Traditionally, armor is considered only as strong as its weakest point, highlighting the significant dangers of any subsequent breach. A chink in one’s armor poses life-threatening consequences, not dissimilar to that caused by vulnerabilities within a protective coating. Any weakness can lead to the exposure of the substrate beneath, allowing access to the destructive forces of corrosion and erosion, ultimately making the coating redundant. Within the industry, these defects are referred to as holidays, an area of the substrate that has not been properly coated, presenting as a discontinuity in the coating film. This includes misses, inadequate coating thicknesses, inclusions and pinholes, all of which register as anomalies (Figure 1). Throughout this article we aim to dispel some myths surrounding holidays and pinholes, while also exploring holiday detection and the solutions used to fix these defects.