Come Find Me in Las Vegas — RMEF Hunter & Outdoor Christmas Expo, Booth 20527

This December I'm loading up the leather and heading to Las Vegas for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's Hunter & Outdoor Christmas Expo. If you've been carrying one of my rigs for years, or you've only ever seen my work on a screen, this is your chance to put it in your hands. I'll be at Booth 20527, and I'd genuinely like to meet you.

Here are the details so you can make a plan:

RMEF Hunter & Outdoor Christmas Expo
December 3–12, 2026
Las Vegas Convention Center — South Halls, Upper Level
3150 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Admission is free and open to the public.

What this show is

If you've never been, the Hunter & Outdoor Christmas Expo is one of the biggest gatherings of hunting and outdoor folks all year. The Elk Foundation puts it on, and it lands right in the middle of NFR week alongside Cowboy Christmas, so the whole town is full of the kind of people I build for. More than two hundred exhibitors set up under one roof — firearms, optics, outfitters, apparel, western wear, gear of every stripe. There's a rodeo stage, there's plenty to see, and admission won't cost you a dime.

For me, it's the best kind of business there is: face to face. I spend most of my year at the bench, cutting and molding leather for people I only know by their order notes and the gun they carry. A show like this lets me close that gap. I get to shake your hand, hear what you hunt, find out what didn't work about the last holster you owned, and show you what I do differently.

Why it's worth seeing leather in person

There's only so much a photograph can tell you about a holster. You can't feel the weight of the leather through a screen. You can't run your thumb along a burnished edge or see how tight a wet-molded rig hugs the gun it was cut for. You can't throw a chest holster over your shoulders and feel how the harness sits.

That's what I want you to do at the booth. Pick things up. Try them on. Ask me the hard questions. I'd rather you handle ten of my rigs and understand exactly why they cost what they cost than take my word for it online.

I'll have a spread of my work with me — chest holsters, hip holsters, and my gun belts — so you can see the range and feel the difference between, say, my everyday carry leather and a full backcountry chest rig built to pack a big-bore revolver through bear country. If you've been on the fence about a Kodiak, this is the show to come lay hands on one.

What I'll have at the booth

This year's a milestone for us. For the first time, we've gone up to a double booth — a full ten-by-twenty instead of the ten-by-ten we've run in years past. That's double the room to lay the leather out, more space to hang chest rigs where you can actually get to them, and enough elbow room to sit down and talk through a custom order without a crowd breathing down your neck. It's the biggest setup I've ever brought to a show, and I think it's going to make this the best one we've done.

A couple of things worth knowing before you come by.

First, I'll bring a selection of in-stock rigs — finished pieces you can look over, try on, and, if one fits your gun and suits you, walk away with right there. No wait. That's a rare thing with my work, since nearly everything I make is built to order over about four months. If you've wanted one of my holsters but didn't want to sit through the lead time, a show is the one place you might take one home the same day.

Second, if you want something built for your gun specifically, I'll be taking custom orders at the booth. We can talk through your firearm, your carry style, your barrel length, the color and stitch you want, and I'll get you measured up and squared away in person. It's a whole lot easier to nail down the details across a table than over email, and I think you'll end up with a better holster for it.

And third — bring your gun questions. If you're carrying something unusual, something new, or something I don't list on the site, come tell me about it. Half of what I've learned over the years came from a customer walking up with a revolver I'd never built for and saying, "Can you make something for this?"

A word on the Elk Foundation

I don't take it lightly that this show is put on by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. These are people who put real money and real work into conserving elk country and keeping wild places wild and open to hunters. That's the ground a lot of my customers hunt, and it's the country my chest holsters were built for in the first place. Showing up to a room full of folks who care about that is the kind of company I like to keep. If you're a member, come talk elk with me. If you're not, it's a good crowd to be around.

The practical stuff

Let me put the important part right up front so you don't have to hunt for it:

Booth 20527. Write it down. The South Halls at the Las Vegas Convention Center are big, and there's a lot to see, so having the number in your pocket will save you time. Come by early in the day if you want to really talk — mornings tend to be quieter than afternoons, and I can give you my full attention.

The show runs the full stretch from December 3rd through the 12th, so there's plenty of room to fit it into a trip. If you're already coming to town for NFR, you're practically walking past the door.

Come say hello

I'll be straight with you: the reason I go to these shows isn't just to sell leather. It's to meet the people who carry it. Some of the best conversations I've had about this craft happened standing at a booth with a customer turning a holster over in his hands, asking why I did a thing the way I did it. That's how I got better at this, and it's a big part of why I still love the work after all these years.

So if you're going to be in Las Vegas this December, do me a favor and swing by Booth 20527. Bring your questions, bring your gun talk, and bring a friend who's tired of holsters that don't fit. I'll have the leather out and the coffee close by.

See you in Vegas.

— William
Just In Case Holsters