Good holsters make all the difference…

[gunhappy]

In the world! Shout out to JM Custom Kydex! I received their IWB for a 4” k-frame and cannot believe how easily it Carrie’s both my m19-4 and my 10-7 pencil barrel. I know it’s there but it really isn’t heavy and it doesn’t push into my body badly like some others have. I am truly satisfied with this company.

 

[Old_Grouch]

I am nearly as old as leather itself. Now, having said that, Kydex holsters (the ones I've tried, anyway) rock! I'll take leather any day for my "barbecue guns" but for business I'll take Kydex. I like the consistent draw force of Kydex.

 

[sgmdcw]

I'll put plastic guns in plastic holsters, but my nice guns get nice leather. Just a personal quirk of mine. Glad you like yours.

 

[Pat Riot]

For years I refused to try Kydex holsters. In the past few years I have changed my mind about Kydex. I use them for my Glocks. I can’t quite bring myself to try Kydex for my revolvers, but for my semiautos, I like it very much.

 

[StrawHat]

I can only speak to leather as the only kydex holster I have used was the trough in which I “holstered” my PPC revolver.

A proper holster fits the sidearm snugly and prevents it from moving. The fit should be tight enough that extraneous devices (snaps, straps, etc) are not needed. And they are not “one size fits all“. Unfortunately, very few makers provide these kind of holsters anymore. Why should they? Most buyers are happy with leather buckets.

Kevin

 

[jar]

I have a couple Boxes of Shame devoted to Kydex holsters. But also even more Boxes of Shame devoted to leather.

The biggest difference is I keep putting the leather ones back in service and wondering why they were put in a Box of Shame in the first place.

 

[BobWright]

As to carryin', I only have revolvers, and to carry them, leather holsters. But, I've spent a goodly amount of money searching for the ideal, for me, holster to carry the gun of my choice, a Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt, and having a 4 5/8" barrel. As to holster makers, I've gone to Craig at Graveyard Jack Gunleather, Doc Barranti at Barranti Gunleather and AlexTukiendorf at American Classic Gunleather. All have made holsters to my specifications and each was a work of artistry in leather. Here three of my favorites:



Left to right: Doc Barranti's "Hipshots" Model; Custom design, Barranti's No. 1 Shuck with the Ethan Edwards cuff; and one from Alex that he made soley from my verbal description. I've carried each of these in my daily goings about.

Bob Wright

 

[Styx]

I have a set of leather and kydex holsters for my most carried handguns.

Kydex for classes and competition (ONLY because I'll be holstering and unholstering repeatedl) and if I plan to be in wet weather humid conditions.

Leather IWB holsters for daily EDC and everything else. Leather if just more comfortable, better looking, and conceals better OWB. I like leather pancakes holsters for OWB concealed carry which allows me to carry OWB all year around with nothing more than a medium t-shirt on. Leather IWB with straps because it's more comfortable pressing against my body all day long, and because, unlike Kydex, the leather will eventually contour to my body. Another plus for leather holsters is that you can get away with carrying guns they weren't designed for in a pinch or even permanently.

As far as the OP is concerned, I've had good experience with from affordable Azula, 1791, DeSantis, Galco, Bianchi, Don Hume, Falco/Craft, Masters, etc to customize made Nelson Holsters, High Noon, Mitch Rosen, and others.

 

[lee n. field]

In the world! Shout out to JM Custom Kydex! I received their IWB for a 4” k-frame and cannot believe how easily it Carrie’s both my m19-4 and my 10-7 pencil barrel. I know it’s there but it really isn’t heavy and it doesn’t push into my body badly like some others have. I am truly satisfied with this company.

JM Custom == good stuff. Worth the wait.

I ordered out a JM Custom Kydex AIWB for the Taurus 856, almost as soon as I saw them available. I've had it about a month.

• Good holsters make all the difference…

I've come to think that availability of good holsters is something one ought to research before buying a particular gun. Very important, if it's actually going to get carried.

 

[JERRY]

For outside the waistband kydex is just fine. However inside the waistband I much prefer leather because it's got forgiving edges.

 

[unclenunzie]

JMCK is well-made kydex. It's a cut above the stuff you find cheaper on amazon, etc.

 

[blackd24]

JMCK is well-made kydex. It's a cut above the stuff you find cheaper on amazon, etc.

is it comparable to Bradec holsters? He makes really thick kydex. I just ordered one from warhorse holster priced at $90 and it was worth about $25 to me.

 

[unclenunzie]

is it comparable to Bradec holsters? He makes really thick kydex. I just ordered one from warhorse holster priced at $90 and it was worth about $25 to me.

Never heard of either one.

 

[blackd24]

I’ve been very unimpressed with some kydex holster makers. We the people are cheaply made. Anyone reading this check out bradec holsters - used to be about $30, now $50 (thanks Joe)

 

[BobWright]

JM Custom == good stuff. Worth the wait.

I ordered out a JM Custom Kydex AIWB for the Taurus 856, almost as soon as I saw them available. I've had it about a month.



I've come to think that availability of good holsters is something one ought to research before buying a particular gun. Very important, if it's actually going to get carried.

