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I've had leather from many of leather makers out there. Most quality leather will last a very long time, if not a life time for many folks. Don't skimp on leather, it is just as important as you guns. Don't be influenced by anyone that says it doesn't. Looks are more important to some people than to others, but quality and functionality should not be compromised. I've had good luck with Kirkpatrick leather in general. Their prices are reasonable, and their delivery time is relatively fast. Waiting months on end for leather to be delivered gets old.

Straight hang holsters work in all the categories you mention. For ease of transfer for drawing your weak hand pistols, many if not most use the thumb and one finger to draw that weak hand gun with finger on outside bottom of trigger guard and and thumb on the rear sight. That eases the strong hand to have a open grip frame to grab in the transfer between hands. As a result have your holsters made with the gun trigger guard completely outside and on top of the holster. Other holsters have the trigger guard covered in the holster making it very difficult to transfer hands on the grip, to get your strong hand on the grip without dropping your pistol. In my opinion the best bang for the buck is not cheap junk leather but leather from some of the high quality CUSTOM leather makers such as Kirkpatrick. That allows you to get very high quality custom leather at a competitive price and in a very timely manner.