Interesting anecdote with a sample sample size of one.
Yesterday I weighed a holster I'm almost finished with. It's for a 9.5" Single Six and it weighs a whopping 4.5oz. That's a lot of 8-9oz leather. So again, weight is meaningless.
Maybe you think you were, but I’m not seeing it. You literally said “leather does not destroy the gun’s finish like kydex does”. Bottom line is both wear a finish over time, end of story.
I was crystal clear, you are being obtuse. I said leather does not DESTROY a gun's finish. Kydex does. Of course any holster is going to wear the finish but with leather, it happens slowly over time. Maybe that doesn't matter to you. It 'may' matter to others. I would wager it matters to more folks than it doesn't. Either way, this is a disadvantage that you are ignoring, whether intentional or not.
And am I supposed to care about wear patterns on a carry gun? Wear happens with use, there’s no avoiding it.
As above, you may not care, others do. It is obvious to me that the only purpose for which you carry a sidearm for is personal protection and you obviously use a generic polymer framed auto for this purpose and don't care about finish wear. You also assume that all others carry for the same purpose. While others carry for other reasons, whether while hunting or general purpose use in a rural setting. In which case I'm not carrying an LC9 but a revolver. A revolver that may be 50-100yrs old. Or a high dollar custom. Or engraved. Or stocked in $1000 worth of ivory. Out of the 70+ revolvers I own, I can't think of one that I have no regard for its finish.
Like most things, a little care and maintenance prevents such things from happening. It takes 30 seconds to check screws.
If you're okay with checking the screws on your holster, that is fine. I am not. If I was getting my holsters wet constantly, I may wish to make that concession but that would be the only circumstance for which I'd even consider it.
Ah, so you’re clearly unbiased in the matter....
I am biased but not just to justify my leather work. If I thought Kydex was actually better, I could make those a whole lot easier than leather. It ain't. So I don't.
Just because you view things as a disadvantage doesn’t mean others do.
Back at ya. The important thing here and the purpose for my rhetoric here is to clearly outline advantages and disadvantages. Not espouse advantages while ignoring disadvantages.