For updates to this article and other articles like this, please visit our other blog at http://www.the22man.com/2016/02/holster-review-desantis-1911-sob-holster/

Years ago, about 2000 I was swayed away from carrying my Glock and to carrying my 1911 again. I really don’t remember why. Since Missouri did not have a CCW permit at that time, and I had not carried the 1911 in Texas I did not have a good carry holster for the 1911. With that in mind I purchased the holster in this review.  This is a made in the USA, black holster for a full size 1911 from DeSantis, model 067 Small of Back holster.

As a refresher, I wanted to use the holster and my 1911 again, so for the month of January 2014, I wore it. Even though I had carried my Keltec P-32 in a Small of Back (SoB) holster, I had not carried my 1911 that way in years. The weight was very noticeable, I had forgotten how much a 1911 weighed, even my Kimber CDP.

The holster tightly fit my 2” belts and was way too floppy on my 1 ¼” dress belts. That was fine, the gun weight was too much for that thin of a belt anyway. You can order per the belt size you wear, on the DeSantis web site, the SoB holsters were all defacto setup for 1 ½” belts.

The single tension screw was more than adequate in holding any of my handguns in place. I could jog, jump up and down, do squats all without the firearm coming out, no I did not test it by twerking just in case you were wondering. I did not have any issues with the weapons moving or coming out of place at any point during the month.

The holster is double stitched in some areas and single stitched in others (see the photos). I have not had any of the stitching come undone.

I did not like how the holster and 1911 felt when sitting in our Highlander, it pushed hard into my back. The seats in the Accord and at church gave me no issue and unlike with the Keltec, my church jacket never rose up and exposed the gun.  The holster form fits nicely to my body and the gun, not only keeping it snug but allowing for a quick efficient draw. While wearing this holster, the barrel protection extension did quite often rub and irritate me, so if I were to stick with carrying this as my primary CCW, I would need to have a leather expert remove some of it.

With Kimber CDP

With my Argentine / Colt 1911

A little about the SoB carry, first, I don’t know of any firearms training academy that will let you wear a handgun this way, and none of the gun ranges I attend will allow it either. Though you might feel you are “safe” when drawing, you do need to be concerned with “swinging” wide when drawing and when you holster. Ask yourself if someone is within the muzzle of the gun, are you “lasering” them or something you don’t want to have a bullet hit. For this reason I highly recommend lots of drawing and holstering practice with either a non-firearm (blue gun, air soft) or a triple checked unloaded one. A good idea would be to video yourself from several different angles while performing 5 or 10 draw strokes and holstering. That would make it easier to see what you are doing compared to what you think you are doing.

Overall I like this holster. I feel it is a good quality holster at a fair price. So long as you have a way of covering it with an untucked shirt, jacket, sweater et al, you can carry a heavy gun and not throw your  hips off balance and not worry about ‘side hugs’ letting others know you are carrying.

So I give this holster an A-, the only downgrade was the rubbing my back in the Highlander and length of barrel leather that touches my back. If you carry a full 5″ 1911 then that might not be an issue.

Until we meet again, have a virus free week.