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Adams Holsters Philosophy

I wanted to do a write up explaining my design and business philosophy. If you don't like long descriptions then please feel free to browse the rest of the site. I'm long winded when it comes to explaining things because I'd always rather give more information then less, it drives my wife nuts;)

My whole business is designed around making these rigs the way I build them, not the way anyone else does theirs. I take payment up front because it's easier for me to do it that way, it wastes less time trying to run down payments when I should be building orders but also because I had a ton of guys over the years request paying up front since they had the money in hand today to pay for it. So after allot of years of doing it right before building I changed it going forward(2017) to make it more efficient and easier for everyone involved. The lead time is calculated as best I can based on my current orders sitting waiting, but life can and does get in the way. Earlier this year I got pneumonia and it took me out of the shop for a month. I've been working 7 days a week and 12-16 hour days the last 6 months to try and get things back on track. Being a one man shop there isn't anyone else to just come in the shop and make custom holsters the way I do it, it takes my hands to do the work.

On that topic I set out to make the best holster I could period. I didn't design my process to be fast, or for that matter to make allot of sense. Some other holster makers think I'm crazy with the way I do some steps in the process and the time it takes. As an example my edges are never painted on with edge coat, there is a whole process I've come up with that every holster, strap etc goes through before it's finished and on average it takes about an hour a holster just for that. If it's a shoulder holster with all the straps and bits it's probably 3+ hours just finishing the edges properly. And then after that's done I hand check them all and do the last edge finishing steps by hand burnishing them the last bit with a deer antler I've used for years.

The point is that these are not mass produced holsters where 14 people handled various steps through the process, I built it from start to finish. I designed the pattern to fit the gun, I laid it out on the side of cowhide, selected the hide for that particular holster based on the needs of the hide(firmness etc), cut it by hand, then dyed it if necessary, assembled the holster, fit it to the gun, then did all the edging and the rest of the finishing process, then stamp it give it a once over and ship it out. That whole process happens over several days, because there are several half day to day long dry cycles where after say dye, it needs to dry before it can move to the next step. After molding/fitting it to the gun yep gotta dry again;) It's not fast it's all slow hand work from start to finish, and something funny that other people mentioned over the years watching me work I've had a saying "You can scrap a rig anytime before you ship it", and that's true. There isn't really a step in the process where you can't make a minor mistake that will cause me to start over on the holster because I'm not happy with it. Even edging, if I slip with my tool edging a holster and put a mark where I don't want it, I'll rebuild that holster rather than ship something I'm not happy with.

At the end of the day I build holsters my way with my two hands and I do my best to make sure guys are happy with their rigs. I take engineering and design of a safe and comfortable holster extremely seriously, and honestly I take my job seriously. I love making holsters I really do, and I like solving problems with designing new holsters etc. That said I'm not the fastest holster maker out there, I never intended to be and I don't have any intention of trying to be. I'm focused on making the best dang holster I can build, and that doesn't mean it's the best holster that exists. I know some very fine leather holster makers that I'm thankful to call friends who make very nice holsters. But I am always improving and will continue to, and that will not change.

But at the end of the day if you want a holster made with my two hands, the way I want them built and are willing to wait whatever the lead time happens to be at the moment feel free to give me a shout. I'm more than happy to help you decide what rig is right for how you want to carry and what you want to carry. I might not make a holster that works for ya, I might be able to point you to someone who can just give me a shout. If you're in a hurry and aren't willing to wait whatever the lead time is currently then please feel free to take a look somewhere else for your leather. I don't say that to be harsh it's not, but I've made my name the last 9 years on making gear my way and to my spec. And despite the fact that I make good gear and beautiful holsters I don't do it like a factory and I can't just work more hours to get it done any faster. To a certain degree holsters will be done as soon as I can get them out the door and while stilling being the quality guys have come to expect. If I cranked out holsters that weren't up to my standards to keep up with some arbitrary timetable, I'll be honest I wouldn't keep the business open. I have zero interest in making just another holster as fast as possible with questionable quality control.

If you've got any questions as always feel free to shoot me an email or phone call I'm happy to help.

Luke Adams