Taser Holstering for Swat
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Yes Steve, I do attach a Taser holster to my vest, depending on the operational environment. Yet not attached as you might think. I have built a holster similar to a WW2 tanker pattern with an elastic strap going around one shoulder and neck with a fastex buckle where the strap attaches to the top edge of the holster. Then the bottom of the holster is snapped to the tac-vest (could be velcro or other method too). It's very easy to don and doff plus it's adjustable for size of the individual and how much equipment is on board. The elastic strap design negates the need to have the bottom strap running down to the belt as in a true tanker design. I have also found this design easier to use when getting in and out of the vehicle on regular patrol shifts than the drop leg design I sent you info on several weeks ago. It can be left on while in the car and not interfere with comfort. By it's high cross draw position (that Hans and I are so fond of), it is also easily accessed while seated or in close quarters of a tac-op. I gave some of these ideas to the guy from Spec-Ops at the master's conference 3 years ago. Unfortunately what he did was attempt to adapt something he was already making and it didn't work as well. (too bulky). I have wanted to get with Blackhawk or Eagle and have them build some prototypes but haven't had the time. Is this something Taser might be interested in working with? Hope all this helps, Lt. Randy Erwin District Training Director New Mexico State Troopers (NMMP) Steve, I am the commander of Albuquerque PD's Emergency Response Team (ERT). Our unit is designated to handle all civil disturbances, demonstrations, riots, etc. All of our personnel are equipped with BlackHawk Tac Vests with a cross-draw mid-level Taser holster. Other units in our department have adopted this configuration as well. Captain Mike Castro Steve, I was assigned to the Albuquerque PD SWAT Team for about 4 years. During that time I carried my M26 in a holster designed for a 1911 that was attached on the left front of my "Tach Vest". I had to manipulate the holster a bit to accommodate the M26. The M26 proved valuable to me on a number of SWAT activations because I had a less lethal option available to me that I could easily transition to. If you have any further questions please let me know. Rob Melton, APD Steve, We are looking at sewing a snap on the bottom of a Blackhawk Loadbearing vest, for Operations regarding the Chemical Weapons Depot Site in Oregon. This location would require the wearing of Personnel Protective Equipment and respirators, which eliminates the ability to wear a traditional gunbelt. Chief Dan Coulombe, Hermiston PD, OR. Steve, Baltimore City Sheriffs' are using a Blackhawk vest that has a crossdraw set up on it. Havre de Grace Police Department is also using a vest for their TASERs. Hope this helps. Mark Canton, MD Police Training Commission. Steve, We cheat and use our large (m16) ammo pouches for holding them or a large utility pocket. We find that it works for us......the mag holder is snug on the Taser and does not dislodge the cartridge....It is a M-16 double mag holder that attaches to Tac Cover 6 Body Armor. Sgt. Phil Metzler Loveland SWAT Loveland CO We don't do it at our department, but have talked about it. I know of Officers who carry a second weapon on their vest. Essentially the vest has a built in pocket or in our case snaps with velcro. We talked about buying a holster with the snap and velcro so an officer could mount it to their vest based on assignment. We just haven't done it yet. At this time we are still using a leg holster for tactical members or they put it in a vest pocket. Thanks, Jeff Satur, Longmont SWAT I believe the Boulder County Sheriff's Department SWAT Team has some vest mounted holsters. You can contact SGT Tom Sloan, 303-441-4444. I will also try and get in touch with him as we are looking for something like this as well. Doug Ross, Longmont SWAT Steve, we place our Taser in a holster that sits on the left-hand breast of our tactical vests. It has a flap that secures it in place and when needed it is a matter of unclipping the flap and removing the Taser. I do not know immediately what brand of holster it is, only that we have had them a long while. The holster actually zips in place and can be removed when necessary. I will chase up what brand it is and where we got it from. I will also take a picture and email it to you. I am not due back at work until the 25th so you should get it at work on Monday. Hope you are well. Regards, Peter Stephenson We wear an outer vest by Point Blank, and the tactical outer vest by Blackhawk. Some of my guys wear the Taser in one of the utility pockets on the front. It's not a holster, but they have it secured with a strap. It's secure to the point that I'm not worried about the safety being bumped to the on position. Let me know if you need more info. Sgt. Rick Fricke, Phoenix PD QRT. Presently we at Montreal SWAT always