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For policemen, their duty holsters are their holy protectors. At the same time, they have got to carefully protect their duty holsters, because their gun falling into the hands of a criminal is the worst thing that can happen to a policeman. Losing the gun is an easy possibility, because in any face to face fighting, it is common for people to try to pull out the opponent’s gun.
Duty holsters may be worn on different parts of the body based upon the demands of the occasion. Duty holsters may be shoulder holsters, belt holsters, thigh holsters, pocket holsters, and even ankle holsters. Duty holsters should be absolutely smoothly operable so that the users should be able to open the holster and use the gun almost like reflex action. At the same time, holsters should provide total protection from the gun falling off, or being snatched away.
 These conflicting requirements in the functionality of duty holsters are very visible in the case of policemen controlling a rioting mob. While policemen are trying to control the mob with the batons in their right hand, they are always at risk of their guns being snatched away from their duty holsters. Highly secure locking mechanism of duty holsters is the only solution against it. However, too securely locked holsters prevent the easy use of guns. Holster manufacturers have to manage razor’s edge perfection in the designing and manufacturing of duty holsters to overcome this problem.
Duty holsters may be worn openly, or in a concealed way, based upon the type of duty that the policemen are assigned. Uniformed policemen, military men, and members of paramilitary forces wear their duty holsters openly. But in the case of plain-clothes policemen, or those who are into undercover operations, it may be risky to wear duty holsters openly. So they generally use concealed holsters worn underneath the clothes.
Wearing concealed duty holsters are not always comfortable because the bulge of the gun has to be incorporated into the body without causing discomfort. Duty holsters worn in a concealed manner come in a wide variety. Besides deeply concealed duty holsters worn underneath two layers of clothing, there are pocket holsters, wallet holsters, belt holsters and paddle holsters where the gun can be kept concealed.
Quaint terminology is sometimes used to refer to holsters, which may be duty holsters, or those used by private personnel like trekkers and hikers. There are conceal-and-carry holsters known as fanny packs, as well as bellybands.
Duty holsters, that are worn openly, mostly belong to what are referred to as retention holsters. These holsters have straps or hooks or other devices that secure guns to the holsters in a way in which the user cannot be easily divested of the weapon. These duty holsters are categorized into different levels like Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3, based upon the level of retention that the holsters provide. The higher the level of retention of duty holsters, the more difficult it will be for the gun to be snatched away.
For policemen, discharging their duty involves walking on the razor’s edge. Along with other police equipment, duty holsters do their fair share in making this walk as smooth as possible.
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