The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Soldier Center, Natick, Mass., has granted a non-exclusive commercial patent license to Down East Innovation, based in Bridgton, Maine, for the manufacture of ambidextrous holsters that can accommodate the Army’s new M17/M18 modular handgun systems.
The handgun systems, fielded and adopted across the U.S. military in the last five years, require holsters that can do more than carry the firearms. The Holster must accommodate an attached aiming light, and red dot, integrate safety features to prevent unauthorized or accidental removal of the firearm from the holster, permit left or right side placement, enable faster draw capability, and allow for a tight enough fit for stability.
DEVCOM Soldier Center, with its mission of providing the Army with innovative science and technology solutions to optimize the performance of soldiers, was the ideal laboratory to address the warfighters’ requests and develop the design for this small, but crucial, piece of equipment.
John Kirk, the DEVCOM Soldier Center lead engineer for the holster, headed the development team tasked with researching and testing materials and design modifications. The result was an injection molded holster that would not be negatively affected by sand and ice, and attach to a belt or standard MOLLE webbing on either the left or right side of the body. The holster could also be incrementally adjusted for a desired angle by the user.
With several designs in hand, Kirk and team began working with Down East Innovation to manufacture and test holster prototypes. Down East Innovation is a manufacturer of injection molded tactical gear, primarily in the field of load carriage. The company typically manufacturers products of its own design, but has also built tooling, prototypes, and parts to government specifications.
The DEVCOM Soldier Center Technology Transfer Office, led by Technology Transfer Manager Sheri Mennillo, engaged with Kirk early in the research and development process to facilitate the filing of a patent application for the innovative holster design. Down East Innovation expressed interest in a license to the patent application for commercial purposes, so that the dual-use technology could be sold within the commercial marketplace. As the Department of Defense is currently in the process of fielding the M17/M18 modular handgun systems, this may result in commercial interest in a compatible holster from law enforcement organizations and foreign militaries.
“The technology transfer partnership between DEVCOM Soldier Center and Down East Innovation is a great example of how the Army meets warfighter and national security needs, while at the same time contributing to American economic development,” Mennillo said. “When businesses license government technologies, all sectors of the economy benefit, from the military to the industrial base to individual households.”
Justin Kiger, Research and Development Manager at Down East Innovation, added “Down East Innovation has developed and produced packframes, packs and other equipment for the U.S. military for over thirty years. We are looking forward to adding the M17/M18 compatible holster to our product line.”
Why???? Safariland is already the standard.
Sir, you are mistaken. While it might look like a Safariland holster, and have the name Safariland printed on it, the MHS holster is made by ADS, a certified small business out of Virginia Beach. Check the contract.
This is now the MHS holster
Yet that doesn’t refute the notion that Safariland is still the standard. Pointing out that their design is produced by an OEM group only strengthens that idea.
Safari is a good holster but ha e you ever tried operating the ALS after falling in sand.
Also the safariland holsters I have are not ambidextrous.they may have e some that are .
This change from Safariland may be due to them being manufactured in Mexico now. A few years back they sold their manufacturing equipment in SoCal to an employee, who was originally from TJ Mexico, and didn’t want to move back with the company. He and his family run US Duty Gear….
So I’m guessing this may be why the US Military decided to make the change.
The 7360 model holster in the MHH kit is not made in Mexicco. They are made in Florida.
So they’re trading the current Safariland holsters for this? What, did the Safariland have issues with sand and ice? That’s about the only thing I can think of for this step backwards.
Current holster does not accommodate red dot sights, nor WMLs, so a new holster to accommodate those attachments is needed. The current holster isn’t going away any time soon, and the folks that don’t employ those attachments won’t be moving to this thing.
That being said, not going with a Safariland option seems like Army camouflage debacle 2.0. To come up with a new holster means they had to circumvent current patents on retention, attachment, etc. And that means some novel/cattywampus elements are in play. For example, that thumb break is pressed forward, not to the rear, unlike standard holsters that everyone is trained on.
Considering neither pistol lights nor red dots are issued, it wouldn’t need to. The fact that Safariland offered such holsters BEFORE the adoption of both the M17/18 AND this holster speaks to the notion that the Army never intended to issue them either.
This reeks of another graft operation. I wonder which/how many Congressmen and/or retired generals have their fingers in this pie.
It would be the opposite. The Army prefers to not pay for a commercial item.
Yet they continue to and have for decades. Pretty much every item in every branch’s inventory except for vehicles and heavy weapons are commercial items.
The military has not been RD&M independent for some time and will continue to rely on commercial solutions to fulfill its needs. Nevermind you’d have to be swilling all the paste in the world if you think that the government doesn’t dicate what it’s willing to pay and that pretty much every company that could have even a shred of relation to the MIC wouldn’t jump at the chance for a military contract.
Maybe…just maybe…those doodads will be announced in short order. Especially considering the Sig Romeo-M17 RDS was issued an NSN, and indications that red dot sights are forthcoming as an authorized item.
As an MP, we had lasers issued to us in Iraq for our Berettas in 2009. They were huge and bulky. The eagle holsters were adaptable to carry with and without but were still trash. A lot of us bought our own holsters and choose not to carry the lasers. Just because something isn’t ssued now doesn’t mean it won’t happen soon. Sig already has an optic for the M17/18. Red dots on pistols are pretty much the norm. Having a holster that doesn’t allow a red dot is a complete waste of money and resources. It won’t be long before optics are the standard on military handguns just like they are on rifles.
