What's the Longest you've waited for a Custom Holster?

[Kinetic]

I ordered my first custom holster for my K9 over 6 weeks ago. I'm being patient, but I'm curious why it takes so long. I'm also a little concerned that it might not fit well or have some other issue.

What have your experiences with custom holsters been like and how long did you have to wait?

[Glock23]

At the time I ordered the PJ holster for my CM40, the advertised wait time was 5-6 weeks. It ended up taking between 8 and 9 weeks. Well worth the wait, though.

[CJB]

I waited about 10 weeks for an El Paso Saddlery once... usually they're faster than that. When you order custom, you got to expect the wait, no matter how long.

[xsailer]

They said 12 weeks and it was 12 weeks. Too darn long to wait. When asked they will tell you with the popularity of gun buys their business increased to supply new buyers. Makes sense.

[ripley16]

I've waited 6 to 8 weeks. Take up knitting to bide the time. Relax.

[Kinetic]

Thanks guys. I'll just keep waiting patiently.

[K9_Two_Tone]

I've waited up to 6 months for Milt Sparks VersaMax II horsehide sharkskin holsters on multiple occasions. When you see the craftsmanship and sheer beauty of their holsters, you'll know why Milt Sparks products are worth the hassle.

Besides the long wait, the other negative is their ordering system. Milt Sparks only accepts phone-in orders starting on the first day of the month. By about the 2nd or 3th day, their monthly order book is full and you have to wait until the next month to place an order. This assumes that your call gets through all the busy signals!!! Still, I am one happy customer and highly recommend their products.

[b4uqzme]

On one hand I would think the wait for a quality holster would be worth it. On the other hand I am not patient enough for that. I've purchased all my holsters either used or at local gun shows. I'm lucky that there are some good holster makers locally so selection and quality is good. I'm off to a show today to pick up some OWB holsters for my Kahrs.

[otium]

For an all kydex or a hybrid holster anything beyond 3 weeks would test my patience. There are many makers out there. I manage to get most of my orders shipped out in under two weeks.

Its amazing what the "word of mouth" can do for increasing the volume of orders taken, I like to call it the falia or hickok45 effect... get mentioned by them on youtube and the maker can no longer effectively handle the increased load. Good for them, but it's really not good for the customer.

There are lots of makers out there who are making a good holster that are not so overwhelmed. If a person wants to get one that "name brand" from a super backlogged holster maker do yourself a favor and order one from another maker while you wait it out for your "most wanted" holster.

[knkali]

The wait time for Kydex holster from PJ is too long now. I like his work a lot but he needs to cut the wait time down or raise his prices.

[hardluk1]

Only order one custom holster and caught the maker in a slow moment. Took 7 days to make our two holsters. Nelson Holsters.

[Kinetic]

I've waited up to 6 months for Milt Sparks VersaMax II horsehide sharkskin holsters on multiple occasions. When you see the craftsmanship and sheer beauty of their holsters, you'll know why Milt Sparks products are worth the hassle.

Besides the long wait, the other negative is their ordering system. Milt Sparks only accepts phone-in orders starting on the first day of the month. By about the 2nd or 3th day, their monthly order book is full and you have to wait until the next month to place an order. This assumes that your call gets through all the busy signals!!! Still, I am one happy customer and highly recommend their products.

That's crazy! Sounds like I'm in the wrong business.

[jocko]

hell cylinder and slide is no better. To get a gun in to them, thereis a 6 monthwait at 50% down ayment up front and then they will notify u in 6 montyhs to then send them the gun and after that 45 days. I went through that sh!t with my PMJ9 with them and it was the most wasted money I have ever spent, let alone the time of waiting.

Had the same thingf with David Bowie of bowie Tactical. they all said he is the guru of Smith M &P and indeed he was. It was 6 months to the damn day before I got my M & P back from him. His work was super, can';t knock that but again it was a total waste of time and money for what I got. Not sure iuf bowie or C & S would liket o go to a doctor and have um say 6 months to get in and see the doc. We gun owners sometimes think nuttin of it but yet when we send in agun to the maker with an issue we expect next week return..

[Nelsonholsters]

What do you think of this holster if you dont mind me asking?
http://www.nelsonholsters.com/images/iwb/exec-defender-45.jpg

[aKahrt_and_p2KT]

I waited 8 weeks on the head. Whatever you do don't order from somewhere with a stated timeline and decide half way through that you want to cancel your order, that's terrible business on the buyer side. Most places are pretty accurate on their estimations on custom leather quality work, which is worth the wait.

[kwh]

Longest was Tacti-Pac inside abdomen carry made of Cordura Nylon. Time was 3 months which included sending a check by mail. Shortest was 2 weeks from www.nelsonholsters. 2 holsters hand made all leather custom fitted to 2 pistols he had to order the blue guns for and that also included Thanksgiving holidays. Excellent to do business with and he takes pride in craftsmanship.

[kwh]

What do you think of this holster if you dont mind me asking?
http://www.nelsonholsters.com/images/iwb/exec-defender-45.jpg
He makes great holsters. Call or e-mail him. He will help you decide and make what you want/need.

[Acasper708]

It takes me about 2 hours to make a Kydex holster and it usually only has about $10 of material into it. If ur lookin for Kydex then just make it urself. It's very easy and most manufactures a really overpriced.
But if ur goin leather then I see why it would take a while. But that is still pretty long if a wait.

[garyb]

I waited a couple of weeks from order from CompTac for IDPA holster and mag pouches for my S&W M&PPro. Pretty fast delivery service....good company to deal with.

[Rotorflyr]

I ordered my first custom holster for my K9 over 6 weeks ago. I'm being patient, but I'm curious why it takes so long. I'm also a little concerned that it might not fit well or have some other issue.


Without knowing who you ordered from it's tough to say why it will take so long (and really 6 weeks for a custom made item isn't that long)

To try and answer your question though, in some cases it's because it's a one man shop and some of them only do the holster making as a side job. Order volume also has something to do with it.

In others (multi employee staff, full time operation) it's sheer volume of orders that they recieve.

Custom molded holsters are (usually*) made when the order comes in it's not a matter of pulling it off the shelf and putting it in the box to mail to the customer.

There was one (top) leather maker who was at one time working on holsters ordered over a year prior.

*some makers do mold for popular models to decrease lead time and as such may have a few in stock

[JoeyG]

I've waited up to 6 months for a Milt Sparks holster. It was well worth it. I would say if your not patient with waiting for your holster then I wouldn't order from custom makers with posted long lead times. The holsters I've gotten from Milt Sparks are works of art.