carry our Taser in our tac vest. We tried different holster but the were not practical, and cumbersome, so finally we have tactical pouches on our vest, and it so happens that it fits in that pouch and the clip to close it fits the groove in the handle so it holds it tight. If they don't need to clip it some officer introduce the weapon in the holster they normally use for the back up gun, its tight but not secured the vest and tac pouch it is made by AEGIS engineering textile products inc 251 Fifth Ave, Arnprior, Ontario, Canada K7S3M3 (613)623-6001 email: pgraham@aegisinc.on.ca The contact there is: Peter Graham -----Original Message----From: Pointman59@aol.com [mailto:Pointman59@aol.com] Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2003 4:52 PM To: Steve@taser.com Subject: Re: Quick TASER question Steve, We use a holster by SOTECH, we attach it to our vests on all raids and barricades it works great. Craig Dickerson Montgomery County Police, MD Steve we have modified a universal military holster. It will attach to a belt or a vest I am waiting for our new armor to come in then I am going to modify the holster again to work with our new system. The holster we used was an old Bianchi. We split it down the in seem and had a shoe repair shop sew in extra material to accommodate the Taser. It has worked well to date. But it is a work in progress. (NOTE: We have tested to ensure that the air cartridge does not get removed during any quick draws of the M26 at very angles and so far have never had a cartridge come loose. CST. Dean Stienburg Halifax Regional Police CST. Dean Stienburg Halifax Regional Police Training Section Phone (902) 490-5377 Fax (902) 490-5114 stienbde@region.halifax.ns.ca Steve: The Tasers are being carried in a load-bearing vest that is worn over the street vest. Doug Walker, Toronto ERT Hi Steve- I know we have had a request(s) in the past month for a holster, but I do not know which agency. The good news is that I flew to Michigan this afternoon and will be at our offices tomorrow and can check it out! I have not seen our holster, that is one of the reasons I am here till Friday, to review some pockets, however, when they made one a few weeks ago, I cautioned them about making sure it covered the release buttons on the side, and not having it too tight to cause a premature release of the cartridge. Thanks again for the dummy Taser they used for the patterns! The holster can be attached with snap and velcro, hard stitched or attached with alice clips/velcro flaps, whichever is specified. I'll call or e-mail you tomorrow. Sgt. Steve Samek, Second Chance, Pueblo PD (ret.) Hey Steve, I have two less lethal officers on my tactical unit plus myself. With the ABA RPM vest I ordered a Utility pouch 8" by 8" which fits on the front of our entry vest. This holds the Taser plus some cartridges. Sgt. Blake Webster, Oklahoma City PD Steve-we are doing that. The guys have just improvised a velcro closure holster onto the panel- Major Steve Ijames, Springfield PD, MO Steve, I am using a flapped pistol holster that is included with the tactical vest we are currently using. It is designed for a tactical handgun, but I found that the Taser works well in this set up. Sgt. Bobby Lowe, Chandler SAU Steve, Doug Scholz was using the TASER Int'l "Darren Laur holster" on his tactical vest. I will speak with him today. Sgt. Jim Halsted, Chandler PD Actually that is how Ward carries his on entries. His vest has a front utility pocket, I'm not sure if it is originally for 2 M-16 mags but that's about that size. He puts the Taser in the pocket and the butt sticks out the top. The flap from the pocket comes over the top and holds it securely in place. Steve said that he carries two spare cartridges in the pre-existing utility pockets as well. It ends up being a vertical crossdraw. Hope that helps. Chris Meyers, Seattle PD I've never seen a holster specifically made for a Taser that attaches to a tac vest. I have a M-16 mag pouch on my vest that holds the taser in the perfect spot on my tac vest. It is just a square pouch that snugly holds the taser. It has a flap that holds it in. I've talked to guys who said that they were going to modify existing holsters so that they fit, but I've never seen the finished product. Steve Ward, Seattle SWAT Hey Steve, I have two less lethal officers on my tactical unit plus myself. With the ABA RPM vest I ordered a Utility pouch 8" by 8" which fits on the front of our entry vest. This holds the Taser plus some cartridges. Sgt. Blake Webster, Oklahoma City PD Steve: I modified the holster that you, (Taser Int'l), gave us after the first Master Instructor School. I attached Velcro and "pull the dot" snaps to it and secured it to my entry armor. I used it this way for approximately six months until I reconfigured my load out kit. While using it this way I found that it was very convenient user friendly. I do not know of any company that currently makes a taser holster for this specific application. Hope this helps Charlie de St. Maruice, Reno PD, NV