Black Bart never had it so good. He and the white hat face off at sunrise, Treos at ten paces. If you like your Treo quick-draw-ready at a second’s notice, look into holster style cases. They are what the name implies, what Black Bart’s sordid heart cherishes most. Seidio’s Spring Clip Swivel Holster, among many choices in this well-populated realm, surrounds your Treo with a hard plastic, felt-lined "tray" that sports a large, to put it mildly, rotating clip.

There’s really not much to the holster at all, which is one thing I like about it. Most of it is air, so "light weight" is an understatement. The holster consists of a molded frame and two spring-laden clips. The top clip secures your treasure facing inward, and the big, serious clip on the back snaps it to your belt or clothing.

The belt clip rotates through seven positions, 90-degrees left, through vertical, to 90 degrees right. You can’t turn the Treo upside down with the clip – it’s a 180, not a 360. The clip’s open end has a barb to help it grab clothing and help keep it from falling off. Nice.

The bottom of Seidio’s holster has a welcome cutout for the connectors on the bottom of the Treo - charge and hotsync connector, plus earphone jack. All remain open to the air with plenty of room around them to accommodate the appropriate wires. With a Treo in its clutches – I tried 650, 700p, and 700w – the holster fits fine on my Seidio Innodock cradle, as you might expect.

The Treo is supposed to fit into the holster with its screen facing in. That leaves only its back exposed to the cold cruel world. Although it will somewhat fit the other way, don’t do it! Keep the screen inward, to keep it out of harm’s way.

The holster’s inner surfaces are lined with a black felt that doesn’t blaze any new trails in softness. However, it’s probably adequate for the purpose. It doesn’t touch the screen itself, so no worry there.

Seidio makes several flavors of Treo holsters each with different position, configuration, and sizes for the top clip. The clip on the one under review is a little over an inch wide. It has a small band of rubber on the inside, to protect its treasure’s finish, and it fits across the middle of the Treo. Other models have smaller top clips offset to the edge away from the antenna, like Smartphone Experts’ Safeguard Holster.

The problem with the centered position, although it might be a little more secure than the narrower, offset clip, is that it often kicks out the SD Card when the Treo is removed from or inserted into the holster. The manufacturer’s claim on this score differs from my experience.

Some users have complained that they lost cards as a result of the holster popping them out unawares. This has happened to me plenty of times, but my card escaped my hurried grasp only once, falling to the floor where I retrieved it, with some consternation and made a serious note-to-self: "Check for missing card before leaving scene." Thankfully the Treo proclaims with some beeps that its card’s been dislodged.

Protection

You don’t get much protection from a holster of any kind, and Seidio’s Spring Clip Swivel model brings nothing new to the occasion. In fact, the screen gets almost all the protection the holster affords, and there’s precious little for the rest of the device. The whole thing is pretty much out there defying the world, braving the elements, inviting the Downpour Gremlins to stage an appearance, and tempting the mischievous Abrasion and Flying Object Gremlins.

In a drop, the Treo could land on its antenna (This holster doesn’t fit the new antenna-less Treos.), or it could bump on the padded corner of the holster. Landing on a corner is less likely to cause a problem than landing on the antenna, but you know the Law of Toast (jelly side down, always). This isn’t really a complaint, and you can’t fault the product for not protecting the Treo. It’s the trade-off for one-handed Treo access that’s instant enough to make Black Bart tip his hat.

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