Bleg: Plastic Fantastic
I’ve always used leather IWB holsters. I have a couple of kydex OWB holsters that I never use, except for range trips when I shoot a gun that I don’t carry other than to the range. Leather is pliable, breathable, comfortable and, on the off chance I have to leave it in the car then reholster, it’s not cold as a feminist’s vajayjay when I strap it back on. This was great, back when I was an office jockey, CFOing for a living. Now, I actually work in the field. This creates complications with a leather holster, those being:
This is wearing the leather out, basically. And I noticed a slight indention around the trigger area the other day. I don’t want this to happen to me.
So, I’ve decided to get a Kydex holster. What’s a good IWB holster in plastic fantastic that doesn’t make me feel like I have a robot in my pants?
I have some CompTac’s that should do the trick but I want to see about an all plastic model. And, on the CompTac, I don’t like the hooks since they tend to come off when getting your ninja on.
March 7th, 2013 at 8:50 pm
Have you considered the N8 Sqaured stuff? Michael Bane likes ’em, and he hates almost all IWB’s other than them.
March 7th, 2013 at 8:55 pm
I’ve been using a Comp-Tac Infidel for my Walther for a while now and love it. They are available with loops that snap around the belt for easy on/off without having to unbuckle.
If you’ve had good experiences with your other Comp-Tacs I’d strongly advise you give it a shot.
BGM
March 7th, 2013 at 8:56 pm
Thanks. I may just opt for the loops.
March 7th, 2013 at 8:57 pm
Their vajayjays are indeed cold.
March 7th, 2013 at 9:21 pm
You might try BladeTech. They offer an all Kydex IWB similar to a traditional leather one.
March 7th, 2013 at 9:24 pm
Have you tried horse hide? Not as cheap as the plastic stuff, but it seems pretty indestructible.
March 7th, 2013 at 9:29 pm
I like my crossbreed with the horse hide back for my M&P9C. I usually tuck a t shirt between me and the holster, and since our weather (Buffalo NY) tends towards cooler that isn’t an issue for me.
March 7th, 2013 at 9:40 pm
+1 for the horse hide. Now i’me off to check for trigger marks since i’ve had mags release in the one cow hide supertuck. Not an issue with the horse …
March 7th, 2013 at 9:41 pm
I’m a huge fan of Remora. I can’t speak to your job, but my Remora holster has not failed me nor been uncomfortable while doing yard work. Sweat does not seem to faze it. On the other hand, I do wear it between my waist band and an undershirt; so sweaty skin might lessen the Remora’s grip or at least make it rather uncomfortable.
March 7th, 2013 at 9:46 pm
Ugh,
Go get a bladetech, comptac, remora, flavor-of-the-week, get a couple hey-this-molding-kydex-sure-is-easy-I-should-make-a-business-out-of-it-brand, then, when you’re all done and you own 5 different kydex for the same gun…
Go buy a Raven and wonder why you didn’t just start there.
March 7th, 2013 at 9:47 pm
I’m very happy with my Crossbreed SuperTuck *except* for the fact that the clips are so secure you have to drop your pants to get the holster on and off.
I work at Cabela’s and they carry the Galco KingTuk – almost identical to the SuperTuck except the clips are easier to work.
Both holsters are fitted Kydex with a leather backplate. Leather’s against your skin and the gun is held in by the Kydex.
March 7th, 2013 at 10:01 pm
Horsehide Is the way to go for IWB leather holsters. It’s more expensive but will last a whole lot longer. Take a look at JRC Holsters – he might be the best guy out there working with horsehide. He posts over at pistol-forum.com if you have questions.
For Kydex my current favorite holster is the Keeper from Keepers Concealment. It’s an AIWB only holster though. If you want a 3:00-4:00 holster Raven is the best out there.
I encourage everyone to check out the Holsters & Accessories section on Pistol Forum. There are reviews and pics of every kind of holster you can imagine
March 7th, 2013 at 10:01 pm
Another vote for the crossbreed super tuck. I’ve got 3 and love them.
March 7th, 2013 at 10:26 pm
+1 on the Raven. Freaking love mine.
16 week lead time says other people love them, too.
March 7th, 2013 at 10:27 pm
Silent Thunder By Garrett Industries
Leather bonded with premium leather, so leather on inside and kydex outer.
I have two, a iwb and a owb and they rock.
March 7th, 2013 at 10:38 pm
I built my own Old Faithful holster. I’ve also got a couple of Comp Tacs and two Blade Techs. They are all nice holsters, but I like the leather back, kydex body ones. No IWB is a good idea IMO without an undershirt.
Don’t forget about concealment solutions. Probably the best out there for the hybrid holsters.
March 7th, 2013 at 10:41 pm
@JohhnyReb, I had a problem with my Crossbreed and a PF9 releasing the magazine. I used a rubber washer glued to the leather and trimmed to a crescent shape to surround the release button. Works perfectly and I can wear it tucked in for hours.
March 7th, 2013 at 10:42 pm
I’d recommend the Crossbreeds, with the horsehide.
March 7th, 2013 at 11:35 pm
horsehide old faithful kit and make your own, love mine. it’s very thin and comfortable once it’s broken in. save a decent amount of money and won’t wait for months to get it. if you weren’t already wearing a good belt, spend the money you save on one of those.
March 8th, 2013 at 12:23 am
Comp-tac’s new C clips are much improved. If I didn’t want the leather backer, I’d go with the C-Tac. I wore one for a couple of years with a sig 229, and I was a happy camper.
