Sunday, June 21, 2009

Hybrid Holsters

A recent gunblog dustup centered on the utility of nylon holsters. James at Hell in a Handbasket says that "real men carry nylon." Ahab disagrees:
The point is that cheap nylon holsters don’t hold the gun in a consistent location. For self defense or competition shooting, the butt of the gun needs to present in the same place every time, regardless of whether or not you’ve been moving around, getting in or out of a car, etc.
Tam stressed the need to have a belt and holster that work well together. Sebastian says we should all take a chill pill.
I have had positive experiences with carrying in a hybrid holster. The base of the holster is leather, giving a flat surface against your hip. A kydex shell is bolted to the leather base, along with belt clips. This allows all-day carry without the sensation of a Glock merging with your hip bone. The holster is IWB (Inside the Waistband), the clips are tuckable so that you can wear a shirt over the whole rig - you would untuck the shirt to draw.
Mine is "The Answer" from Tucker Gunleather. I have had the holster for about four years and to my knowledge have never been "made" while carrying with this and a shirt or vest on top. The holster holds the profile of the gun close to your body at the 4 o'clock position. The kydex body provides the satisfying *snik* sensation when the gun moves all the way into the holster. The trigger guard is the key part of the gun that mates up with the kydex shell and the bottom is open, so this can accommodate any 9mm/.40 S&W/.357 Sig Glock.

Here is the holster by itself:

Here is the holster with Glock inside:



Here is the back side of the holster, the part that sits against your body:



Uncle covered this online holster brouhaha a bit. He has a similar holster, the Comp-Tac MTAC. Uncle provided a review here, with an update and feedback on their customer service. Uncle had a problem with the contour of the holster pressing the magaine release. I have had no such problems with The Answer.
I have only one complaint with The Answer: the screws holding the belt clips can come loose after a full day of wear - not enough for the holster to fall apart in your pants, but after you take it off they need to be tightened.
If the good folks at Comp-Tac would be so kind as to donate an MTAC, I would be happy to write up the ensuing showdown between hybrid holsters.

5 comments:

  1. I am seriously considering getting The Answer from Tucker. You seem to be happy with it. How long have you had it?

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  2. About four years. Contact Tucker before you order; I believe that they use different screws to anchor the belt hooks now. Also specify which hooks you want - C-hooks versus J-hooks.

    Also, look at the MTAC holster. It is competitively priced.

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  3. Another is the Crossbreed holster. I like Tuckers C clips better though and order some for my Crossbreed. Crossbreeds turn arround right now is about 3 weeks or less

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  4. I went ahead with my order from Tucker. Turnaround is estimated at 2-3 weeks for the holster. I ordered a new belt which will take a little longer. I went with the leather lining in the Kydex and V-clips.

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  5. We ARE running only 2-3 weeks for Answer IWB's for listed pistols. We completely upgraded the kydex production and are re-introducing the Answer for all the pistols. We're having to modify the form guns and make new patterns to fit the new improvements, so if your gun is not on the current list, ask about the lead time.
    Otherwise, we're good to go. It's the best Answer we've ever made.
    Rob
    Tucker Gunleather

    ReplyDelete