Once upon a time, when I carried my Glock 17 inside the waistband, I used a cheap, non-branded split leather holster, that I bought for $4 at a big box sporting goods store while my wife was next door buying throw pillows.

I didn’t carry my G17 inside my pants very often. It was painful after just a short while carrying. The back of the slide dug in, and the extended magazine release, which wasn’t covered by the holster, pinched my skin whenever I moved.

A few years later I got a smaller Glock 19, and it was a little better to carry than the G17 with this holster, but not much.

+++++

Then, a couple of years ago, I was on a business trip in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and I had an extra hour before I needed to be back at the airport for my flight, so I dropped by Cheaper Than Dirt. (Actually, I made my flight plans with a trip to Cheaper Than Dirt in mind.)

I had never given much thought to a leather IWB holster, but there on the Don Hume wall was a great looking little number for the G19, priced at $22. I decided to give it a try, and I’m glad I did.

The holster fit is just right. I use “just right” on purpose. Leather holsters are fit to the gun they hold, and not all of them are done well. For instance, I have one holster with a fit that looks really great, so that the outside of the holster looks just like my gun. But, it is fit so tight to the ejection port that the leather has been cut by the trailing edge of the ejection port by the repeated action of holstering and drawing my gun.

On the Don Hume, the interior of the holster is shaped to the G19 just enough to hold the gun in place. Retention is excellent, while the draw is smooth, with no hesitation or hold up.

Coverage of the gun is excellent as well. The trigger and trigger guard are completely covered, and the barrel doesn’t extend past the end of the holster at all.

The holster rides higher on my pants than the old one did, and at first, I didn’t like that. The difference isn’t much – the Don Hume rides at about the trigger, and the old holster rode at the magazine release – but after some practice, I find that I can draw my gun a lot easier with more of the gun elevated.

The problem I had with the magazine release pinching into my skin is solved in this holster. While the mag release isn’t covered, the holster material is thicker than the length of the release, so that it does’t even reach my skin.

The top of the holster is reinforced, so that the holster is held open while it is in place in my belt, even with the gun removed. As a test, I’ve carried the holster empty for several hours, and the holster never collapsed. re-holstering is smooth.

The leather finish is excellent, without blemishes or streaking. The belt clip is just right, too, and holds on to my 1-1/2 inch belt without slipping off, yet isn’t too stiff that I can”t easily remove it with my thumb.

+++++

Based on two years of using it at least 4 times a week, I can enthusiastically recommend the Don Hume H715M holster for the Glock 19.

The next time business takes me to Fort Worth, I’ll probably pick one up for my G21.