I LOVE leather holsters. There is just something wonderful and luxurious about the feel of a great leather holster. Soft against your skin, and beautiful natural leather. As women, we appreciate these things. The way things look and feel matters.  perhaps for me, it also has to do with the history of the wild west. Somehow, I feel a connection to the strong, rugged men and women of the past. A little corny, I know but there is a psychological or emotional sense when you love the holster you carry your partner in your self-protection in.

My Craft Holsters

I received my two beautifully packaged, handcrafted holsters from Craft Holsters and couldn’t wait to introduce them to my Springfield Hellcat.

I ordered the IWB with steel clip in Mahogany and the OWB with the Belt Tunnel, also in Mahogany. Both models have thumb break straps.

Holster Style

I prefer simple, sleek and minimalist-styled leather holsters. No need for anything extra. After all, your holster is a tool and it has a job to do. All I want is what is necessary to do the best job for me. Less is more for me, less is also more comfortable. No extra anything to create a bigger bulge or to poke me. This is important to women as our varied clothing styles demand it for sleek concealment.

Breaking In a Leather Holster

With any leather holster – some investment of time is required. Well worth it in the end, so don’t let that be a negative when considering which holster is best for you. The time investment comes in two forms – the first is conditioning the leather when you first get it. This helps to begin the “break-in” process of the leather.

I really appreciated that Craft Holsters includes with its holsters everything you need along with clear instructions.

I do recommend placing your UNLOADED gun in a plastic bag before sliding it into the holster as the inside of the leather needs some softening too. So, I just play it safe to prevent any scratching on the surface of my gun and it helps to add a little girth to the gun, to stretch the leather some. The thumb break strap also needs conditioning and stretching. I then let them sit overnight.

Speed Things Up

I tend to be a little impatient. To speed up the break-in process, I personally add another step the following day. I carefully ran some warm water on the interior of the holster, placed my gun in with a bag, applied heat from a blow-dryer, worked it a little bit with my fingers, and then let them sit again overnight.

The second part of the investment is that it just takes time to get your leather holster to fully soften. Trust me, after a few weeks of wearing your new Craft Holster you will have that perfect holster. With the perfect fit and the perfect feel.

Function

I’ll start with the IWB holster. I have worn this holster appendix both with jeans and with yoga pants. The steel clip does an outstanding job and I am comfortable wearing with either. The retention strap along with the great molding job by Craft offers exceptional retention. That gun isn’t going anywhere!

The great strength of this clip helps to hold the gun and grip close to the body, which is critical for effective concealed carry. If you are not used to using a holster with a retention strap, you will want to practice disengaging and engaging it so you can draw quickly if necessary. Doing this repeatedly also helps to break in the strap and snap.

I wear the OWB holster on my strong hip in the 3 o’clock position. The slight forward cant of this holster places the grip in the ideal position for drawing. The belt tunnel holds the gun snug against my hip and it didn’t slip or slide on my belt.

Drawing

I did some dry-fire practice drawing my gun and both holsters performed strongly in both drawing and re-holstering. Historically, I have worn Kydex holsters with no retention strap. I have to say that with a few sessions, I became quite fast disengaging the strap for the draw. Re-holstering was smooth and again, with practice, re-engaging the thumb break strap became pretty easy.

Final Thoughts on Craft Holsters

So, I give two thumbs up to Craft Holsters. The quality of the leather and workmanship is outstanding. These holsters will provide many years of faithful service and give the joy of carrying in a leather holster. They have dozens of holster models for just about every preference and a hefty list of gun models they can make holsters for. They also make gun belts, mag pouches and concealment bags. You can see them all here.