I appreciate that companies are moving away from random number sequences to name their products. Okay, to be fair, the numbers in Safariland holsters all mean something, but without my handy decoder ring, I’m often as lost as everyone else. Safariland’s latest holsters have received more proper and likely more marketable names, which leads us to the cleverly named Gravity.
Why Gravity? Because Gravity is what keeps the gun in the holster.
Safariland made its bread and butter on holsters with a variety of active retention devices. They set the industry standard with the ALS and SLS devices, an easy-to-understand retention system, and realistic and consistent product testing.
The Gravity eschews the norm to create a holster with passive retention, i.e., no retention devices. Passive retention relies on friction and gravity to keep the gun locked in place. Locked might be a bit of an exaggeration, but you know what I mean.
Clever name aside, let’s see how the Gravity performs.
Purpose of the Gravity
Safariland’s most famous for their duty rigs. The majority of the police and the U.S. Military all trust Safariland. With this in mind, the Gravity is not a duty holster. It wouldn’t be the best choice for police and military users.
The lack of active retention devices runs the risk of you losing your gun climbing over a fence, crawling through a trench, or to a determined attacker. No one wants that. The Gravity is a bit more oriented for range and competition use.
The Gravity offers you a lightweight, slim, trim, and compact holster design for tasks where you aren’t likely to fight off someone trying to take your gun. What the Gravity essentially offers you is a holster that has a lot of the same form factor as a duty rig, without the ALS or SLS footprints.
The lack of retention devices makes it quicker and easier to draw from than a holster with an ALS and SLS device. Just grab and go, it’s simple.
In modern action shooting sports, speed is the name of the game.
Competition shooting is a sport won by fractions of a second and fractions of an inch. This holster can help you with the fractions-of-a-second aspect, but you’ll still have to shoot straight to win the fractions-of-an-inch part.
Additionally, holsters like the Gravity are popular for concealed carry. While IWB and AIWB have taken over the market, OWB can still be handy. When it’s cold, I’m a big fan of OWB due to the additional layers of clothing and the potential for gloves.
Outside of winter, the Gravity can be carried concealed; it just takes a bit more effort to conceal anything that’s OWB.
Rockin’ and Rollin’ With the Gravity Holster
Safariland has a holster, known as the 5198, that’s similar to this holster. The 5198 was always an affordable, high-quality, passive retention rig that performed essentially the same function as the Gravity. The difference between the two is that the Gravity isn’t stuck with the STX finish, and is built to adapt to more modern guns and modern accessories.
The passive retention of the Gravity is adjustable. Not the actual gravity of the world, but the friction aspect. That big screw below the trigger is where we adjust the rig.
There is a detent on the trigger guard, and when you tighten the screw and washer, that detent tightens. End users can easily set the retention and hit the ground running. I prefer it a little looser for my range use, but if I encounter a competition scenario, I might want to tighten it down to gain a little more confidence when performing some of the more challenging competition tasks.
The Gravity comes with a paddle system, but you have full access to the Safariland three-hole holster mounts. You can use belt loops, drop rigs, chest mounts, and so much more. The options are off-the-charts awesome, and I could spend 2,000 words going over the attachment system.
The optics cut is huge! Optics are becoming larger and larger, especially with enclosed emitter optics, and companies are pushing the glass of their optics further forward than ever before. The Gravity seems to be future-proof for new optical mounts.
Why No Light?
A lot of people are going to gnash their teeth about a light. Lights on handguns are popular, handy, and a great tool. It makes sense that people will complain about the lack of light-bearing options.
When you introduce a light into the mix, the trigger detent retention can become an issue. The folks at Safariland don’t approach holster design willy-nilly. Seriously, I’ve talked to these guys, and they are passionate about making their holster safe, and retention, even passive retention, is part of that safety aspect.
Safariland historians will point to the Model 557. Safariland has made an open-top holster with a light, so why can’t they do it again? The 557 uses an ejection port detent, which is excellent. However, you can’t use an ejection port detent with an optic.
Give the guys at Safariland some time, I’m betting a solution exists and they’ll find it.
Range Time With The Gravity
My Gravity is designed around the Springfield Echelon, which is one of my favorite new handguns. The Echelon drops right in with a nice click that lets you know it’s locked in place.
Paddle holsters are a bit out of style, but Safariland does it a bit differently.
The paddle has this incredible clip that secures it to the belt. This keeps the paddle-designed holster from rotating around your belt and moving. Once it’s on, it’s locked in place.
I’ve run all my favorite drills from the Gravity. Bill Drills, Dot Torture, the Eleanor Drill, and so much more. One thing I noticed off the top was that big cut that allows you to mount whatever optic you want, also allows you to draw a little quicker.
The cut top allows you to rotate the gun before it fully clears your holster. This cuts fractions of a second, which might make a decent difference in a match. It will for me, as long as I pull my weight after drawing the gun.
The holster’s bottom portion is cut perfectly to prevent the holster from rubbing the hand. You can assume a tight grip on the gun before it ever leaves the holster.
Falling Down
Gravity always wins. Safariland is opening up an underserved market and doing something different. They make a rock-solid holster designed for modern guns with modern features. Plus, it even comes in seven different colors, including the world’s best camouflage, M81.
The Gravity is out now, and with an MSRP of $65, it’s not beating up your wallet.
