I wondered about no tie downs on holsters? Geez that seems dangerous. What's the reason, ascetics? Sure hard to get mine out loose!
The reasons for that, G.P., is NCOWS desires to be more faithful to the actual history of the era we ape.
Firstly the type of holsters that were historically worn were the kind that had the loop behind the body of the holster for the belt to thread through, so when worn rode higher on the belt and thus were solidly supported. They are held tightly against the body thus no need for a tie down.
If we're talking about Buscaderos, which came after the heyday of general carrying of a sidearm in the 19th century(and primarily are a Hollywood element introduced into the popular conception of what the Old West
must have been like
),- ride below the belt and will thus pull up when un-holstering. Hollywood invented the idea that
every gun owner was a gunslinger, and wore tied down holsters so that the gun could be whipped out to settle any imagined score. (Same myth we fight so hard to dispell today. That all gun owners are itching to shoot their fellow man. Or woman.)
NCOWS members are not having trouble, nor creating a safety issue, by not having a tie down when pulling their revolvers.
RCJ