Review: Back Country Chest Holster by K-J Leather

Review: Back Country Chest Holster by K-J Leather

A few months ago, Gundiva made contact with K-J Leather based out of Newell, South Dakota.  http://kbarjleather.com And the folks at K-J Leather were gracious enough to send a sample of their Back Country Chest Holster to me for review. 

The holster that was sent to me was designed to fit the Ruger GP 100 with a 4 inch barrel.  (K-J Leather can build this holster to fit other models of handguns as well)

Included on the left hand side are loops for 5 spare rounds of .357 ammunition.  The revolver is held in place by a leather retention strap. 

Construction is all leather held together with rivets and stitching and plastic buckles. 

What I like:

-       -  The quality of craftsmanship is excellent.  The edges are sealed.  Rivets and stitching are tight. 

-       -  The single buckle design makes it easy to put on and take off once adjusted.

-       Comfortable to wear.

-       -  Being a chest holster, it keeps your handgun off your waist and easy to access.  Also    allowing you to wear a fanny pack or backpack in comfort. 

-      -   Adjustable to fit most sizes. 

What I don’t like:  (Things I want to see improved upon)

-       - A tighter fit on the retention strap.  It works well but could be tighter for a more secure fit.

-       - Extra loop on the left side to hold 6 spare rounds instead of 5. 

-      -  Extra ammunition loops on the shoulder strap or holster itself.  Not a mandatory change, but would be nice to have for quick and easy access to spare ammunition. 

Conclusion:

I like this holster.  I think K-J Leather has done an excellent job and makes a quality holster.  I would buy their products again.

If you are looking for a quality leather holster, check out K-J Leather.  They make this Chest Holster as well as standard Belt and Concealment holsters and many other leather products.

Update 10-20-2013

Based on comments, here are a few more items.

1. Yes I would recommend this holster to my brother.  With one caveat.  Make sure the retention strap holds your firearm firmly in place.  This is the one must have for this holster.

2. Cost.  I do not have pricing at this time.  And I did not see prices listed on their website.  Call/email K-J Leather for pricing.

3. Appropriate use for this holster would be an open carry scenario where you want easy access to your firearm but want it off your waist.  Backpacking or hunting is a good example.  Typically the waist belt of the backpack will not allow the use of a traditional belt holster, this will solve that problem.  Or if you are horseback riding.  This holster puts your firearm in an convenient and easy to access position.  But still allows for ease of movement.  
Definitely not for concealed carry.  

By: Mez

10-13-2013

Part One- K Bar J Leather Review

 Posted by Mrs Mom



 While she was at SHOT Show, GunDiva managed to score a leather holster for me to test out. She was thinking it would be ideal for riding, and since I have my nags in my back yard, I got the pleasure of "meeting" Jack Gully from K Bar J Leather. At least, I got to check out his work first hand. (Note on the website: it's COOL! At least for someone like me who has equines on the brain 24 / 7 / 365.)

My FIRST impression, being a leather fan, was of the quality of the leather used in making the holster. It is beautiful- bridle quality would be my guess. The hardware he uses is durable- brass where needed and a good quality side-release buckle on the lower attachment piece.

 So -- today, all the factors added up and I was able to catch up my mobile red couch and crawl aboard for a ride test. First thing I noticed-- the muzzle needs adjusting as that position *really* made me feel uncomfortable. According to Mr. Gully, this basic design was for men, who can carry it more to the left, thus eliminating any issue with the muzzle pointing at a leg. He did suggest a different position and I will be testing that as soon as I can.

 Given my rather Pillsbury Dough Girl shape at the moment, there was still plenty of room to adjust the entire rig. Any father to the left and I would have had a difficult time being able to draw.

Provided the short video clip works, you can see how easy it was for me to draw from this position -- which was a plus.

 Overall:
- Quality- Excellent. I would buy from these folks with no hesitation.
- Comfort- I wore the holster additionally on an hour long hike with my sons in the woods today. I carry a steel frame 1911, which after an hour hiking in back in my paddle holster I can feel some pull on my back. I did enjoy hiking as the weight of my Kimber was "shared around" a bit and I more or less didn't know it was there.
- Customer Service- EXCELLENT. Mr. Jack has been fantastic to work with, had helpful suggestions, and he is pretty sure he has another variation of the rig that might work better for me. We'll see in a bit, after it arrives and I'll test and review that one as well.
- Fit- The Kimber was snug and didn't have much play. Being on my most reliable horse, I did check it out at a jog and even with his not-so-smooth jog/trot it stayed put well. (We call this horse Mommy's Little Dump Truck for a reason!)

All in all? I am impressed with the quality and care put into the work, and the excellent service provided by Mr. Jack himself. I'm looking forward to providing the Part Two for this in the next couple weeks. 

This is what my horse thought of the entire procedure today. He fell asleep. For the record, yes, I ride bareback with a halter and a lead. It's mostly because I am too lazy to drag tack out and mess with it. That and I honestly do like the challenge of achieving the utmost in lightness with the least amount of gear. I don't compete any longer- I just bomb around here at home with my mobile red couch and his newly started under rider grey brother, Tater. For more information on Phat Boy and Tater tot, visit Oh HorseFeathers!

Also- we are running a giveaway on the Facebook page for Southern Winds Solutions. We're offering three prizes- First place is Winner's Choice of any product we make- equine gear, rifle slings, you name it- you got it. Second prize is a matched pair of bracelets and Third prize is a pair of our new Bullets & Bling Earrings. All items will be fully customized to your specifications- colors, sizes and hardware! Drawing this coming Friday, 15 March, midnight EST.