Um.........its the gun that's going to defend your hide. Get the gun that you can handle, quickly and accurately, is dependable and of a caliber sufficient to deter an assailant or disable one, of if necessary, kill one. Then build the holster around your needs as to concealment and carrying position. Then, practice with that rig until it becomes second nature with it. Extreme? Getting killed is extremer.

I don't want my burned out car found on a lonely rural road in Mississippi with my body inside.

Bob Wright

 

[GRIZ22]

I'm not sure fan of kydex. I have quality leather holsters that are almost 50 years old and still use them

 

[armoredman]

I have always had excellent luck with High Noon Holsters out of Florida. Having said that, I ordered a left handed holster for my son's P-10S from Craft Holsters, which turned out to be Falco in Slovakia. Easiest break in of any rig I've ever seen, works like a charm, sidearm snaps in and out, and no thumbreak needed to keep the pistol in place. Da Boy loves it.

 

[doubleh]

I am an old, out of date curmudgeon. I don't care much for plastic fantastic guns and and nothing at all for kydex holsters. I see what you use as a personal choice and my choice is leather.

 

[Hillbilly Hydrographics]

Leather, leather and more leather. I've gave away every plastic holster I've ever tryed which hasn't been many. I can see the plastic click in feeling being luring to the plastic pistol guys as well as the tactical timmys. But a well made custom built leather holster will give the same level of retention as a plastic one and look better doing it.

 

[trackskippy]

For about 20 years or so, I carried IWB in medium to high-end leather holsters on a daily basis, doing heavy physical work in all sorts of environments, and suffered through that until kydex came along. That was a major game changer for both me and the gun I was carrying.

Leather was just dealing with constant rust and accelerated overall finish wear on the gun, and on those occasions, my tee shirt rode up and things were sweaty, wet leather is a nasty abrasive on bare skin and just rubs you raw at every movement. I havent carried a daily carry gun in a leather holster for close to 30 years now.

Kydex saved me a LOT of money over the years too, as I didnt have to keep replacing a holster every year or so. Kydex holsters are generally a lot cheaper, and last pretty much forever unless you somehow break it. I still have the first Blade Tech holster I bought for $50 or so back in the mid to late 90's, and carried my old Commander in it every day for over ten years, and its still in great shape and as functional as it was the day I bought it.

By the end of most summers, I was usually ditching one of the two leather holsters I was rotating through on a daily basis due to being sweat-soaked, and they were usually about $75 a pop.

Some leather holsters have a place, and I still like some of them, but for me, its not a daily, hard-use environment piece of equipment. Kydex is far superior in every respect there.

 

[lee n. field]

Um.........its the gun that's going to defend your hide. Get the gun that you can handle, quickly and accurately, is dependable and of a caliber sufficient to deter an assailant or disable one, of if necessary, kill one.

Certainly.

Then build the holster around your needs as to concealment and carrying position.

Ahh, there we differ. I don't have those skills, not the time, patience or desire to do it myself.

I was told (elsewhere on the Internetz) by a guy who at the time made his living building kydex concealment holsters, that to do it well, you'll end up spending about a thousand bucks in basic equipment and consumables. That's a lot of kydex.

Part of buying, is getting the benefit of someone else's hard earned expertise.

Then, practice with that rig until it becomes second nature with it. Extreme? Getting killed is extremer.

I don't want my burned out car found on a lonely rural road in Mississippi with my body inside.

Bob Wright

 

[.38 Special]

I use Kydex on occasion. It certainly works, and I actually like the way the draw feels - and the fact that it feels the same every time, in all weather. I also like that they're cheap, and that even the mid-level quality ones work fine. I've generally found that anything less than top quality, for leather holsters, can be pretty awful, and also that some kinds of weather can make leather holsters a bit sticky on the draw.

Having said that, I'd rather eat night crawlers than tote a good revolver in a plastic holster.

 

[gunhappy]

Well I have tried a number of leather holsters and while I like them and agree that they are the “historically correct” holsters for a revolver, I find that the jmck holster I have makes the carry of a gun that I like and want to be able to carry comfortably a reality. I suppose I could squirrel away some more pennies and get a leather iwb, but I fail to see why I would do so….the holster I have works, works well, and makes me happy. The entire purpose of my post was to make other people aware that such a holster solution not only exists but to let people know that it is awesome.

 

[CajunBass]

I'm one who had resisted Kydex holsters for years. (I remember when the "Snick" holster came out, the first Kydex or at least plastic holster I heard of.) But I gotta admit that it's pretty hard to beat, at least for a "plastic" pistol like my Taurus G3. I wouldn't stick one of my nice Smith and Wesson or Colt revolvers in one, but then those guns deserve to be carried in leather. The Taurus is just a gun. Plastic works just fine for it.

Actually I don't think I've even got a holster for my revolvers. They get carried in a range bag. But if I did carry them, they'd be carried in leather.

 

[Tallball]

Kydex and leather both work fine. They both have they pluses and minuses. In general, for IWB or OWB, I seem to prefer kydex for smaller pieces and leather for larger ones.