Mernickle Custom Holsters has been producing quality championship holsters since the 70s. Formerly owned by Bob Mernickle, the Powers family is now at the helm of the ship. Cliff Powers is a US Army retiree has that more than 22 years of shooting experience and is a competitive member of the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) as well as the Cowboy Fast Draw Association (CFDA); his wife Lisa and daughter Hayley are also competitive members of SASS and CFDA, and they bring their own artistic knowledge of leather work and competitive shooting to the table.
While Mernickle Custom Holsters vends and hosts at a variety of events including the Nationals and World Championships for cowboy fast-draw shooting, the most recent event the Powers family attended may be one of the most interesting yet: Tombstone Redemption, which was held in Tombstone, Arizona.
Tombstone Redemption was an event held to celebrate the release of Red Dead Redemption 2, which grossed more than $2 billion in its opening week- much higher than any film ever created.
“About three or four months ago I was contacted by Sony (a canon producer.) He asked if I would be interested in (being a sponsor for) a big event and asked if I had heard of Red Dead Redemption 2, which is the largest grossing video game of all time. I knew what it was, but I had never played it,” Cliff Powers explained.
“So, I started talking to them about donations, because they needed sponsors. I told them that I would set up and vend, and asked them if they would be interested in me doing two holster sets that were designed specifically for the game (valued between $2,500 and $3,000) to raffle off.”
Sony readily agreed to Power’s proposal, and Powers got straight to work on the holsters. However, he had an issue starting out; being that he couldn’t actually see the design of the holster sets the characters used in the game online or in-game.
“I looked at the game and zoomed in to get pictures, but you couldn’t see the holsters. You could see them (the characters) wearing them, but I couldn’t see the actual design of the holsters. So I called them (event hosts) back and told them I would try to get something close, but that I couldn’t see anything,” Powers said.
What started out as an obstacle ended in an opportunity as Rockstar Games, the producer of Red Dead Redemption, got in direct contact with Powers; opening doors for the leather-working company in the future.
“So, he (Sony) called Rockstar Games and they sent me over the actual artist renderings for the game. I had to sign an NDA and then send them (the designs) back for the holsters I built so I couldn’t reproduce it, which I was fine with.”
Powers decided to create two custom holster sets modeled after the holsters characters Dutch Van Der Linde and Arthur Morgan carry around in the game.
“We did these really fancy custom monogramed boxes for them (the holsters). We sold raffle tickets, $5 for one ticket or $6 for twenty tickets, and the winners got to keep everything in the boxes which included the satchel, the pant belt, the bandolero belt, the knife sheath and the holster,” Powers said.
When Tombstone Redemption event hosts posted Power’s finished work online, calls began pouring in.
“They (event hosts) had people calling them offering up to $5,000 for the holsters (before the raffle started), but they said no- they would have to come to the event and buy a ticket if they wanted a chance to get them. It’s only fair,” he said.
The event turned out to be massive, with more than 5,000 people choosing to RSVP; that said, way more than 5,000 people actually showed up as it was a free event to attend.
“This event was one of the most spectacular thing I’ve ever seen. They did an amazing job. They were really great to work with. It was the first event of its kind, making it their inaugural event. It was free (to attend), but you had to pre-sign up to meet all the actors and get their autographs, ” Powers said.
“I do an event there (in Tombstone, AZ) every year in October (Border Town), and I’ve never seen this many people in this town dressed as cowboys; little kids, wives, husbands, girlfriends- everybody,” Powers said.
Powers and his family had the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the biggest names in the gaming world.
“I got to meet Joey Dillon, he’s the world’s foremost leading expert in gun twirling. He did the gun twirling for “Ballad of Buster Scruggs” and “Tombstone,” he taught the actors how to do it. We met all of the female actors in the game, like Sadie Adler. They all came and talked to us and took pictures of the holsters,” Powers shared.
