1911 guy
Member
I carry a 5" 1911 and my preferred holster is a Galco Concealable. Second behind that is an IWB frankenstein I made of a Galco holster body and Desantis belt attachment because the original design sucked. The IWB is more concealable, but lacked any cant. The pistol sat straight up and down. The several other holsters I have should have stayed on the store shelves and we'll leave it at that. Lived with these two holsters for several years, pondering which IWB to replace my franken-holster with.
Settled on an Alien Gear IWB. Having a little experience with metal belt clips, I ordered the optional leather belt loops with the new holster. Holster, loops and shipping came to just under fifty dollars. When i placed my order, they quoted 4-6 weeks. At week seven i sent a polite e-mail. Got a polite response immediately. They got behind with sudden demand, my holster would ship within the week. They must have shipped it that same day because i had it in hand before the week was out.
Customer service, IMO, very good.
The holster itself is typical for the type, a hybrid. The backing is relatively thin, yet strong enough to support and distribute the weight of a handgun across the belt. A kydex shell, also made thin to keep profile to a minimum, attaches to the backing by threaded grommets and screws. There are small rubber spacers to both allow for some degree of fitting and more importantly, keep tension on the screws to prevent them from loosening. Keep in mind that over tightening the screws merely pushes the handgun into the leather backing. It wasn't designed to be an active retention holster, though.
Design, very adequate for its intended purpose.
The kydex shell was immaculate, no marks from molding, no scratches around the holes from tooling. The leather backing had normal marks from being made of cow leather. The finish (one side only) was even, not blotchy. The edges are cut cleanly. The hardware is installed cleanly, also. No tool marks around the attachment points, no scuffs from missed punch strikes, etc. All the threaded grommets were installed fully, none protruding more or less than any other. There are three points at which to attach the belt clips or loops. The clips came installed on the middle set and I have left them there. The difference in ride height between attachment points is about 1/2 inch, for a total adjustment range of about 1 inch. Might be a bit more, i didn't actually measure.
Execution was excellent, in my opinion.
The holster came with extra hardware. There are enough screws and rubber spacers to re-do the entire holster at least once, probably twice. The rubber spacers are cut to different lengths, although the difference between shortest and longest is probably only 1/16th inch. The spacers are made of what seems to be automotive grade hose. Frankly, i give them kudos for making an existing item work, rather than making a similar "gun item" and then upping the price to reflect additional manufacturing cost. An Allen key was included in the bag of hardware.
Points for supplying hardware which may be lost and saving me a buck in the manufacturing cost.
I have worn this new holster every day for six days now. Day one was rough. The backing had not yet broken in and it made my pants feel as though they were heading to the floor. Thank goodness for Perry suspenders. Day two was an entirely different story. The backing, being rather thin, took only about 12 to 15 hours of constant use to break in. The second day felt like an entirely different holster. Very comfortable. Not exactly "I forgot it was there" comfortable, but I don't expect that with any holster. It's a two pound service pistol, after all. Day three was even better as I slightly adjusted the holster position on my belt.
Now the optional loops i bought with the holster. They're good. No problems with them. But I wasted my eight bucks. The clips on the Alien Gear are that good. Made from what i believe to be spring steel, they are in every way superior to every other clip I've used on every other holster. While they fit my belt great, they also have enough of a lip on the bottom edge to grasp the pants themselves. Even after my belt was removed, the holster had to be pried off the pants. The downside is that it's impossible to adjust the position of the holster while you're wearing it. The upside is that when you get it in the "sweet spot", it's not going anywhere. Put it where you want it before you button your pants up. It does NOT slide around when you yank on it, the gun, or it and the gun at the same time.
Bottom line, I'm liking this holster. It's not pretty. It's not fancy. It's a hunk of leather and plastic. If you stand on your head, the gun will fall out. However, moving around, a little jogging after my kids and some standing, bending, sitting, walking, contorting around machines, etc. at work has seen no issues. I'm sure a lot of that is the soft leather backing pushes against the pistol and squeezes it between the kydex when the belt is snugged up.
