Question: Do You Look Down Every Time You Holster/Re-holster Your Firearm?

Some will say yes, some will say no. Does it even matter, really? Well I guess it depends on a couple different factors, the two most important being the holster you use and your clothing. For those who say “If you train enough and know what you’re doing, you shouldn’t have to look”, I present to you the remainder of this article as my argument.

For simplicity sake, the terms holster and re-holster will be used hand-in-hand, as I practice the same things outlined below whether I am holstering my firearm first thing in the morning, or re-holstering at the range after shooting drills.

First, you will always find me using a molded holster. Here is the reason I choose to use a molded holster 100% of the time:

Yea, that happens and it isn’t pretty. As you can see from the top image, this negligent discharge is from the leather folding in and ultimately depressing the trigger. We want to avoid this, obviously. That’s where a properly molded holster comes into play.

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What if, though, you’re using a molded holster and something gets inside your trigger guard such as part of your shirt or jacket? That, too, has happened when people aren’t paying attention to their holster area as they re-holster. A piece of clothing can get in there and cause problems. Sure it’s a slim occurrence, but it’s something to keep in mind.

What I typically do is this: If I am wearing a simple t-shirt, I will lift that shirt up on the holster side and re-holster without looking. With a setup like that, there isn’t anything else to get in the way. The opening to the kydex on my IWB holster is above my pant line, so there wouldn’t be any concern of my jeans getting in the way. Now if I’m wearing a t-shirt and a hoodie or jacket (basically, anything more than a single layer), I will lift up those articles of clothing to gain access to the holster and look down as I am re-holstering… just to make sure things are clear. Because what if you think you’ve cleared both items of clothing from your holster area, but in fact one of them is still sitting near the holster? Now you have a possible obstruction while you are trying to re-holster.

For me, it’s a very deliberate act.

What are your practices with re-holstering? Share them below in the comments section.

Also, this video below may be of interest: