The main reasons SERPAs suck is because they are just a shitty holster. They break, fail, and lock up at a rate higher than any other brand. It isn’t just the poorly thought out release mechanism.

That being said, just because you haven’t had a problem yet doesn’t mean you won’t have a problem with your trigger finger landing on the trigger in the future - “If there is a doubt, than there is no doubt”.

I mean come on, put on your critical thinking hat for a second - look at what is required to release the pistol from the holster and tell me that it is foolproof and there isn’t a better way. What is the continued attraction to these holsters? Their cost? A contrarian attitude or the desire to buck the trend? Doesn’t make sense to me, but what do I know.....

If you rarely carry a gun, and hardly use it you will probably never see an issue. If you carry one very day, you will learn to hate them. Addditionally, if you have never used anything else, you don’t know how’s he better a holster can be.

As for the paddle release - meh. I had a P2000 that had it. It worked. 

As for an AD while working the paddle under stress - the gun is empty if you are reloading under “Extreme Circumstances”. 

I have a serpa for my px4 compact, and I find the ergonomics of the retention system to be great, I have similar results as your own. It was purchased well before the hysteria came out about them. I have a safariland sls for my M9a1 with light, and while it's easy enough to use the ergonomics of dropping the retention system with your thumb is a bit more difficult. 
I didn't want to drift the thread, so I'll ask, it looks like you can use your thumb to actuate the paddle? How do you guys manage the manipulation while ensuring you won't AD, especially making it "idiot proof" as in a reload under extreme circumstances.

I never had an issue with a Serpa... shy of the mounting system pushing the holster far out (even further, if you do their QD). Blackhawk sold a metric s*** ton of them. If they were as dangerous as people make them out to be, you’d see A LOT more unintentional discharges. Granted, it is the internet age... and if you have five incidents, it is portrayed as 500,000 (just an example, no idea how many people have fired a Serpa on draw).

Plenty of people use Serpas to good effect. What is the difference between them and those that lit one off? Training, practice, skill, fundamentals, confidence, competence, different sized hands, different firearm choices, luck? What it comes down to, firearms require respect. Cars require respect. I’m not a big fan of labeling holsters “dangerous,” because then it goes back to the same argument people use against guns... they are “dangerous,” and must be taken away. But definitely another topic(s)...

Sorry, but I’m having a hard way of understanding how a paddle release is going to cause an unintentional discharge. Even the ones that incorporate it into the bottom of the trigger guard, you are pushing down... and likely are low enough that even if you decided to go backwards, your finger likely wouldn’t engage the trigger (even less so if there is a trigger safety incorporated). At least for the H&K, it is just below where the trigger guard meets the front strap. Even though the gun I’ve been using is LEM (the lighter version), I couldn’t see someone to unintentionally pull the trigger from dropping the magazine. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen people do some crazy stuff... but I don’t see it happening like that.

I’d definitely recommend to go to a shop and check one out. Not that I recommend them (even when I get done with FLETC, I’ll have no desire to buy a pistol setup like that; I’ve even cooled to picking up a P7M8), but it is always a good thing to try something out before taking a stance on it. Descriptions on the internet can only go so far.