Bianchi Duty Holster Doesn't Last Long

[Sparky]

(partly reposted from a reply in another thread)

I used to really like my Bianchi Accumold...

until my holster just BROKE!

It only had a few hundred presentations on it and (this is hard to describe)..

on the half of the snap closer to your body, part of it is sort of a brad on one side of the holster that fits through a hole in the material and connects to the part of the snap that actually snaps...

well, the metal stem connecting those two pieces sheared off and broke rendering the snap useless.

Just plain old metal fatigue.. the cheap aluminim just plain tore apart.

And the holster was fairly new. I had only had it for a few months.

I'm glad that it was only range gear. I'd hate to think that I had been working with a retention strap that was on the verge of breaking!!

I'm getting rid of my other Bianchi stuff, too. What cinched it is when I saw their warranty policy on their website - Check it out:
http://www.bianchi-intl.com/info/warranty.html

I won't buy something as important as a duty gear from a company that won't stand behind their products who's warranty is based on the lemmon law!

Unless I am over-reacting..

any of you folks have any experiences with Bianchi that might change my mind?

[seabass]

Hi Sparky,

I did not realize what type of warranty Bianchi had. The only item I have from Bianchi is the accumold silent key holder. The rest of my duty gear is Safariland Levitation. Good luck on a search for a new holster.

[Darkwulfe]

Ouch, all my leather is Bianchi and I was planning on replacing it with Bianchi Nylon... after reading that I think I might look elsewhere.

[On Paper]

My partner at work carries a Bianchi holster and makes fun of the Uncle Mike

[Niteshift]

As far as nylon goes, I had good luck with Bianchi, then switched to Uncle Mikes. I had good luck with everything from Uncle Mikes, except the holster, so I replaced it with the old Bianchi holster.

The company I've had the worst luck with has been Safariland....particularly that damn SSIII (070). POS! No reason that a $100+ holster should wear out faster than a cheap $25 nylon ankle holster worn the same number of times on duty. Plus, the ankle holster has survived daily use another 4 additional years.

[JRT6]

I had Safarilands first Kydex duty holster, the one that's been discontined due to a design defect and replaced with the SLS. Safaliland denies the defect but when my holster was six months old I was in BP preparing myself a refreshing carbinated beverage when I heard a thunk and felt a new lightness on my waist. A casual look to the ground saw my gun an holster lying there.

The SLS has worked fine but I don't care for the rotating hood thing.

[Sparky]

I got it from Gall's and I have not yet contacted them.

From what I have heard, Gall's has a really good return policy even if the manufacturer won't cover it.

I wear plainclothes everyday and only need the duty gear for going to firearms training classes and stuff. It's a good thing I don't need that holster everyday or else I'd be in trouble.

I don't think I'll be getting another Bianchi. That no good warranty policy has got to go.

Blackhawk, Eagle. LBT, Tactical Tailor.. they all back their stuff up with a 100% guarantee for the lifetime of their product no matter where you get it from.

[shooter1201]

Stay AWAY from Assault/Shooting Systems stuff. While their weapons cases ROCK, their holsters SUCK....and they DON'T respond to negative(contructive criticism) e-mail.

Safariland's 6280 is 'OK'...the 070/0701 is BETTER.

[ 07-11-2002: Message edited by: shooter1201 ]