This will accept different RDS, there is a modular shroud.
Not true, Safariland does make military holsters with RDS and WML, I have one.
Of course they do. My point was their desire to avoid paying for a COTS solution or even licensing of IP.
Saving so much over the safariland holster but you can’t afford a real retention system? Who’s the genius who authorized this? May as well have the holster lock in on the trigger guard.
Someone explain how that bungee works without impeding the draw… then explain why that’s better than anything and everything else, to include the Serpa (yep, I went there).
Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t bungees on holster typically employed for additional retention with airborne operations?
Yes
As well in the Maritime environment.
That’s just added retention. The release is configurable for either side and can be seen in the photo.
Just going off the photo, the ambidextrous mounting wheel is interesting.
Safariland is the standard. However, their duty holsters have undergone significant change in material, locking mechanisms, and mounting. The original duty holster they introduced 50 years ago is not the same as the ones they offer today.Down East makes some good stuff so maybe we should wait until we actually get hands on this one beforel we collectively decide if it’s inferior to products currently on the market.
That said, it looks like Bladetech might get a bit upset with the attachment system as Down East looks like they pulled a lot of inspiration from Bladetech’s Tek-Mount. Which, in my opinion, is light years ahead of the Safariland QLS. For what it’s worth there are other duty level holsters that are not made by safariland and some of them work better for some shooters.
Anyway, you got to admit they did do a great job on the looks. Love the throwback vibes with the “US” on it.
All good points. Looking forward to more info here on SSD. I did a search earlier today and SSD definitely got the scoop on it.
There is a spend new holster coming as well, to Army Aviators. It is made from Cordura.
Cordura solutions can only be drawn up so many ways, and Army imagination is limited in its creativity. The aviator design will be underwhelming, and not much more than a strap-on pocket for the MHS, I’m sure.
That’s what the voices in my head are telling me, anyway. 😉
And the photos I showed you.
Eric, YOU are the voice in my head!
Yes one holster body for everyone. Ambi mount and retention release
Jon,
I’m only commenting on the bungie part. NSW used to add something similar to holsters for VBSS (Hook and Climb). Just added retention for the climb, removed once on board, nobody wants to do a dive for missing weapons after the training. I’m going to assume it was added as a secondary retention to fulfill some salient characteristic. Just a guess here.
I’ve been in the VBSS realm and never seen the bungee setups, only lanyards. The bungees seem to be common for airborne operations.
Jim, thanks, never seen that.
Tcba_joe, when I was a current Jumpmaster Bungees as retention were a hard no. I guess times have changed.
The Air Force collectively shakes its head in bewilderment.
And continues to use Safariland holsters.
I have never used the holster, but I am willing to guess the persons who approved this holster have minimal training or skills with one.
It appears to be a Fobus holster dressed up for the ball.
Before someone tells me that I don’t know holsters, go ahead and answer what the shear load is with weight tested at a 45 degree angle. If the shear load was tested at a different angle, fill us in with those numbers.
Grabbing the handle and twisting away from the body, how much weight does it take to pop the rivets?
These are legit questions that don’t mean much while we are sitting in offices or at home, but for the MPs that will wear these daily, or the guys wearing them all the time in harms way, the above questions are going to be of massive importance when a scumbag grabs their gun or it gets caught on equipment.
This selection is of high importance yet looks to have been done with little care aside from cost. May the lives of those who designed and approved these holsters be forced to depend on them some day.
Sincerely
Stick. (Worn a holster almost every day for the last 30 years as well as been involved in selection, testing and RFPs of duty/ combat holsters).
I’ve worked with Stick and taught him everything he knows ?
This is 110% spilt shxt.
From the fubar release to the absolutely pretend extra retention device. Looks like a crayon interpretation understanding of what is actually needed.
Some semi-retarded gov bodies who never had to make a viable product meet an actual customer want.. did it again.
Being ambi is probably the biggest and only real benefit of this system. Every arms room having a left and right handed holster would be a nightmare and anything short of that would be complicated. I’m a righty so I don’t know that I even looked for a lefty holster but I’m assuming I didn’t have one in my arms room.
Please please please put this holster through the same testing that Safariland uses. No chance it will make it. Why would the Army go and piss off industry by knocking off products. Seems counter productive to want industry to invest in new product designs and research if Army is just going to do a cheap knock off.
Safariland makes the MHH kit in Jacksonville Florida, not Mexico.
No argument here. However, just realize the Army could give less than fuck about pissing off the industry, in fact they have a strong track record of bypassing good ideas to save a dollar (Multicam-Scorpion-OCP being a prime example).
I acknowledge the attachment system shown on this holster is different than the RTI system, but if anyone is interested in reading a great article on failure points presented by gtd scientific I have attached a link.
https://gtdscientific.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/forcescience.com-The-Dangers-of-After-Market-Police-Accessories-How-Can-You-Avoid-Them.pdf
Whatever will the DOD do with the multiplicity and thousands of safariland kit they already have? doesn’t seem fiscally responsible