What is this mess of nylon, straps, and Velcro? It’s iPad Shoulder Holster ($40) from Tablet Holster. That’s right, an iPad holster — as in, someone expects that you’ll wear this under a coat and pull your iPad from your side like a gunslinger. While the concept is merely ridiculous, the execution is pretty awful.
The main component is a ripstop nylon pocket that’s not tailored to any particular model of product—either generation of iPad will fit, even with a case on, and it’ll still have too much room to move around. Want to carry an 11” MacBook Air? That’ll fit too. In addition to the pouch, there are four Velcro-laden bands of various sizes, and one thinner elastic band sewn into loops.
A mind-boggling nine-page instruction guide walks the user through aligning and positioning the straps. In short, there are two loops for your shoulders and the iPad hangs at your side with one of the loops holding it in place. Another wraps around your belt.
Putting the whole idea aside, the biggest problem is that you’re expected to build the holster yourself. In all fairness, we’re pretty sure the review unit we received was correctly put together—it was hard to tell from the cluttered mess of bands.
The instructions are printed in black and white on copier paper, so they’re not incredibly clear. When assembled, iPad Shoulder Holster looks like a half-finished product, the type of product that other companies wouldn’t let out of the factory. After following the guide, we tried it on. It felt tight and awkward, but did wear pretty much as advertised. We saw no practical use for it, and it just looked like the sort of thing a person would wear right before getting mugged and losing an iPad.
We’ll grant that there may be some small market for the iPad Shoulder Holster, but even if that’s the case, this product is not the right one to fill the niche.
