Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Blackhawk SERPA Safety Briefing


Last week, we sent out a newsletter about our great deals on BLACKHAWK! Several of our valued clients expressed concern over the safety of the SERPA line of holsters. So, I would like to address those concerns here.



It is well documented on the web that some SERPA users have experienced accidental discharges and/or injuries. As a result, some schools and instructors have banned the use of SERPA holsters in their courses. Covering your A is completely understandable-- especially when you teach people how to shoot firearms. However, that doesn't mean that SERPA holsters are unsafe. Accidents happen-- even to the best of us. Here's a timely example:



We celebrated my mom's birthday on Sunday. My wife and I threw her a surprise dinner party with her friends last Friday and wanted to take her out to a nice quiet dinner on Sunday. However, Mother is stubborn like me and insisted on cooking her own dinner at home and invited us over. Minutes into dinner prep, she amputated the tip of her middle finger while chopping onions! We spent the majority of the evening and several hundred dollars in copay at the Emergency Room. Mom has decades of cooking experience and has chopped several thousand onions in her life, but one momentary lapse of focus and... "SNIKT!" (as the Wolverine comics used to say)



Firearms, not unlike a sharp set of Wusthofs, require your undivided attention at all times. Thankfully, guns don't go off by themselves. If you shot yourself in the thigh while presenting your sidearm, it probably didn't matter if you were wearing a SERPA, Galco, Bianchi, Safariland, or Uncle Mike's. It was operator error. Elementary firearms safety reminds you to keep your finger outside of the trigger guard until you're ready to fire. A best practice is to index your finger along the side of the frame, outside of the trigger guard. The SERPA system actually reinforces this best practice. As with any holster, you should train with the SERPA system before you deploy it. That's just common sense. In fact, I think it was even mentioned in Glenn Beck's book of the same name.



Accidents happen-- unfortunately more often to some of us. And those unlucky folks better train especially hard! After all, there's an inherent risk involved with carrying a loaded firearm on your person. But you can mitigate that risk through proper training. The SERPA holster is a good piece of kit, just like the venerable Glock 22-- but we've all seen that infamous video of a DEA agent shooting himself on Youtube. That only proves that "stuff" happens… consistently AND thoroughly. All you can do is train up and stay frosty, my friends.



Stay safe, keep that finger outside the trigger guard, and God bless!

-- Evan


PS: Mom is doing fine and is very happy she injured her non-shooting hand!

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