Nighthawk Custom's Ostrich Companion holster is comfortable, secure and beautifully made--all features shared by quality carry rigs.

The forward cant, used for strong-side carry, pushes the butt of the gun upward and reduces the amount of the grip that sticks out the back. The greater the cant, the more concealable the gun, but if it's too far forward, getting a proper grip becomes difficult. Cross draw and center carry rigs usually use a rear cant, which pushes the butt of the gun downward.

For strong-side carry, I find a radical cant, which angles the gun forward about 20 degrees, to be a good combination of concealability and accessibility. It's enough angle to keep the butt of a full-size gun from sticking out the back but still allows a good grip.

Rise
Another design element is the rise, or how high the gun sits in relationship to the belt. For taller folks, a high rise works well. I find I get better concealability and less flip-flop motion with standard-rise designs. Those of short stature may find that a low-rise holster makes drawing easier.

Retention Devices
While they may appear to be essential to hold a gun in the holster, retention devices are in fact not necessary. Quality holsters retain the gun quite efficiently by their fit and boning.

The true intent of a retention device is to deter a gun grab. A retention device reduces the ability of others to grab your pistol from its holster.

Retention devices add time to the draw and may foul a draw if the user is not sufficiently practiced. With lots of continuing practice, the use of a retention device adds only a fraction of a second, but it is yet one more thing to work on.

Another argument against a retention device is that if your dominant hand is injured, using your non-dominant hand to draw from a dominant-side holster may be difficult.

Police officers are far more prone to attempted gun grabs than private citizens, and that's why they use security holsters--often with several security layers. The average person may never come into direct contact with the criminal element and is often better served with a non-retention holster.

Holster Materials
While leather once dominated the market, Kydex--a plastic-type material that has good molding and machining qualities--has become quite popular. Kydex is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, provides low friction inside the holster and can be designed to be easily adjustable. It's also low maintenance and much less expensive than quality leather.

A great feature of Kydex is that it can be designed so it can be adjusted in terms of tension, cant, rise and types of belt loops.

Kydex has two great disadvantages: It's noisy and lacks flexibility. Also, because the material is hard plastic, it will not mold to your body with use like leather does.

Design Features
Holsters, regardless of material, should feature certain characteristics.

They should cover the entire length of a handguns barrel or slide. For IWB carry, full coverage eliminates skin burns. For belt carry, it protects the gun and the front sight. In both cases, full coverage also prevents the front sight from catching on the holster during a draw. In most instances, a short gun can be used in a long holster, but not the other way around.

An indispensable feature for an IWB holster is the ability to stay open while the gun is out of the holster. This is vital to one-handed reholstering.

Another must-have feature is the ability to get a full grip while the gun is holstered. A good draw starts with a good grip. Be sure that you can reach around the entire grip and place your hand properly up against the bottom of the trigger guard without the holster or belt getting in your way.