New Safariland level II holster

[Mack811]

Greetings,
Has anyone used / tried the holster with the rotating hood in place of the thumb break? Model number escapes me. I read a review that said it offered good retention and ease of reholstering. I have not had a chance to handle one yet. In the market for duty gear and seeking input. thanks.

[John from Maryland]

It's the Self Locking System (SLS) holster. We adopted them when Safariland dropped their other Level II for the SIG 226.

Our officers don't seem to like the holster very much. Several officers have complained that the hood rotates forward while they're seated in the cruiser. The holster rides fairly low which prevents you from using an elbow to protect the holstered weapon. Officers seem to be slower on the draw. (Of course, these problems may not have occurred if the director had given us a full day on the range to get the officers used to the system; we were lucky to run them through the Q course.)

On the plus side, the holster is fairly simple to learn to use. It is much easier to resecure your weapon than with a thumbbreak (and MUCH faster than securing the Level III Safariland).

It's not really a bad holster and many officer really like it. If I had my choice, however, I would go to a competitor's Level II or III thumbbreak.

Be safe and good luck.

[Mack811]

Thanks for the information John. I always appreciate real world reviews / opinions.

[FLLawdog]

We also use it. For now, anyway. We're fixing to got to the SSIII.

Cops don't like change, and we resisted this one for a while, but it's not that bad. Draw time went down on qualifying and stress shoot. It's also a little wider off the body so it has a tendency to catch on more things.

It's very durable, and I haven't had anyproblems with it coming undone when I didn't want it to.

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FLLawdog
"Never try to teach a pig to sing...it wastes your time and it annoys the pig."

[Mack811]

Hey FLLawdog shouldn't you be escorting ballots? http://www.officer.com/ubb/smile.gif I like the concept of no strap to get in the way of reholstering. I have been training with a borrowed level III and that stiff thumb break gets in the way. I am going to try to find an SLS to check out this weekend. Thanks.

[drunkhunter]

Try putting some break free on your snaps. I use the SL level III. I had a hard time with the snaps until I wiped them down with breakfree. They had some sort of black film on them. They work great now.

[Niteshift]

I really didn't like the SSIII.

Overpriced and didn't last. Chucked it as soon as I could.

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Niteshift-
Perseverate In Pugna

[Traffic Dog]

Check out the article in the Jan 2001 edition of Guns and Weapons for L.E .

[CaptSchmooze]

I carried a SSIII for years, now I use the SLS and I love it. It also accomodates the tactical light on my G17.
It is easy to use and I really like it, but each person has a preference.

IMHO it is a major mistake not to use a security holster of some kind, each call you go to, you introduce a lethal weapon into the mix, I prefer to keep it in my holster and under my control.

Best wishes,
Schmoozey

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Tights and a cape, the true uniform of a crime fighter.