Safariland SLS Holster Hood Guard

The Safariland SLS (Self-Locking System) Holster has proven itself in combat and on the streets, but for everyone that run a newer SLS, you may be asking yourself… What is THAT for?

Well, “THAT” is what Safariland calls the hood guard. We here at ITS call it a big turd. Yes, Safariland may claim “The Hood Guard helps protect the SLS from impact and premature release especially in an attempted takeaway.” But to us it’s more of a hinderance than a help.

The hood guard can get caught on all kinds of stuff, including your gear. It can also increase the time it takes to transistion from your primary weapon to your secondary, which isn’t a good thing.

Some of us have been using the a Safariland SLS long enough to remember a time before the hood guard was included, and know it worked fine before it’s inception.

I remember a story that was told to me awhile back that the reason for the hood guard’s development was that a border patrol unit kept forgetting to raise them up, and their seatbelts were removing their weapons from their holsters.

I can’t back that information up or quote the source, but if that was the real reason the hood guard was created, it seems like a training issue to me. You train like you fight, and not having the muscle memory to remember to lift the hood up is almost as bad as forgetting to put the seat down…

To remove the hood guard from a Safariland SLS Holster first locate the allen wrench that should be included with the holster.  Most holsters have a spot for it to clip into on the back side of the leg shroud.

Now remove the holster body from the leg shroud by lifting up the velcro and finding the three screws that make the attachment. When removing these, be careful not to loose the plastic washers.

Next locate the two screws that secure not only the hood guard, but also the rotating hood. When removing these, be sure to hold the rotating hood in place so it won’t come loose. You’ll be putting these screws back in as soon as you remove the hood guard.

Finally reattach the rotating hood screws, retighten, and reinstall the holster body onto the leg shroud. Tighten those bolts and you’re ready to roll…