What's the difference between belt and paddle holsters?

[Ding]

Both of them look like they would hang on the belt, but the paddle holster has a, well, paddle on it. Why is it there?

 

[Scott Evans]

Ding
The paddle type holsters (not all of them are equal) clip on and off with out he necessity of having to remove your belt. The Paddle portion goes in your trousers at the waist band between you and the belt and serves as the anchor. The belt holsters generally require you to thread your belt through one or more loops.

 

[9mmepiphany]

the belt holster is designed to ride in a fixed position on your belt, always where you put it but sorta a pain to take on and off.

the paddle holster is designed to easily go on and come off, like for detectives who take off their guns in the stationhouse, the belt. the trade-off is that it slides back and forth along the belt, the early ones would even come off the belt during the draw.

the paddle needs to be wider than the holster to stabilize the gun at the waist line, to keep it from canting back and forth. a well designed paddle will use the hip to hold the holster in place. a really well designed paddle holster can be worn without a belt