March 8th, 2013 at 1:21 am
Obviously I’m partial to the MTAC because I like them enough to sell them, but… ah never mind. Get the MTAC.
March 8th, 2013 at 9:17 am
Blade-Tech Phantom. Better than any dead animal skin holster for $30 with no wait.
March 8th, 2013 at 10:13 am
+1 for a cross breed mini-tuck, in horsehide. I carry an LC9 in it, against my skin, all the time.
March 8th, 2013 at 10:15 am
I have a couple holsters from pjholster.com — they’re frickin’ awesome and his prices are very reasonable.
I also have a hybrid (leather and kydex) from kholster.com that’s very nice.
March 8th, 2013 at 10:27 am
I have no idea how construction type workers could carry on the waist comfortably.
@Nate from Ogden I also had problems with my PM9 in a supertuck releasing mags. I took a 30-06 case as a leather punch to the holster backing to make it work out. My MTAC also would’ve had the same issue but my leather working brother recut it around the mag release and counter sunk the back stitching like it should have come from the factory.
I’ve never had a problem with comp-tac clips in the last couple years. I really like them. Picked up a second set a couple months ago to put on another holster to make it better.
Let us know what you end up with Unc.
BTW: What did you end up with after your knife bleg?
March 8th, 2013 at 10:55 am
Another vote for Nate squared tactical. I just got one of their IWB holsters. They are very well made and comfortable to wear.
http://n82tactical.com/n82store/
March 8th, 2013 at 11:03 am
http://www.fist-holsters.com/vm.html?page=shop.browse&category_id=2
FIST
We all use K1 holsters with snaps here.
The Crossbreed holsters have some fans but The K1 is much lighter and easier to put on and off.
March 8th, 2013 at 11:08 am
Another Vote for the Old Faithfull. I built one a few months ago, and have been using it off an on. Stable, Secure, protects the gun, and is cheap enough to replace if the leather gets all nastied up.
March 8th, 2013 at 11:08 am
Crossbreed horsehide is OK, but I don’t like the kydex portion of the holser much, and I had to monkey with the holster for a long time to get it to wear right and not interfere.
I have some Concealment Solutions holsters for my LC9 and PT92, and they are a much better fit. Only issue is that Concealment Solutions seems to have horsehide only occasionally. But Jason’s quality of construction is very high, and he’s very clever with the kydex. I’m getting my future holsters exclusively from here.
March 8th, 2013 at 12:37 pm
Raven Concealment.
Or, if you want to stick with leather, get a good horse-hide unit from Milt Sparks.
March 8th, 2013 at 12:42 pm
Raven Concealment Vanguard. One of the best holsters I’ve run across, if you wear an undershirt.
March 8th, 2013 at 3:14 pm
Try Garrett Industries’ Silent Thunder – leather-lined Kydex. I have several of these, they’re great!
March 8th, 2013 at 4:07 pm
Old Faithful Holsters. http://oldfaithfulholsters.com/
It’s the first holster I’ve found that effectively and comfortably (most of the time) enables me to carry my Glock 17. Plus, you can save some $ by getting it in kit form…self-assembly is easy…check the video tutorial. I like it a lot.
March 8th, 2013 at 5:40 pm
I’ve been wearing a regular, cheapo Glock synth holster every day for years. It reatins very well, draws OK, covers the trigger yet allows a combat hold on the draw, it’s a little more flexible than Kydex, and it’s held up to anything I could give it. If it ever breaks I’ll get another one for a few dollars.
The only drawback, if there is one that I can see, is that when you’re on your back in the mud or on the concrete, the exposed muzzle gets ground into the surface. The front corners of my slide are looking a little bright, but the barrel is untouched.
March 8th, 2013 at 7:32 pm
Custom Carry Concepts if you can wait.
March 8th, 2013 at 8:41 pm
Its really hard to do any sort of physical actovity with IWB. During my hard working days we would use chest rigs, hard to rub with thigh rigs whicb woid also catch on stuff.
March 8th, 2013 at 11:04 pm
I picked up one of these guys holsters on a whim at a local gunshow. Been very pleasantly surprised.
March 8th, 2013 at 11:05 pm
I picked up one of these guys holsters on a whim at a local gunshow. Been very pleasantly surprised.
http://www.onyour6designs.com/
March 9th, 2013 at 12:40 am
Hell, I’ll make you an IWB for free in return for the many many many hours I’ve spent reading this blog. I might be a “this making kydex is easy so I’ll start my own business” type (awesome description by the way), but it works, it’s free, and if you don’t like it I’ll still read your blog. Send me an email and I’ll get it done. garrett@schmidttacticsandtraining.com
March 10th, 2013 at 10:33 pm
I had a similar problem to yours with the standard belt clips with my Comp-Tac CTAC. They recommended the “C” clips, which hold the holster to the belt a lot more securely. Their standard clips don’t work well with thinner belts, particularly the Wilderness style web belts.
The other holster I find myself wearing a lot is the Blade-Tech “Eclipse”. It’s OWB but prints less than any of the other OWB holsters I own. It’s very “Raven-esque”, but unlike the Raven it’s in stock at Brownells and other dealers so you can order one right now.
March 11th, 2013 at 8:36 am
Raven. Get in line now.
March 11th, 2013 at 3:55 pm
DeSantisw makes several good models. I have 2 (1 full size 1911;1 Commander). They take a bit of getting used to, but hide very well.