I was at a competition pistol class last week in preparation for the FNH 3-Gun Championship (videos here) when something disturbing happened: the person next to me had a negligent discharge straight into the ground about three feet in front of him while drawing from the holster. He was lucky — Tex Grebner (IGOTD member and not helping the 2A crew) was less so. What caused this negligent discharge? A SERPA Holster.
Holsters with “active retention” use a mechanical device of some sort to restrain the gun and keep it from flopping out of the holster. The device can be as simple as a leather strap or as complex as a digital electromechanical device. No matter what it is, the point is that it needs to be removed (or “defeated”) before the gun can be drawn. This is especially appealing for people who need to carry a firearm and might do a lot of moving about, such as me and my fellow 3-gunners. I know at least four people were disqualified this weekend for pistols falling out of their holster and not using active retention. In our style of competition active retention isn’t politely suggested — it’s almost required equipment.
I figured out pretty quickly that the key to a good 3-gun holster is retention, and to me the SERPA holster made the most sense at the time. It used a retention device that locked the trigger guard in place when the gun was holstered and was easily defeated by pressing a button conveniently located where your finger would normally index along the side of the frame. It was a natural place for your finger to be, but not a natural movement. Putting pressure on the button and then quickly drawing the gun meant there was a possibility that your finger would slip into the trigger guard and accidentally pull the trigger, especially when the gun was a striker fired Glock like my classmate was using.
After the ND I immediately went to my trunk and swapped the SERPA holster I had been using for a Safariland ALS holster I purchased for the UOFA class I took a few months back (they didn’t allow SERPA holsters). ALS holsters have an active retention mechanism that slots into the ejection port of the pistol and uses a lever by your thumb to release the gun, requiring no trigger finger work. I had always assumed that SERPA NDs were caused by idiots not using the thing properly and that I would always be safe running full tilt down a course of fire, but the person next to me was no idiot. He was a former Secret Service agent and retired Special Forces soldier, a man with more experience than I could imagine. And he almost shot his foot using a SERPA.
After I swapped holsters not only did I feel more secure about my ability to keep my blood on the inside but the new holster also shaved about a second off my draw time. And after competing in the FNH 3-Gun Championship this weekend using the ALS holster instead of the SERPA I have no idea why anyone would use anything else. It’s faster, more secure, and doesn’t come with the increased possibility of a ND.
Guns, when handled improperly, are dangerous. But even more dangerous is safety gear that doesn’t live up to expectations or even encourages accidents. Like the SERPA holster. And like lawn darts before it, so should the SERPA holster go gentle into that good night.
Get your bugger finger off the bang switch. Like you said you did not do this simple safety measure. So yes it is completely your fault. Glad to see you made it though. Be safer next time.
Wasn’t Nick who had the ND. And the point of the post is that the SERPA holster’s retention device encourages the unintentional finger/trigger violation. This should be evaluated for it’s potential unintended consequences and, in my opinion, discontinued as a design flaw. So, in this instance, “Be safer next time” is doing precisely what Nick did, get that holster off his hip before he had a more personal experience with it’s flaws…
JSG
Yes in the video it is clearly shown that the dumbass moved his finger off the button and put it directly into the trigger gard and then right onto the trigger. He is a moron and his biggest contribution to the gun world is highlighting what happens when your only focus is on being fast out of the holster and not maintaing form or technique. Slow down, do it right and don’t blame the equipment for your stupidity. The one drawback that I can see with IDPA and other defensive competitions is that it places to much of its focus on being fast out of the holster. I have seen people ND on the range using all kinds of holsters and grips becuase they were worried about shaving time rather than focusing on safety.
Do I understand that the pistol involved in the ND was a Glock? There’s the problem. How did we get to the point where it’s OK to have a gun that absolutely CANNOT BE SAFED with a round in the chamber? It’s not a revolver. It’s got a very short trigger pull. I have a Glock, but the gun in my night stand is a USP because it HAS A SAFETY.
The vast majority of the shooting community won’t acknowledge that there’s a very serious design flaw in the Glock in that it can’t be safed. It’s as simple as that. All the passive safeties in the world won’t save you from a careless finger, whereas a real safety needs (a little) time and thought to bring the gun to firing condition. This makes a huge philosophical and operational difference.
It wasn’t the holster. It was the gun/user.
If you were paying attention you would have heard him say Kimber Pro Carry II and nothing about Glocks. The Serpa is dangerous and this incident definitely wasn’t the gun’s fault! But you got one thing right: it was 100% user error.
I’m referring to the incident at the 3 Gun event, not the Tex Grebner ND, and I didn’t definitively state that it was a Glock. I asked if it was. What was used in the 3 Gun ND?
Glock.
Ahh yes, more of the “Get your finger off the trigger, dumbass!” crowd.
I design products. You know what the number one rule of product design, from the iPhone all the way up to an Airbus is? You *need* to design around known parameters of human performance. Eyesight. Hearing. Body mechanics. Reaction times. Involuntary muscle reflexes. All of it.
The fact of the matter is, over the course of hundreds of thousands of repetitions, even the most well trained and switched on user group will have a certain percentage of complete foul-ups. A 0.001% event, when measured out over 100,000 cycles has a statistical probability of of happening once. Imagine how many draws happen with Serpa holsters and it is easy to see why these events happen.
Anyone here want to bet their life on their ability to execute a *perfect* draw, with 100% concentration, 100% of the time? Put simply; that is far beyond the raw capabilities of human performance.
