Tag Archive | holster

Well it won’t be long before we’re take I-15 north toward Lehi, Utah for the first night of the coming trip. After staying the night and seeing some family in Pleasant Grove, UT we’ll head to Gardiner, Montana for 5 nights and begin photographing Yellowstone N.P. around September 5th. Unfortunately there have been several fires raging in Yellowstone throughout August but as of today, only two fires remain active. The Alum fire is burning in central Yellowstone and the Druid fire also remains active in the northeastern region of the park. Smoke is said to be minimal and the roads are all open which is great news. InciWeb is the government’s site used to track active wildfires http://www.inciweb.org/.

We picked up our 4 holsters from Tex Shoemaker in San Dimas a couple of days ago and have been conditioning them to make the leather more pliable. Doug is the owner of Tex Shoemaker and he makes some incredible leather products. He mostly produces equipment for law enforcement and rodeo customers but he also does jobs from private individuals. He made two holsters with no drop from the belt loop and two more with drops of 2″ so we could choose which one was more comfortable and fit with our backpacks on. Some people with longer arms prefer holsters that ride lower (like myself). They also feature a forward swivel so that when we sit down the holster can swivel out of the way and remain parallel with the leg. Lastly, a leather “shoelace” is run through the bottom of the holsters to tie around the leg for a tighter fit when riding horses, atvs, or hiking thus insuring the holster doesn’t flop and bang your quadricep all day. Doug also made us some belts that match the holsters and distribute the weight around the waist evenly.

Hanging the leather to bake in the sun after conditioning.

Unlike California, the majority of the states we’ll be spending time in will allow us to openly carry firearms without a permit. This is great because not only will it intimidate anybody who would think of robbing us, it also adds a last resort option should we come in contact with deadly animals. Of course, we are prepared with bear spray and other techniques, but you can never be too cautious.

A couple final modifications have been made to the truck. We drilled a hole in the truck vault to put a lock on thus securing the slide out from being accessible. We also got the truck tinted with 3M film, on sides and the front windshield to cut down on the UV light and heat entering the cab. The one thing I can say though is that although the 3M tint film is supposed to be the best film on the market, it has a ‘3M’ logo about every 2 feet that’s slightly visible on the windows. This is bothersome if you’re particular about vehicles like I am, but nonetheless it’s functional.