The ALS locking system is completely different than the Blackhawk lock. The ALS is deactivated with the thumb by pushing down towards the gun and rolling the assembly forward. I can’t imagine it’s any more likely to cause a ND than the old thumb snap retention holsters.
I’m not a professional by any means but I find the ALS system to be very fast and easy to use.
“Everybody wants a Sig in the sheets but a Glock on the streets.” -bionic218 04-02-2014
Posts: 15286 | Location: Florida | Registered: May 07, 2008
I use the Safariland ALS System for my woods Glock. It gets pretty dirty from ATV riding and other outdoorsy stuff. Works great. Easy to clean and maintain. Priced right too.
End of Earth: 2 Miles Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
Posts: 16480 | Location: Marquette MI | Registered: July 08, 2014
Originally posted by Il Cattivo: Wheee! Another push-button retention system. What could possibly go wrong with that?
The ALS system is the gold standard for LE/Mil duty retention holsters. It's been around for well over a decade, and seen hard, heavy use throughout that time. Different flavors of ALS holsters are utilized by the majority of cops in the US.
Unlike the Serpa, the system is deactivated with the thumb so it is no more likely to induce a negligent discharge than any non-retention holster. And also unlike the Serpa, I've never heard of or seen a catastrophic failure of the ALS retention system. (However, like anything mechanical, I'm sure there are recorded failures somewhere out there.)
The body of the holster is another matter. Especially the newer models, some of which are made from a cheaper plastic with some noticeably weak areas, and which can be prone to cracking when subjected to heavy pressure or hard impacts without a weapon inserted.
But the internal ALS system itself is well proven, and as close to bombproof as any retention system developed so far.
Hey, I could give a hoot about NDs - I think every holster maker in the universe has been scared stiff by Blackhawk's troubles. But how many moving parts does a holster have to have in order to (a) release the retention system and (b) fail to release retention when the holster gets filthy and banged around enough? Cop cruisers and ATVs ain't the same thing as foxholes and I have a hard time seeing how any pushbutton system is really an improvement over the venerable thumbstrap.
Posts: 27312 | Location: Deep in the heart of the brush country, and closing on that #&*%!?! roadrunner. Really. | Registered: February 05, 2008
The ALS has two parts: a plastic single piece that includes the lever and lock and a screw that attaches it to the holster. It is beyond vetted and I'm certain has extensive downrange military use, particularly the model designed to be used with optics by the hardest users out there.
Posts: 5243 | Location: Iowa | Registered: February 24, 2011
ALS has been used in actual combat for years by people who actually use pistols in combat in units that the .mil doesn't admit exists despite recruitment videos making it to Youtube. It's not a push button. It's a simple lever. It's an excellent design and an excellent choice for the purpose.
I'm not fond of the newer cheaper holster bodies being sold to the public and LE, but my duty weapon in uniform and out are carried in ALS rigs that I bought with my own money as soon as they were approved for private purchase. They replaced the old tried and true Safariland 070 SSIII holster that I carried for more than a decade. The ALS is a superior rig in every conceivable way.
Originally posted by Il Cattivo: Hey, I could give a hoot about NDs - I think every holster maker in the universe has been scared stiff by Blackhawk's troubles. But how many moving parts does a holster have to have in order to (a) release the retention system and (b) fail to release retention when the holster gets filthy and banged around enough? Cop cruisers and ATVs ain't the same thing as foxholes and I have a hard time seeing how any pushbutton system is really an improvement over the venerable thumbstrap.
Now you're just being obtuse.
Safariland Al's and SLS are in use by every major LE agency. From street cops who get in wrestling matches over their firearms and federal LE conducting pseudo combat operations in Afghanistan. To conventional soldiers Ave marine in all conditions to SOCOM and JSOC operators.
The 6354DO is the current SOCOM issued holster for the G19 and was developed for CAG.
The ALS/SLS holster variants are used by USCG DSF holster for units conducting maritime interdiction operations, CBP BORTAC, and FBI HRT.
There is no more rugged and vetted holster in existence. Esp after 20 years of GWOT. They have proved themselves as faster and more durable and secure than the "venerable" thumbstrap which has been almost entirely abandoned by professional end users; the only people still using thumb holsters are the old cops stuck in their ways. The old school M12 is absolute garbage and is completely unused by military personnel.
If you like your thumbstrap holster no one is going to make you get rid of it. But don't be emotionally involved in something that's time has passed.