw.

Not super speedy fast, but pretty fast.

This YouTube video shows it, and that's pretty much how I have it set up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssjLQhhzEa8

Glad it worked for him.

We tried one and a G19 could not be drawn without two hands and a lot of effort. Contacted them for return and they sent a second. Same problem. They said “just put it in the oven for a while and refit the pistol”. No and WTF. That’s what you’re paid for. Sent both back and got one locally that has adjustable retention.

These guys were great. They are just super busy with a backlog.

https://dynamicdefensesolutionsak.com/

Ok then...... just get the Diamond-D and be done with it it,,,,, I've got 3 of them..... Lj

A somewhat related question........If you park your hand-cannon on your chest, where do you park your binoculars......??? Asking for a friend.

You can adjust the Diamond D holster high, low, or to one side.

Got a Diamond D, but I've also taken a liking to Alien Gear's chest holster.

Seriously not trying to give you a hard time here, but your experience carrying a large revolver in the field is not likely relevant to what the OP needs.

Going on a raft/float trip, a belt holster is pretty much the least useful. The reason chest holsters are popular up here, is that given the weather, we are almost always wearing different layers of clothing/ raingear, and having the pistol on the outside, and not under the long tails of coats is far more useful.

As for the bag on the chest... the deployment scenario of those is kinda funny when talking about dealing with a charging bear. I've been charged (false charge), and know others who have been charged by brown bears. Usually, when it happens, it is a surprise in low visibility brush. On my false charge, I had less than 1 second notice to deploy my Redhawk. There's simply no time to fumble around with a bag, or search under your long jacket for your belt holstered pistol.

The following video is VERY annoying, and edited stupidly... fast forward to the guts of the video, and ignore all the slo-mo replays.... Just concentrate on the few seconds of actual action from 2:00 to 2:04:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUG8UPsgE3U

For another option check out Simply Rugged with their Chesty Puller rig.

I live in grizzly country and carry my bino’s in a chest rig while hunting and scouting here. Plan to do the same on next year’s hunt in Alaska. Razco up in Montana makes a kydex rig that attaches to your bino’s pouch that is comfortable, secure and very accessible. And no, I am not affiliated with the company, but may want a royalty on their using my name!

Ok then,,,,, your comments above on this situation are "SPOT-ON", and looking at that Video, the 1st mistake that guy made, was not pulling his Gun, and being in the READY as soon as those Cubs came into view, he got lucky, I was in the same type of situation a few yrs back, down on the Branch-River, ie... (Alagnak River), it ended alittle different,,,,, Bear Floating in the River, and shortly thereafter, some Levelock Boys just happened along,,,,,, coming up-stream, said they heard the shots, 3 of them, and asked if we wanted the Bear,,,, and I said it's all yours, they put a rope around one hind leg, and motored back down, from wench they came,,,,, and this wasn't my 1st Rodeo on that River with this type of Chit going on,,,,, again to anyone reading this Post, the 1st indication of any Bear, Cub or otherwise, you need to be clearing-leather pretty "Dam" Quick, as my Granddad used to say...... Lj

Are you saying that you can draw and make an aimed shot in one second? That is a fast time in the competition world and few can do it. I carry a G19 in an HPG Recon and after many hours of practice from a partially unzipped bag I can shoot a Bill Drill into a 6" target in<3 seconds. When in bear country I call it a Phil drill.

mike r

That's not at all what I said. I said "On my false charge, I had less than 1 second notice to deploy my Redhawk". I had less than a second from realizing that a bear was charging me, to drawing my Redhawk and having it generally pointing in the bear's direction. At roughly the same time, the bear peeled off it's charge... that's a common thing BTW. Did you watch the video from 2:00 to 2:04?

FWIW, It was not uncommon at all when I was shooting competition to engage a target at 15 yards, 2 shots to the chest, 1 to the head, on two different targets in less than 10 seconds... lots of people did it.




Edited to add: I just looked up the course of fire to remind myself- it's 4 exposures to 4 targets, ranging from 7 seconds to 4 seconds, 3 rounds on each target.

LC, I must be failing to understand your times as related. The comp times you related are glacial and you had your pistol drawn and pointed in around one second after the bear was spotted? I do not understand.


mike r

I'll have to go back and review the tapes... for fugs sake.

I'll type this slowly... walking down a trail with lots of vegetation, short eye range. Heard a woof, and saw a bear charging me. I drew my redhawk and just as I was getting it aimed, the bear peeled off into the brush. From the time I saw the bear, drew my weapon, and had it out of the holster it was ABOUT a second or so. I didn't have a shot timer (hell I didn't even shoot), I didn't have a stopwatch and a horn, and I didn't look at the sun for a calibrated time reading.

As far as the comp times, if 4 seconds for 3 shots at 15 yards from a holster is glacial to you... good on ya.

I'm glad this thread has now devolved into arguing about fugging shot times. My only point is that a belt holster for a float trip for a handgun for bear defense is a bad idea. So is a holster with a strap. So is a nylon bag.

LC thanks for indulging my ignorance and your slow typing. We come from different worlds, I would never carry a handgun exposed w/out at least level 2 retention. I can, on demand, shoot 3 shots into 6" from a nylon bag @15 yards in <4 seconds as can many others and have found Mac Sage to have a credibility over many years that you have yet to establish. If you can draw your ruger in <2 seconds...good on ya.


mike r

The Diamond D holster, being leather, and having an adjustable tension screw, leaves no need for level 2 retention. I could do handstands with it on, (I actually did this once) and it won't fall out.

It's been many years since I shot competition. I shot at Ft Richardson at the state matches (Army NG), and later went to Arkansas for the Winston P Wilson Rifle, Pistol, and Machine Gun national championships. I wasn't the best by a long shot, but I belonged there. My aggregate score for the week in all matches (Rifle and Pistol) put me at 11% in the rankings.

The target looks like this:
(the scoring rings are different though, the 5 ring is 3 inches, and the 3 ring is 6 inches. There's also a (hard to see) triangle in the head area.





The first 2 rounds are to the center of mass, and the third shot is to the head. If you don't hit the head shot, the score for the entire 3 shots is 0. It was a lot of fun, it was challenging, and I was by no means the best shot there. My forte was rifle, and I was on the rifle team from Alaska. Everyone shoots the rifle and pistol EIC matches though.

I found the Diamond D to be excellent for carrying my 5" 629 while wading and fishing the streams in south central Alaska. It held the gun securely but could be drawn quickly and didn't interfere with casting fly rod. I tried the Simply Rugged first but soon moved on to the Diamond D which is also comfortable riding a 4 wheeler, snowmachine or your pick up.