Sadie Adler came by Mernickle Custom Holster’s vending spot to see a leather bracelet Power’s daughter designed in her honor, which the family gave to the actress.
“Here’s the neat thing about it; Rockstar Games and Sony rented Tombstone (AZ.) Literally rented the entire town. They changed the name of the bank (and other buildngs in the town) from ‘Tombstone Bank’ to the ‘City of Blackwater Bank’, just like in the video game. They changed all the signage and added wanted posters, everything.” (Blackwater is a town in Red Dead Redemption.)
“What his (Sony’s) concept was that it was essentially a comic-con, and thats what it ended up being. But, instead of everybody being stuck in a building going in circles, they rented the old west town of Tombstone and the comic-con was spread out through the entire town,” Powers said.
Power’s goal in attending the event was to make connections and create interest in his family’s work.
“The main reason we went is for marketing. We’ve done (created products for) some movies before, but we haven’t really done any in awhile and it’s a really hard industry to do stuff with. We’ve done “The Virginian” with Trace Adkins, “Forsaken” with Keifer Sutherland, “God’s Gun” which was a TV series and we’ve made holsters for Steven Tyler, Ted Nugent and others.”
Power’s marketing paid off, as Sony reached out to him saying they wanted to work with him in future events.
“That’s the main thing I wanted,” Powers said.
The chances of Mernickle Custom Holsters attending another Tombstone Redemption event are high, although Powers would prefer that it be held in Tombstone every year.
“They are going to do more events like this. We want them to continue to do it in Tombstone, but he (Sony) wants to bounce around to places like Cody, Wyoming and Dodge City, Kansas because the game moves around all the time. The only problem with that is that you have to re-invent the wheel every time,” he explained.
Aside from Tombstone Redemption, the Powers family has other major events that they vend for every year.
“There’s three main cowboy shoots that we go to. One is the Nationals, and then there are the World Championships, which are obviously the two big ones. The other one is called Border Town, which is also in Tombstone.”
“When you tell people that you own a holster company, they think it’s a hobby,” Powers said.
While this may be the case for many leather-working enthiusiasts, it couldn’t be farther from the truth for Mernickle Custom Holsters.
“People don’t realize how big we are. We can keep our doors locked because we are international. We’re not solely dependent on (foot traffic.) We cater to cowboy action and cowboy fast-draw shooting. We are the largest producer of cowboy action holsters in the world. We ship about 250 holsters a week out of here,” Powers explained.
“For leather, other than small mom and pop shops, we’re it. If we decided we didn’t want to do this anymore, there would be so many people who just couldn’t get holsters. We are more of a necessity than a want. On the Cowboy side, we run the market. On the concealed-carry side- Colt, Walther, Ruger, Carr Arms- all the big gun companies, sell our holsters online.”
“When we do the Nationals and the World Championships, we’re the only people who show up to sell (leather). Nobody goes but us.”
Mernickle Custom Holsters doesn’t have pre-made holsters for sale at their location on 304 S. Cuyler street. Due to the sheer volume of custom orders they receive from their website, all holsters are made-to-order.
“We run behind always. We can’t make anything fast enough. I have no inventory at all and I don’t build inventory,” Powers said.
“If somebody wants a holster, all they have to do is go to our website (www.mernickleholsters.com) and they can pick any style of holster there. They just tell us what gun it’s for, and then we design the holster around the gun,” Powers said.
Powers boasts a large variety of gun molds. He estimates that he has between 500 and 600 gun molds in his shop.
“We can also 3D print any model of gun that we don’t have molds for,” Powers said. “We 3D print all of our own monograms too.”
The machinery in Power’s shop enables him to do anything you can think of when it comes to leather-working; this includes the aforementioned 3D printers, sanding and burnishing equipment, laser engravers, laser cutters and high-tech design software that allows the family to draw their own designs.
If you would like to order a custom holster from Mernickle Custom Holsters, be sure to head over to their website www.mernicklehosters or head into their shop at 304 S. Cuyler to place a custom order.
