Standing there in the dining room, I suddenly became aware of how many windows my home has. I moved into the kitchen. Then the bathroom. I couldn't avoid the desire to see what I looked like.

Yup. For a moment, there staring back at me from the bathroom mirror was Richard Belzer ("Munch" on NBC's now defunct series Homicide. I think he's now in Law and Order). My eyes focused, and it was me again. Whew! The shoulder holster felt a little limp without any of my gadgets, so I loaded up the phone-sized e-Pouch with my Nokia and the PDA e-Pouch with my handheld. Yeah. Now I was starting to feel a hint of machismo. Never mind that there wasn't a trigger or firing pin within a country mile, I did feel different. Cocky, tough…ready.

Quick draw
I practiced "drawing" my PDA. It slid out of the case great, but I found it impossible to replace without the use of two hands. Once seated in its holster, my handheld was snuggled between well-padded leather and quality woven elastic sides. The Nokia fit the cell phone pouch better than it does in many popular belt-clip phone cases. There's even a notch in the flap for the antenna to protrude. The Nokia also stubbornly refused to be reinserted without the use of both hands. However, I must say that the snug protection the e-Holster offers against bumps is great.

Stepping out
I'm not sure I'm part of the target market for the e-Holster. Sure, I carry both a cell phone and PDA around everywhere, but I work in a business casual office, which negates the necessity of wearing a suit jacket. I wanted to test the e-Holster in public in order to gauge people's response, but I couldn't risk the derision I might face by wearing this thing for an entire day around the office. Therefore, I determined that in order to balance the value of providing a user's perspective for my Pocket PC Life review against my continued stellar reputation at work (and continued employment) I'd wear it on my next business trip. Anonymity made me more assertive.

Available in three versions--the professional look of classic black leather, a similarly styled basic version, and a sporty Neoprene job--the e-Holster promises to make more than a few airport security guards look twice. In the FAQ section of the e-Holster Web site, the makers address this issue. In part, this is what they have to say:

It is conceivably possible that a police or security person working under extreme conditions might think that your e-Holster system was for carrying a weapon. For that reason, common sense might dictate that you not wear the system in areas where high security might be a concern.

Journalistic obligations and common sense rarely mix, however, and so as I embarked on my business trip, I slipped the e-Holster on over my plaid sport shirt. Perhaps it will just blend in, I thought.

Once at the airport, I marched through the metal detector proudly. BEEP!!

The guard glanced my way, but I was already removing the e-Holster and laying it on the security belt for inspection as he shrieked to his buddy, "Lester! Did you see that…? Man! I thought…." After a moment, the attendant at the scanning screen gave him the thumbs up. The first guard was laughing now, and I gave him a grin as I picked up the waiting e-Holster off the rollers. "You made my day!" he said as I threw it back on over my shoulders. I felt pretty cocky again. I wore it the rest of the trip.