The best pancake holster is an interesting yet hard to cover section. While they are among the best when it comes to practical usage and concealment, nothing about them is ground breaking and feature filled as some of their modern peers, and yet, most gun owners end up going back to the good old pancake holster for its reliable and convenient performance. First, let’s establish what a pancake holster is, and what separates it from some of its counterparts.

The pancake holster is an incredibly popular yet classic solution for both law enforcement and practical gun owners, designed over 60 years ago by Roy Baker. The goal? Deliver an easy to conceal, close to the body, and versatile holster with three slots for ones preferable angle. Needless to say, the goal was achieved, but not all models are able to capture the quality and functionality of the original. Let’s go over those that managed to achieve it.

When it comes to pancake holsters, one would find it an extremely difficult task to find a better model than the Bianchi 57 Remedy, not just due to its outstanding reputation, but its quality and practical use. The all premium leather Bianchi Remedy provides what can only be described as the perfect balance between effective concealment, and easy drawing capability. The slim design and extremely detailed molding is what makes this model so vastly popular, and superior to the majority of its competitors.

A snug fit for the Smith & Wesson, as well as .40/.45/9mm M&P, the Bianchy 56 Remedy offers a multitude of slots for supporting a variety of belts up to 1.5 inches.

The proudly made in the USA Relentless Tactical The Defender is a great example of what can be achieved when traditional meets modern. It features 3 slot in one pancake design, for those who may prefer strong side, cross draw, or behind the hip access. As opposed to the common, and to be honest a bit depressing trend in cheap nylon based holsters the Relentless Tactical Holsters is made out of cowhide leather. While it does have a slight break in period, the rewarding strength, stability, and sensation of genuine leather can’t be outmatched.

While most pancake holsters in the market can be easily concealed, the pre curved design of the Relentless Tactical maintains comfort levels as the holster is closer to your body. So what handguns does it support? Quite a lot actually, we found it to support most 1911’s, S & W, Remington, Ruger, Taurus, Browning, Kimber, and more.

We were slightly disappointed to find out that such a great holster is sold only in black, and no classic brown leather model was available, but the black leather model looks great nonetheless, especially with its highly appealing stitched design.

Another downside, although temporary, is that with most leather based models there’s a break in period before you can truly enjoy the benefits of the Relentless Tactical The Defender Pancake Holster.

The Blackhawk Pancake Holster is the “budget” holster which we’ve decided to include in this list, and for a good reason. It provides competitive performance to almost all premium models in the market today at a fraction of the price, and is incredibly feature rich. Being made out of quality leather and being made in the US adds to its appeal.

The Blackhawk Holster is available for nearly every popular handgun in the market in brown and black leather, and takes the approach of offering custom molding per each handgun model as opposed to a one size fits all approach some models offer. We went with our H&K 2000, but other choices include Glocks, S&W’S, Springfield, Colt 1911 and many more. One added bonus is that it’s ambidextrous.

Despite its affordable pricing the construction of the Blackhawk 3-Slot Pancake Holster  is highly sophisticated after a process of wet molding, and double contour stitching. Its three slot design offers a large variety of carrying options including behind the hip, cross-draw, strong side, and appendix. Those who find comfort in ease of draw and practicality will be happy to know about the Reinforced thumb break which is included, and a trigger guard for increased safety.

Any list that doesn’t include a holster from Gould & Goodrich should be considered incomplete. A brand recognized by the sheer quality of products, durability and useful features, and the Gould & Goodrich 803-G17 Gold Line Three Slot Pancake Holster is no exception. It’s Made to support all popular versions of the Glock, from 17, 22, and the 31, and it certainly delivers.

We’ve tested it with our 22, and while not exactly a technical way of describing it, the words this feels great were uttered almost unanimously. Being USA made is always a bonus.

So what is it that makes this brand and model so appealing? Well, due to being dedicated to glock model you already start with an advantage of close to perfect fitting, which is further enhanced by top of the line vegetable tanned leather and beautiful stitch work. While there’s no shortage of holsters made of leather, there’s a noticeable difference in quality and longevity, with reviews of the model sustaining itself for years to come.

Despite being thick and having a great presence, the holster isn’t at all heavy but in fact feels incredibly comfortable, not too heavy and not too light.