Safariland QLS System Review
By: Opie
A while back, I saw a coworker with a mounting system for his Safariland duty holster that let him move the holster from duty belt to duty belt. I never understood the utility of being able to do this until I took an assignment that had me going from plainclothes to uniformed duty and back again in the same day. It was hard for me to justify buying another holster to switch from one role to the other. Plus in my mind buying a different holster with a different retention scheme is a recipe for trouble.
With this in mind I got in touch with the coworker that had the mounting system and he told me it was the QLS (Quick Locking System) from Safariland. The QLS is comprised of two components. The first is “holster locking fork” that screws into the back of your Safariland holster using the mounting screw holes from your belt loop. This locking fork has two tips at the end that lock the holster to other half. The “other half” is a receiver plate that accepts the first assembly and provides the forks a place to lock into. Assembly of the system is easy. You just unscrew your holster from its belt loop with the supplied allen wrench and then attach the two pieces. It takes about ten minutes and is fool proof.
I have the QLS on my ALS (Automatic Locking System) holster for the Glock 19. The holster locking fork is on the back of the holster. My duty belt, holster belt loop has one of the receiver plates on it. I also have a plainclothes belt loop that has one of the receiver plates on it as well. Now if I have to go from my plainclothes role to a uniformed role, I just have to separate the holster from the plainclothes belt loop and lock it into my duty belt. It’s a process that takes about twenty seconds. I’m using the same holster with the same draw motion across both roles. 
You can buy the components of the Safariland QLS system individually or in a set that comes with multiple receiver plates. The kits come with different lengths of the Safariland nuts and bolts that will accommodate mounting the system to the different belt loops that Safariland sells. My kit also came Safariland’s oval spacer kit, which adds shims between your holster and the plates giving you a bit of outward cant. Safariland touts this as a feature that “accommodates various shapes.” For me the cant helped the holster clear the bottom of my external vest carrier. 
The system does add a touch of additional width to your holster but the utility more than makes up for the added ¼” of width. The negative that I see is purely aesthetic. The fork and receiver plate don’t necessarily look like they belong on the holster. You don’t have the clean lines of a holster without the adapter. You aren’t compromising your safety with the QLS so that’s a vanity issue. If you find yourself in a situation where you would like to wear your Safariland duty holster in more than one role and you don’t want to buy or be issued a second holster, check out the QLS system. It is money well spent if this describes you.
You can help support BlackSheepWarrior.com by purchasing your QLS system from Amazon Safariland Qls19 Locking Fork W/two Qls22 – QUICK-KIT4-2
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– Opie
We will add some links soon!
We will add some links soon!