5pins

I’m thinking about one for my J frame smith.

sparky315

For about the same money, you can get a real IWB holster from Milt Sparks. Galco is overpriced crap, and most of their designs are ripoffs of stuff from real holster makers.

alaska1993

Thanks Sparky for that unbiased and objective review. I own two Alessi holsters and one Galco. In general, the Alessi holster is better made at a lower price. However, the Galco Concealable does the job. I would not however, recommend the Deep Cover. I purchased one for a G27 and found it much too thick. It was like trying to fit a brick inside my waistband. Lou's designs seem much more slim.

sparky315

Alaska1993-

Thanks for the smartass commentary on my statement of opinion about Galco (it hardly qualified as a review). I'm glad you have a collection of three whole holsters on which to base your statements. My statement was objective in the sense that it is base on actual use (mine and co-workers) of a large and varied assortment of Galco products, not on what I read in gun magazines or hear about from other people. I did not start out with any opinion of Galco before I started using their products, nor do I work for or have any vested interest in promoting any other manufacturers. My opinions are based solely on actual experience with Galco's products. Their leather is of poor quality and they seem to have an assembly line of monkeys who slap pieces of it together, then bone it with a soup spoon. Take one of their standard-grade belt holsters like the Silhouette and pinch it with your thumb and one finger. It will crush. Leave some Galco holsters in a box for a while, and the ones on the bottom will crush to the point they are unuseable. Hardly quality holster leather that's been properly treated. Their IWB holsters are too thick and stiff, again because they use cheap leather and don't really have a clue about what they are doing. You're right, the Deep Cover is like sticking a brick inside your pants. Compare it to a Summer Special, a Horseshoe Leather IWB, or one of Lou's Talons and the differences are immediately apparent. However, Galco doesn't seem to realize that their holsters are not custom quality, as they have no trouble charging as much as the custom makers. Milt Sparks will charge you $67.50 for a Summer Special II that you can use different size belt loops on and is made of good leather, hand-boned by someone who know what they are doing. A Galco Deep Cover retails for $69.95 for an unuseable brick of cheap leather. The 'Concealable' you're so fond of retails for $85. I've handled one, wasn't impressed. For $77.50 Sparks will make you an Improved Baker that far outshines it. If you really want quality, for just under a hundred bucks, Andy Arratoonian will make you a really high-quality belt slide. Put his 22H next to a Concealable, and it's like putting a VW bug next to a Mercedes. I haven't handled any of Lou's non-IWB rigs, but I have no doubt his DOJ would hold it's own with Andy's 22H or Milt Sparks' 55BN. Glad you're happy with your Concealable, and I won't argue that it will 'get the job done'. A piece of string tied at the ends and wrapped around your belt will 'get the job done' as an improvised IWB, but it's hardly an ideal solution. I will argue that Galco's holsters are generally of poor quality, and they charge too damn much for them. Galco's holsters are made of inferior leather, assembled in an inferior manner, and priced far above what they should be asking for them. Galco is not the worst leather out there, but their holsters are not worth half what they think they are. So, the 'cheap, overpriced crap' part of my opinion has now been covered.

As far as my statement about them ripping off other makers' designs, all one has to do is look at what the true custom manufacturers are putting out, then look for their most popular designs to appear some months later in Galco's catalog. For example, their SOB and (apparently discontinued) Driving Holster were blatant ripoffs of Andy Arratoonian holster designs. The NSA holster came from Mitch Rosen's ARG. The Royal Guard and Summer Comfort (gee, where'd they get that name?) are blatant ripoffs of the Summer Special orginally designed by Bruce Nelson and produced under license by Milt Sparks. The Scout is a combination ripoff- the Summer Special and Lou's Alessi Talon IWB. The Galco 'Training Holster' is a blatant ripoff of Sparks' now-discontinued 55AT range holster. Galco has a real talent for imitating other people's holster designs and claiming them as their own. So that covers the second part of my opinion.

5pins asked for opinions about a Galco holster. I gave him mine. If you don't like it, disregard it. Don't think it's accurate, feel free to refute it with your own experiences. But the smartass comments are not really called for.

Sexy Beast

Yo sparky,

I just signed up here to say that I find you to be an utter douche bag.
Perhaps if you tried a high-end Galco, rather than a $30 suede junker you would have a different opinion.
BTW, Sparks ripped off the summer special design from another holster maker. It is common.
Carry on

Brian D.

Hello Sexy Beast, welcome to the forums.

Um, you may want to look at the dates of the posts in this thread previous to your own. Sparky315 could (and I sincerely hope not) be worm food by now.

Raymond759

I would suggest that you be a bit more friendly when you make future posts as perhaps people may assume that name calling is a bad way to begin. I know that I don't care for it.

Ray