Backcountry pistol holster options

[Thunder17]

I'm looking for a new/better options to carry my 10mm while bowhunting in grizzly country. I usually carry it strapped on my pack but it isn't ideal as I don't always have my pack on. Chest holsters seem nice, but not sure how it'd fit since I always have a bino harness on. What's everyone using?
Do you recommend a light mounted on your pistol?

 

[DanWyo]

I had a razco for many days in the field, but ended up with a lost pistol on a bear packout. I've been happy with my Hosking holster. Has a removable retention strap. Can be as custom as you want and at a reasonable price. http://www.hoskingholsters.com/

I wear it under an FHF without issue. I do have a WML on my pistol.

 

[jgal72]

Marsupial makes a pistol holder that attaches to bottom of their bino harness.

 

[ATH]

Blade Tech paddle holster. Fits on the belt of my pack, and if I drop the pack, I just unclip and put on my belt.

 

[montanablackdog]

Creekside mercantile chest holster and a Glock 20 10mm with underwood extreme penetrators here in Montana. I dont go anywhere in the hills in this state anymore without it.

 

[Kline]

The hill people gear chest packs are very comfortable for carrying a pistol with a pack, and if you get one of the molle versions they make a bino pouch for it as well I believe. Just an option to look into.

 

[Stockbroker]

Wes makes an excellent chest holster, and I use it on every Western hunt.

I chose to keep the handgun most handy, and reach for the bino...

7X Leather - Chest Holster Handgun Carry Made Comfortable Click on the lower right hand corner of pics to enlarge click here for Order info Chest Holster System$295 Holster (L or R handed) tooling/stampingavailable Complete Harness(all leath

 

[mbse20]

I like tritium night sites. Darker it is the easier it is to see them. In the neighborhood of 100 to 150 installed on a glock.

 

[Kendoist4162]

I always have a Gunfighters Inc Kenai chest rig on when I'm out. I just put my bino harness over it. Sweat and metal are not friends, do what you need to do or carry stainless.

 

[Lee Deming]

I carry a .44 revolver in a nylon holster on either my left side pack belt or my left side pants belt. I am right handed. That way it is always in the same spot. Yes, it gets in the way, however the butt is close to my hand. When I am hiking or bow hunting and see fresh sign I carry it in my hand. I hunt Montana, primarily in the aptly named Beartooths, Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, or Grizzly Central-around Lincoln, MT. When rifle hunting there I carry bear spray on my left side. My elk rifle is a .375. A few years ago my brother and I hunted the Missouri Breaks North of Jordan. For those familiar with that country it might shock you to hear that we found tracks and scat from a black bear. Last Fall I heard a man I trust talk about seeing a grizzly near Pompey's Pillar and another man I didn't know told of seeing one on the Musselshell by Hwy 200. You better assume that there are grizzlies everywhere in Montana except maybe in the extreme Northeast corner or along the Canadian border East of Havre. Even then... Still, after hunting Montana for over 50 years I have never seen a grizzly while I was hunting.

 

[brentru]

I recently bought an Ivory Holster that clips to my pack belt. Very happy with it. I'll have the same issue as you if I want to drop my pack, but I'll just keep another holster handy for those times. I looked at the Eberlestock bino harness that also claims to be a holster. I love the company but took a hard pass on this as there is no retention mechanism at all built into it and if you bend over your pistol is likely to come flying out.

 

[brcfo_outdoors]

I feel that chest holsters are a cool concept that don't pan out as well in real world use unless you have a very small footprint gun. I had a Kenai chest holster for a full sized USP and the butt of the gun near the magazine would hit the stock of my rifle while rifle hunting and obviously interfered with wearing a bino harness. It was uncomfortable to boot, and I could never get the tension and position just right. Any kind of gun with a full sized or longer barrel is going to be a pain to draw from it. Think about trying to pull a gun either horizontally or diagonally off your chest and have the barrel clear the holster, then add the range of motion restriction of having a pack on.

Depending on what brand of bino harness you carry there are attachment options, but that puts even more pressure/weight on your thoracic cavity which, for me, makes it harder to breathe while hiking or doing other strenuous activity.

There are plenty of holsters out there which are compatible with Safariland's QLS system or G-Code's RTI system which allow you to unclip holsters and move them between different platforms. I would put one female portion on your pack belt, and carry another on a paddle or something that could quickly slip onto your belt. Then just transfer the holster to either one depending on what you are doing.

 

[Mmac52280]

This

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Level 3 tactical locking holster so if you are climbing a tree, running, etc, it's not falling out. Your trigger finger touches the release and it's out and ready to fire. Strapped to your thigh, it's ready to draw, but not in your way. I would alternate in the magazine the 10mm extreme defender. There's a video on Youtube and both rounds will penetrate AR500 steel plate for a vest, the defender does more internal damage.

 

[OldElkHunter1961]

Simply Rugged Holsters. Tough, well fitting, competitively priced. Pictured is the rig for my N frame w/scope. I have another coming for an L frame with a reflex sight on it. Bar none the best gun leather I've owned.