In my story, I don't want my MC to wear his pistol on his belt, at the side like almost all cops in real life do. The reason why is because it's not the smartest way to wear it. They wear that it way, because the holster can fit on a belt, and the belt can also hold up your pants. But the waist is too high for a quick draw. You have to lift your hand too far up, to grab the grip. Either that or a lot of cops in real life wear shoulder holsters, especially if they are not in uniform and have a jacket to go over top of the shoulder holster. But this is not the quickest place to draw a gun either, especially if you have to undo the flap on the holster as well. It seems the best place to have it is the way Eastwood wore it, in his westerns, where he would were the gun on a belt but the holster would extend down to his thigh. That way, he did not have to lift his hand further up to grab it, and he can just grab it, where his hand already naturally is, by his side. Wearing the pistol across your belly on the front is a good quick way to grab it too. However, I have never seen a cop where their gun like this in real life. They always either wear it on their pants belt at the side, or on a should holster. They have ankle holsters, too, but that is way too long to draw, for what I want. So can I write it so that my character wears it either across his waist, at the front, or on his thigh , like Eastwood? Or will this come off as too silly and fake looking to the reader? Even though he is a police officer, that doesn't mean he has to abide by the fashion police too, does he?
Yeah, thigh holster's a bit over the top for a non-SWAT city cop, but you should ask one if they are disallowed the cross-draw holster (belly one). The shoot-from-the-hip cowboy one doesn't fit reality, if that's highly important to you.
Yeah in my case he is not a SWAT officer. He is either in regular patrol uniform or in plain clothes for the whole story. When I saw his holster should be on his hip, what I mean is, is that it's because it lines up to where his hand already is, if his hand is by his side. He wouldn't shoot from the hip literally, he would just draw from the hip, since the draw from the hip is quicker. He can then shoot higher from the hip, and use the pistol sights of course, but the quickness of the draw itself, is the reason.
Right, forgot you said 'flap.' Like a leather band with a button, or something. Consider the ease that someone besides the officer could take it.
A police gun belt has nothing to do with holding their pants up. It's designed for holding tools of the trade. Gun, handcuffs, pepper spray, tazer and what ever else the department decides to make them lug about. They wear the holster on a belt because that's the uniform, it's not a fashion statement and with training there is no need for 'quick draw'. Many of the plastic paddle type holsters are designed so the gun can only be removed in a specific manuver. Such as the gun is pushed down then moved forward before it is released from the holster. I assume that is to reduce the risk of a suspect getting the gun in a brawl. What type of rig your MC would use depends on what type of cop he is; uniform/beat cop-he doesn't get much choice. He wears the uniform or a department approved variation. The plain clothes guys can do the shoulder holster. I looked into getting one, myself. They aren't terribly comfortable, I wouldn't want to wear one for 8-10 hours a day. And the ones I looked at all said they were not suitable for people over 6' tall(I'm 6'5"). Ultimately, it's your story. Where there's a will, there's a way.
