Talon IWB and OWB holsters

The holster market is saturated. It’s chock full of subpar options with a smattering of good midrange stuff and the rare gem that does exactly what it needs to and more.

So let’s talk about the holster in question: The Talon OWB. The Talon holster is a leather thumb-break OWB (outside the waistband) for a Glock 17 and as soon as I saw that I’d be reviewing this piece of gear I was excited as it was an opportunity to try out a method of carry that I was familiar with but hadn’t done in a while in a holster type that I was unfamiliar with.

First though, a bit about Talon: J.D. and Charlie at Talon are career cops with over 4 decades of experience between the two of them. They decided to branch out and began teaching civilians in 2008 after doing lots of LE training during their career. They also operate a range and of course a holster company. So these dudes are checking the boxes in the experience category for sure. If I want a leather OWB holster these are the dudes I want making decisions about how it’s setup.

Here’s a solid video of what we should be looking for in a holster from Aaron at Sage Dynamics. His video echoes my own personal opinions on holsters.

Construction: The Holster is American manufactured from Hermann Oak American Steer Hide. The Top end is double layered to actually keep it open when you draw the gun and the stitching is consistent and well done. The thumb-break is positive when engaged but easy enough to use that it’s not frustrating even for a dude like me whose experience with active retention is Safariland’s ALS and SLS systems.

The belt loops provide a slight forward cant and they keep the gun very close to the body if you are attempting to conceal this is good but even if you aren’t a tight to the body holster is good so you don’t snag and bang your gun on everything as you go about your business.

Overall the holster is built the way it needs to be skipping the typical money wasting embellishment and style we so often see in a good leather holster. No extra BS here, which is good because I like a $60 holster not a $120 one.

Testing: To test the functionality of the holster I wore it around the house fulltime for about 2 weeks. I am, unfortunately, not able to open carry as I am in Florida but I am an avid practitioner of home carry and quite frankly that’s exactly what I’d use this holster for.

I also ran the holster through about 2000 draws as I also have a fairly robust dry fire schedule. I found that the holster did not work for my Glock 19 with RMR and it also did not work for my Glock 17 MOS with suppressor height sights. This is certainly a limitation of the Talon holster as they are not made for accessories such as lights, red dots, and raised sights but luckily I had an FNS-9 that fit perfectly.

Concealment: It was not possible to conceal with my body type and dress. If you run OWB with a larger shirt or jacket AND you are a bigger person this holster could definitely work for that. It certainly was not doable for me however which is something to consider if you are a skinny dude like me and you need a concealment holster. Talon does have IWB versions that Spotterup will be reviewing soon.

Conclusion: This holster does exactly what you need it to. While traditional leather is limited for my purposes, I carry a space gun every day; it can work for a very large number of people. I found that as a home carry holster it was absolutely perfect.

I could work, relax, clean, and even workout with the gun securely in place due to the thumb-break and tight fit to the body. The fact that I could conceivably fit multiple types of similarly sized guns in the same holster is also quite the nice bonus for a $60 holster of safe and robust construction. At the end of the day if somebody absolutely wants a leather OWB holster I know what I can steer them to as a value packed option. Also I like cops, even old ones, so giving these dudes my money is no problem.

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Material Disclosure

I received this product as a courtesy from the manufacturer via Spotter Up so I could test it and give my honest feedback. I am not bound by any written, verbal, or implied contract to give this product a good review. All opinions are my own and are based off my personal experience with the product.