Ever since I abandoned AIWB carry, getting a good holster has become a lot easier. I just go to Galco’s website and order a Summer Comfort or a Royal Guard for whatever gun it is I need to carry. Problem solved, problem staying solved.
I recommend these holsters for the same reason I recommend most of the gear I use: they’re made by a reputable manufacturer that has good customer service and a commitment to quality. The holster is rugged, durable, and the design itself has been around for roughly a billion years. More importantly, I don’t make the mistake of getting emotionally attached to them, so that if one of them eventually becomes floppy and starts to give up the ability to holster one handed, I throw it in the garbage and buy a new one. However I should note that I’ve yet to have one of Galco’s premium designs do that. I’ve got a Galco Fletch that’s probably pushing 8 years old, and it’s still nice and sturdy.
Greg at Active Response Training has a great article on holster selection, and I agree with pretty much everything he has to say about holster selection. I’m not really a big fan of the hybrid style of holster, even when it’s made by a legit company like Comp-Tac. Actually, I could write for a bit on how I don’t like hybrid holsters, but I’ll probably save that post for later. Now, to make things simple, here is a list of holsters I recommend for traditional IWB carry. I do not have a list of recommended holsters for appendix carry, because that’s a not how I carry.
Leather holsters
- Galco Royal Guard and Summer Comfort
- Kramer #3
Kydex holsters
Hybrid Holsters
Nope.
There are plenty of other good holsters out there from other manufacturers. The reason you don’t see Raven Concealment on this, for example is that while I’m sure they’re an excellent holster, I don’t have any personal experience with it. So I’m not going to recommend to my readers they bet their lives on a piece of gear I’ve never used. That would be the height of irresponsible, guns.com style journalism, and for all my sins I won’t go that far. Make no mistake, you are absolutely betting your life on your carry holster. You’re betting that it will present the gun correctly when you need it to, that it will keep the gun secure when you’re out and about, and that it won’t come to pieces and help cause an ND.
Holsters are really important. Buy the right one.
I was unaware of the C-TAC. It looks pretty awesome. You may have just changed my life!
Every holster has it’s purpose; buy the one that fulfills your needs “safely”.
But the MTAC is so comfy…
(sad face) — nothing in the Galco for SP101 or LCP — for lefties
I’d love to get a Summer Comfort holster but they don’t make it for a Beretta Vertec. It’s damn hard to find any that fit it at all….
They do make the Royal Guard for the Beretta Vertec.
The Galco Double time is the best holster I’ve ever used in over 40 years of carrying. It can be used both IWB or OWB.
I was about to recommend the Blade-Tech UCH but I just checked their website and they don’t seem to offer it anymore 🙁
I carried 1911s in Galco Summer Comfort/Royal Guards for a long time. Good holsters, available off the shelf practically everywhere.
I’m absolutely loving my StealthGear Onyx. It’s just so darn comfortable!
I agree with you regarding hybrid holsters, but I still use one. My Comp-Tac M-Tac gets worn about 70 days a year. It does one thing very well, and that is being a tuckable holster. Mine is set up with the C-clips that are almost invisible when worn in conjunction with a tucked shirt. Luckily for the other 295 days, I’m not in some sort of NPE and I can wear a regular kydex IWB. For some weird reason I actually find a regular kydex IWB to be more comfortable than the leather counterparts.
Unfortunately, no one will listen to all the reasons hybrid holsters are shitty.
/r/ccw is all “BUT MY ALIEAN GEAR IS CHEAP AND COMFORTABLE *hat tip* M’LADY”
I’m looking forward to Caleb’s article on why hybrids aren’t good. I have on that I like, but will probably switch to all kydex, soon.
The Alien Gear is garbage. I bought one, because they were one of the few I could find for my particular revolver, and it fell apart as I pulled it out of the bag. Then, the gun didn’t even fit. I sent them a full-page letter when I returned it expressing everything I found bad about it. They still send me emails occasionally asking how I like my holster!