For under fifty bucks, i might buy another just to have a spare. But i won't buy another set of belt loops.
Settled on an Alien Gear IWB. Having a little experience with metal belt clips, I ordered the optional leather belt loops with the new holster. Holster, loops and shipping came to just under fifty dollars. When i placed my order, they quoted 4-6 weeks. At week seven i sent a polite e-mail. Got a polite response immediately. They got behind with sudden demand, my holster would ship within the week. They must have shipped it that same day because i had it in hand before the week was out.
Customer service, IMO, very good.
The holster itself is typical for the type, a hybrid. The backing is relatively thin, yet strong enough to support and distribute the weight of a handgun across the belt. A kydex shell, also made thin to keep profile to a minimum, attaches to the backing by threaded grommets and screws. There are small rubber spacers to both allow for some degree of fitting and more importantly, keep tension on the screws to prevent them from loosening. Keep in mind that over tightening the screws merely pushes the handgun into the leather backing. It wasn't designed to be an active retention holster, though.
Design, very adequate for its intended purpose.
The kydex shell was immaculate, no marks from molding, no scratches around the holes from tooling. The leather backing had normal marks from being made of cow leather. The finish (one side only) was even, not blotchy. The edges are cut cleanly. The hardware is installed cleanly, also. No tool marks around the attachment points, no scuffs from missed punch strikes, etc. All the threaded grommets were installed fully, none protruding more or less than any other. There are three points at which to attach the belt clips or loops. The clips came installed on the middle set and I have left them there. The difference in ride height between attachment points is about 1/2 inch, for a total adjustment range of about 1 inch. Might be a bit more, i didn't actually measure.
Execution was excellent, in my opinion.
The holster came with extra hardware. There are enough screws and rubber spacers to re-do the entire holster at least once, probably twice. The rubber spacers are cut to different lengths, although the difference between shortest and longest is probably only 1/16th inch. The spacers are made of what seems to be automotive grade hose. Frankly, i give them kudos for making an existing item work, rather than making a similar "gun item" and then upping the price to reflect additional manufacturing cost. An Allen key was included in the bag of hardware.
Points for supplying hardware which may be lost and saving me a buck in the manufacturing cost.
I have worn this new holster every day for six days now. Day one was rough. The backing had not yet broken in and it made my pants feel as though they were heading to the floor. Thank goodness for Perry suspenders. Day two was an entirely different story. The backing, being rather thin, took only about 12 to 15 hours of constant use to break in. The second day felt like an entirely different holster. Very comfortable. Not exactly "I forgot it was there" comfortable, but I don't expect that with any holster. It's a two pound service pistol, after all. Day three was even better as I slightly adjusted the holster position on my belt.
Now the optional loops i bought with the holster. They're good. No problems with them. But I wasted my eight bucks. The clips on the Alien Gear are that good. Made from what i believe to be spring steel, they are in every way superior to every other clip I've used on every other holster. While they fit my belt great, they also have enough of a lip on the bottom edge to grasp the pants themselves. Even after my belt was removed, the holster had to be pried off the pants. The downside is that it's impossible to adjust the position of the holster while you're wearing it. The upside is that when you get it in the "sweet spot", it's not going anywhere. Put it where you want it before you button your pants up. It does NOT slide around when you yank on it, the gun, or it and the gun at the same time.
Bottom line, I'm liking this holster. It's not pretty. It's not fancy. It's a hunk of leather and plastic. If you stand on your head, the gun will fall out. However, moving around, a little jogging after my kids and some standing, bending, sitting, walking, contorting around machines, etc. at work has seen no issues. I'm sure a lot of that is the soft leather backing pushes against the pistol and squeezes it between the kydex when the belt is snugged up.
For under fifty bucks, i might buy another just to have a spare. But i won't buy another set of belt loops.
Most of the time I don't end up using the extras but it's nice to have the options to play with. I think the Alien Gear holsters have some great elements. Since the backing kind of distorts/shifts over time it's awesome that they include materials to adjust the fit over time. Nice!
