When it comes to holsters, there should always be a few guidelines to follow when choosing the best options for your particular needs. I, personally, follow the guidelines outlined below when selecting a holster:

• It needs to completely cover the trigger guard of my firearm
• It needs to offer adequate retention of my firearm
• It needs to keep the barrel of my firearm clear of any obstruction
• It needs to allow me to safely carry with a round in the chamber

In my eyes, if any of these guidelines are not followed, you could be setting yourself up for an unsafe way of carrying your firearm.

With the above guidelines in mind, here are four holsters that I simply do not trust.

The Handgun Sling™

Screenshot courtesy of The Handgun Sling™ YouTube video

This thing was featured in a recent article, and the vast majority of the comments have supported my thoughts that were outlined. This concept is essentially a piece of elastic with a rod and a ‘coin’. If you want to see how it works, check out this article.

Issues:

• No trigger protection whatsoever
• No proper retention of firearm
• Having to place an obstruction inside the barrel

Versacarry®

Screenshot courtesy of Versacarry® YouTube video

This concept was covered extensively in an article of mine a while back, and my thoughts still hold true to this day. What we have here is another method of carrying that is marketed as a minimalist design. However, see that yellow rod in the image above? Yep, that goes inside your barrel. We also don’t have any trigger protection on one whole side of the firearm. That’s just the beginning. Read all the details in this article.

Issues:

• Having to place an obstruction inside the barrel
• Trigger guard only protected on one side
• Plastic base has been known to break off
• Pieces of plastic can strip from rod and end up inside barrel

Clipdraw

Photo courtesy of Clipdraw via Facebook

This minimalistic product is essentially a piece of metal attacked to the back of the firearm via screws. It acts just like a clip on a pen, and is said to keep the firearm in place this way. If anyone ever considers using this, a trigger guard is a must. With this carry method, the entire firearm is 100% exposed. That’s scary.

Issues:

• No trigger protection whatsoever
• Need to modify firearm with new backplate
• No proper firearm retention

Zero Carry®

Screenshot courtesy of Zero Carry via website

I threw up an article and video here, where a YouTuber goes over this carry method. Like he says… it’s less than ideal in my eyes. We should, at all costs, make sure that nothing is inside our barrel. Whether it slides out easily or not, the only things that should ever be in your barrel are a cleaning rod… or a bullet on it’s way out.

Issues:

• No trigger protection whatsoever
• Having to place an obstruction inside the barrel
• No proper firearm retention

The idea here is simple: secure methods of containing your firearm while carrying concealed are so incredibly important. While innovation moves us forward, I personally feel that safety is sometimes sacrificed for this ‘minimalist’ approach.

Would I go as far to say that these products are gimmicks? I don’t think so. I believe that each inventor stands behind their idea and product, and we simply have opposing views. However, there is something to be said about maintaining a high level of safety and with these products, they don’t meet my requirements that I have laid out.

I’ll stick with my go-to holster.