At the January USPSA Board of Directors meeting, the proposed changes to the USPSA Competition, USPSA Rifle, Shotgun and Multigun, and Steel Challenge Shooting Association rules were approved by the board. These member-driven changes went into effect on February 29, 2024.
One of the changes was the removal of the rule prohibiting thigh strap/tie down holsters in the Competition rules. Competitors shooting USPSA competitions can now use a holster with a thigh strap or tie down without penalty. Steel Challenge and Multigun competitors are not affected by this rule change since there were no restrictions on thigh straps/tie downs in either of those disciplines.
A couple of things to note with this change: First, this does not allow thigh holsters. Any holster in use at a USPSA or Steel Challenge competition must meet the height-to-belt and distance-from-belt rules. (This distance rule changed as well and is now measured from the outside of the belt rather than the inner belt).
Why did these changes come about? Because a lot of new holster manufacturers, especially ones that can be bought at sporting good stores rather than special-ordered on the internet provide a strap with their holster and new shooters often show up with this, only to be told they can’t use them. And many of those holsters aren’t great without the strap. Also, they weren’t illegal in Steel Challenge, and never have been. Competitors use them there with no issues regarding height to belt. Again, we aren’t talking about thigh holsters, just straps or tie downs.
With regard to distance from the belt, there are any number of hangers and belt attachments in use and their continued evolution, driven by competitors, affects what we see on the range. Again, many new competitors are unaware of the rules concerning distance or height, and we must adapt, even if in small increments, to manufacturing innovation and customer demand. The inner belt measurement could vary significantly due to anatomical considerations as well, so outside just makes more sense for a consistent place to measure from.
Concerns about the “tactical” look have risen, but at present they seem to be unsupported, and USPSA went away from prohibitions on things like that quite some time ago.
So, if your holster came with a thigh strap or tie down strap, feel free to use it without concern for penalty and have fun on the range.