Phaedrus/69
Member
I've been a fan of Garrett Industries holsters for a while. Currently I own seven of their IWB model holsters, one for almost every gun I carry. The almost? Recently I got a P30L V1 LEM in .40 cal. Garrett has a new model called the GT which has been on my radar so I decided to try one out instead of my old standby, the IWB. The GT is worn inside the waistband. It's similar to the IWB but with a couple of differences. Physically it uses a thinner kydex, still bonded to leather. This does make the rig a bit thinner. But more significantly it moves the clip from the highest/widest part of the holster body (on the slide) over the the trigger guard. This makes the rig substantially thinner overall.
On the plus side the GT is very comfortable, every bit the equal of the IWB. And it does conceal a bit better. With the IWB you have the clip over your belt at the thickest part of the whole rig. But offsetting it does make the profile thinner.
However, this does have one downside; lack of ability to adjust the retention. With the IWB there are two sets of screws. One set on top sets the cant of the clip; you set it then tighten them down. On the trigger guard side there's a pair of screws that just adjusts retention. However in the GT there's just one set of screws that combines both functions. As a result when you adjust the cant to your preference and tighten the screws you're also making the holster snugger. Probably not to an unacceptable degree but I run my GI IWBs with much less/looser retention. There isn't any workaround for this short of modding the holster.
Actually, this is what I did. There are two flat oval lozenges of plastic that the clip sits on. I simple removed the bottom one and shaped it on my belt grindre into kind of a "D" shape. This prevents the inside edge of the lozenge from being able to affect retention. So I lose any ability to make it tighter on the gun. However, the factory fit is plenty tight and it's IWB so it has nowhere to go.
Overall I'm very happy with the GT. That one minor quirk of it makes it a little harder to decide between the GT and the IWB for future purposes. The IWB is the Cadillac of holsters IMO but the GT is a tad more concealable. I'm probably going to pick up more GTs for some of my other guns and do a little experimenting.
I did get the replacement T-nuts but I'm liking it the way I modded so I might leave it this way.
Here are some pics! In all of the pictures the GT for the P30L is on the left. The holster on the right is an IWB for a VP9. Note that while the P30L is a little bigger gun the GT for it is considerably thinner. One last note; the IWB on the right has the HD clip. The regular clip is thinner but I wanted to try the uber heavy one. I can't imagine what it would take to break one of these bad boys.
On the plus side the GT is very comfortable, every bit the equal of the IWB. And it does conceal a bit better. With the IWB you have the clip over your belt at the thickest part of the whole rig. But offsetting it does make the profile thinner.
However, this does have one downside; lack of ability to adjust the retention. With the IWB there are two sets of screws. One set on top sets the cant of the clip; you set it then tighten them down. On the trigger guard side there's a pair of screws that just adjusts retention. However in the GT there's just one set of screws that combines both functions. As a result when you adjust the cant to your preference and tighten the screws you're also making the holster snugger. Probably not to an unacceptable degree but I run my GI IWBs with much less/looser retention. There isn't any workaround for this short of modding the holster.
Actually, this is what I did. There are two flat oval lozenges of plastic that the clip sits on. I simple removed the bottom one and shaped it on my belt grindre into kind of a "D" shape. This prevents the inside edge of the lozenge from being able to affect retention. So I lose any ability to make it tighter on the gun. However, the factory fit is plenty tight and it's IWB so it has nowhere to go.
Overall I'm very happy with the GT. That one minor quirk of it makes it a little harder to decide between the GT and the IWB for future purposes. The IWB is the Cadillac of holsters IMO but the GT is a tad more concealable. I'm probably going to pick up more GTs for some of my other guns and do a little experimenting.
I did get the replacement T-nuts but I'm liking it the way I modded so I might leave it this way.
Here are some pics! In all of the pictures the GT for the P30L is on the left. The holster on the right is an IWB for a VP9. Note that while the P30L is a little bigger gun the GT for it is considerably thinner. One last note; the IWB on the right has the HD clip. The regular clip is thinner but I wanted to try the uber heavy one. I can't imagine what it would take to break one of these bad boys.
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