Sunnybag LEAF MINI Solar Charger
Here’s a nifty backpack-sized solar charging panel for your portable electronic devices. In direct sunlight, it spits out 1 amp at 5 volts—enough to charge a smartphone or GPS unit in a couple of hours.
Defensive Mindset: Lessons from an Attempted Presidential Assassination
We’ve all seen the emerging story, video and talking heads ad nauseam — all presented with few known facts at this point, so I won’t go over it here. Rather, I’d like to discuss some observations that, quite frankly, stunned me and reminded me of the importance of actively living with a defensive mindset.
The Tiny (But Not Really) Beretta Tomcat
I found myself carrying what became one of my favorite little pistols, the Beretta 3032 Tomcat.
Pistols in the Wild Blue Yonder
Tom L. has access to an amazing collection of vintage photos. I'm always amazed at the stuff he comes up with. Love this pictorial story on pistols carried by aircrews. America pioneered the aircraft, and shortly after Americans took flight, they took firearms aloft with them. And while machine guns captured most of the attention, growing ever larger in the amount and the caliber of automatic weapons fitted to flying war machines, airborne Americans never lost their fascination with handguns.
No Matter Your Tactics, You Can Get Killed
Clint has a down-to-earth take here. Anything that involves tactics can get you killed. A quick and useful read on the difference between "fantasy" or "envisioned" encounters and those from the real world.
Silence? Or Not So Much? Is it Safe to Shoot Suppressed Without Hearing Protection?
Suppressors reduce the sounds levels of gunshots—a lot. Technically, most of them reduce the sound signature to a level most claim is “hearing safe” or at least below the point of causing instant hearing damage. So, what’s the bottom line? Is it safe to shoot suppressed without hearing protection? The answer is… it depends.
| 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!