The SERPA fails for the simple reason that it is a product that relies on the wrong body mechanics to operate. You cannot expect the user base to be 100% perfect, and you can’t blame folks for not executing draws with a holster with 100% proficiency. There are other holsters on the market which offer very fast draws with retention security (i.e. Safariland) that do not rely on unreliable human body mechanics to operate.
I’m all for blaming the user. At a certain point though, when an event happens so regularly across a population of users, it is time to re-think the product’s first design principles.
Thanks. Glad somebody’s paying attention to the product design question here. That’s the critical concern, in my mind.
That was very well said.
Isn’t saying the SERPA caused the ND kinda like saying “Guns kill people”? In both cases it’s actually the user who is to blame.
Short answer is “No”.
I’ve had a SERPA for my XD45 for a while now, no problems yet but things like this do worry me.
I have a SERPA for an XD. I’ve never used it for competition draw so this has never been a concern to me. I can however see where an overexcited and unpracticed user could lead to issues with this holster. Your index finder applies pressure to the release while drawing the weapon. As the weapon is removed you draw your finder along a crease in the holder and your your finder makes contact with the frame of the weapon. You could find yourself applying the same pressure to the side of your weapon as you did to the release when performing this motion quickly. I’m not convinced this is an inherent design flaw with the holster. I personally would spend a fair amount of time practicing with this holder (unloaded) before I ever found myself in a training situation using live rounds. The same could be said for any holster you plan to strap to your person with a round in the chamber. As I recall the information card include with this holder warns of such possible outcomes.
Holsters don’t fire guns!
My entire platoon used SERPA holsters. Never close to a negligent discharge. It doesn’t matter how many clubs or ranges or professionals ban the holster. I watched a group of veteran LEOs and newbies use the holster with a perfect record of safety.
Ahh yes. The power of limited sample size comes into play!
Absolutely. I prefer a sample size of 1 to base all my decisions (sarcasm). Don’t want to look at all the incidents out there of various people in various states with NG using this same holster.
… to a point, yes. Airbuses still crash due to human error. People smash and brick their iPhones. Someone will always invent a better idiot, even if you design a padded safety product that nobody in their right mind could ever misuse.
The suggestion that a particular style of holster is dangerous because someone with poor habits misuses its contents makes as much sense as blaming Starbucks when you spill coffee in your lap. Cooking off a round in the process of drawing a firearm is just as stupid and just as preventable with reasonable care and attention.
If someone is letting their bang finger slap a trigger while drawing a pistol, even if they just pressed a button release of some sort, they quite simply and honestly have crappy finger control and coordination. That is something you fix with training, not something you necessarily try to design around.
I am far too well versed in product design (which is really about designing human interaction with objects) to agree that the user is always to blame; even in the situations you point out.
If a product blatantly stacks the usability deck up AGAINST the user, there is a point where you just have to call foul and declare that the product’s design is defective.
Part of the reason I feel so strongly about this is that the SERPA doesn’t bring anything to the table. Other holsters offer comparable retention and far better reliability while being just as fast as the SERPA. If the SERPA’s design provided some (any!) gain in speed or security versus other designs, I would absolutely be in your camp and vehemently defending the SERPA’s presence in the marketplace.
As it stands, the SERPA offers no advantages that I can see, and a whole boatload of downside. Why defend it? Why do people insist on buying it?
That dude is so lucky the round didn’t go through his knee
On a side note: He was shot at point blank range using a .45 and was able to place the gun on the ground and walk away.
This is Supporting evidence that shot placement is key when using a handgun .
My unit uses Serpa as do the Marines here. I’ve never noticed a problem with drawing and firing on target and no ND. I realize I’m one person on the internet saying this, but I feel like maybe if you took a few times to train just drawing your weapon from a holster before you go live on it you would be able to notice a problem in your draw. For instance ‘Hey i just drew my pistol and noticed that my finger is in the trigger guard before I’m on target. How can I prevent this? After everything that I have done to prevent this in a safe enviroment I still can’t get it right maybe this holster isn’t for me.’ There the end.
Not sure if anyone has seen this:
Blackhawkâs Special Operations Manager, Matt Willette at the
Blackhawk Serpa classes held on November 12 & 13, 2011 through the Safety First Shooting Association in Winton, California answered some questions that were posted on the Sigforum
http://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/430601935/m/6970093072
I think the serpa holster idea could work if they just made it so you pushed the button with the flat pad of your finger rather then pushing into it with the tip of your finger. Also if they moved the button a little forward on the holster. Then as the gun came out your finger would be laying straight and flat along the side of the frame… kind of where it should be.
-D
Shame on you Foghorn. Way to play the Grabbers’ game for them. I am simply astonished that in this day and age an educated gun writer like yourself would jump right on the “outlaw lawn darts” bandwagon.
For the record: Lawn darts do not hurt people. Gravity hurts people.
1. Always treat your lawn dart as if it is sharp.
2. Never point your lawn dart at anything you don’t want punctured.
3. Know your target area and what’s underneath it.
Follow these simple rules and you will avoid 99% of lawn dart-related accidents.
Nick, which model Safariland do you use? I’d like to replace my SERPA with one that only has the thumb release, but on Safariland’s website I’m finding it difficult to tell which holsters have which features, even if I use their “Will Fit” search.
Thanks!
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I have always felt comfortable with a thumb break holster. It is a time proven design.