Simtek StealthALERT: Protect Your Guns and Gear with Tech
Enter the Simtek StealthALERT sensor. This handy little device provides watchful eyes on … well, most anything while you’re away. Let’s explain how it works, then you’ll clearly see its applications.
The Art of Reviewing a Semi-Auto Pistol – American Handgunner
Reviewing guns is 38% objective, 54% subjective, and 93% opinion. Those of you who aced Trigonometry might have figured out we blew right past the 100% limit, but that just goes to show that evaluating a gun isn’t an entirely quantifiable exercise. Now that I think about it, there is a word for a perfectly objective gun review. Specifications.
Streamlight TLR-8 sub
The “sub” in this one hints at its small and (extremely) light nature. Designed for compact carry guns like the GLOCK 43X and 48, SA Hellcat, SIG P365 and XL and other common subcompact models. Do check the model numbers carefully; some are gun specific, like the model shown here for GLOCKs with thin rails. The combo laser and light unit packs a whopping 500 lumens of steady or strobing light (your choice) into the small footprint powered by a CR123A battery. It’ll run for about an hour and a half with light and laser activated.
False Assumptions! You Most Certainly Can Carry a Larger Gun
I’m saying you can carry a larger gun concealed — every day even. To be clear, I’m not talking about one more powerful or in a larger caliber. I’m talking about a handgun physically bigger than the pocket micro mini subatomic ultra-compacts all the rage these days.
A Quick Look at the Bravo Concealment LINKed Holster
Here’s a mea culpa moment: I always feel I “should” carry at least one spare magazine for capacity and failure resistance. Do I follow through? Not nearly often enough.
How Do Your Concealed Carry Team Skills Stack Up? Team Tactics: Pernicious Pas De Deux
Humans are naturally confident, bordering on arrogant. In our minds, we’ve got all the correct answers, and for those situations we haven’t yet experienced, we assume we’ll make the right choices on the fly. We’re awesome like that.Gunfighting schools, on the other hand, are a force created by the universe to expose and counterbalance our genetic hubris. These diametrically opposed forces of nature are like gravity and orbital velocity — the reasons our hunk of rock topped with flawed humanity doesn’t crash into the sun or zoom past Pluto.
| The Good |
| Does most of the things a pocket holster should do: protects the trigger, hides the outline of your gun, keeps pocket junk out of the action, and generally stays in the pocket when you draw. |
| The Bad |
| The material is too soft. With a magazine heavy semi-automatic, it tends to bend and rotate in your pocket. |
| The Ugly |
| It can be really difficult to draw when your gun, and the holster, have both turned upside down. |
| Our Rating |
 One Nun. |
The Uncle Mike’s Pocket Holster
Uncle Mike’s Pocket Holster
Suggested Retail Price: $12.95
We wanted to like this pocket holster. It’s soft and squishy, feels great, and is really comfortable in the pocket.
But we didn’t. Like it, that is.
The Uncle Mike’s Pocket Holster takes a universal approach to size and fit. It’s offered in four different sizes as follows:
18744-1Small autos (.22 – .25 cal.)
28744-2Most .380s
38744-32″ 5-shot revolvers; Sigma .380
48744-4Most sub-compact 9mm/.40 autos
So there is no custom fitting for a particular gun. You take your best guess at the right size and go from there.
The material is fairly thick and has a rubbery-suede feel. Is that even a valid description? We’re not sure, but that’s what it feels like. It’s an open top, sealed bottom design and there is a band of non-slip material at about the half-way mark to help the holster remain in your pocket when you draw.
On the plus side…
- The material is sturdy enough that we’re confident the trigger is protected
- The bottom (on our model for mid size semi-auto’s like the Walther PPK) is sealed and does a perfectly acceptable job of keeping pocket lint and leftover Tater-Tots out of the action of the gun. And no, we really don’t keep Tater-Tots in the same pocket as our gun! We store them in our other pocket of course! Duh.
- It’s comfortable. The gun is protected and it feels good in the pocket.
- We had no issues with sweat, or spilled Coke, penetrating the holster material. So hit all the drive-thrus you want – no problem.
On the not-so-plus side:
- This holster, like other Uncle Mike’s models, has very little structure. You wouldn’t think that’s a big requirement for a pocket holster, but when it folds from the weight of the gun, you can have trouble with the whole rig rotating in your pocket. We did most of our testing with a Walther PPK, which, as a steel gun, has some weight to it. Add a full magazine and you have a strong tendency for the grip end to want to follow that gravity rule and find its way to the bottom of your pocket. Not good. In fairness, this problem would not be as severe with a polymer gun like the Kel-Tec or Ruger LCP.
So all in all, we would elect to pass on this one and spend a few more bucks on something a little more substantial. In our next pocket holster review, we’ll be taking a close look at the DeSantis Nemesis Pocket Holster.
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| The instability issue really caused me to fear for my manhood. I found that with normal day-to-day activity, in a variety of pocket styles, the holster had a tendency to rotate so my gun was pointed right at, well, my gun. | I tried it in my purse and didn’t have great success. The non-slip band was not tacky enough to keep the holster in the purse pocket when I tried to draw. I do realize the holster was not designed for this use, but wanted to offer up the feedback to my lady friends out there. |
Read about more carry styles and over 120 different gun holsters in The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters – available at Amazon.com! Learn more about our Insanely Practical Guides!
