Kydex Comparison
- Thread starter Bahadur
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Charles S
Member
Bahadur,
I cannot to speak to the quality of Sidearmor, I have no experience with their holsters, but they do have an excellent reputation.
I currently own 4 Blade Tech IWB holsters and I have tried the Blade Tech paddle holster. The paddle holster did not conceal well for me, but it was very well made, good fit and finish and good workmanship. The other Blade Tech IWB holsters are very well made, with adjustable holster tension. The Blade Tech holsters appear to be very durable, I shot a combat course with about 1,200 rounds in two days. There were more presentations from the holster than I can remember and the course involved a lot of active movement including prone shooting and rolling over while firing. This can be tough on an empty holster, and several broke, but my Blade Tech IWB did very well. The Blade Tech holsters are very smooth and can be a very fast holster. I am very impressed with the Blade Tech holsters.
I am also impressed with Blade Techs customer service, when I received the paddle holster and decided it did not conceal well for me, Blade Tech quickly exchanged the item for an IWB holster. I was very pleased with the speed and efficiency of their service.
I only have one Comp-Tac hoster it is the C-T.A.C. The holster is very well made and is very concealable. This is the only tuck-able holster I have any experience with, but having said that I am very impressed with how truly concealable this holster is. I have only shot a one day course with this holster, and I have only owned it for about 6 months so I am not sure how durable it will be. So far I have no complaints. The Comp-Tac is more comfortable to wear than my Blade Tech holsters are. The Comp-Tac design is also much thinner overall. My Kahr K-9 really disappears in this holster. I have a slower draw with Comp-Tac than I do with my Blade Tec.
Having, said the above, in my opinion leather is more comfortable that kydex, but the comfort is offset by my environment. I live in a hot humid area and I sweat so I choose the protection of Kydex over the comfort of leather. If you are looking for the ultimate in comfort take a look at Milt Sparks. I think Kramer Leather is a good compromise between comfort and durability.
If you have any specific questions please feel free to ask. I will be happy to attempt to help if I can.
Good luck with your holster search.
Charles
I cannot to speak to the quality of Sidearmor, I have no experience with their holsters, but they do have an excellent reputation.
I currently own 4 Blade Tech IWB holsters and I have tried the Blade Tech paddle holster. The paddle holster did not conceal well for me, but it was very well made, good fit and finish and good workmanship. The other Blade Tech IWB holsters are very well made, with adjustable holster tension. The Blade Tech holsters appear to be very durable, I shot a combat course with about 1,200 rounds in two days. There were more presentations from the holster than I can remember and the course involved a lot of active movement including prone shooting and rolling over while firing. This can be tough on an empty holster, and several broke, but my Blade Tech IWB did very well. The Blade Tech holsters are very smooth and can be a very fast holster. I am very impressed with the Blade Tech holsters.
I am also impressed with Blade Techs customer service, when I received the paddle holster and decided it did not conceal well for me, Blade Tech quickly exchanged the item for an IWB holster. I was very pleased with the speed and efficiency of their service.
I only have one Comp-Tac hoster it is the C-T.A.C. The holster is very well made and is very concealable. This is the only tuck-able holster I have any experience with, but having said that I am very impressed with how truly concealable this holster is. I have only shot a one day course with this holster, and I have only owned it for about 6 months so I am not sure how durable it will be. So far I have no complaints. The Comp-Tac is more comfortable to wear than my Blade Tech holsters are. The Comp-Tac design is also much thinner overall. My Kahr K-9 really disappears in this holster. I have a slower draw with Comp-Tac than I do with my Blade Tec.
Having, said the above, in my opinion leather is more comfortable that kydex, but the comfort is offset by my environment. I live in a hot humid area and I sweat so I choose the protection of Kydex over the comfort of leather. If you are looking for the ultimate in comfort take a look at Milt Sparks. I think Kramer Leather is a good compromise between comfort and durability.
If you have any specific questions please feel free to ask. I will be happy to attempt to help if I can.
Good luck with your holster search.
Charles
Charles S
Member
Both holsters have excellent workmanship, I am very impressed with the quality of both holster.
If I had to rate one above the other I would rate my Blade Tech as the better holster, but not by much. I am really pleased with both holsters. Even though I think the construction of the Blade Tech is a little superior, I am currently carrying with the Comp-Tac.
Good luck with your search.
Charles
AK103K
member
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I have 5 Blade Tech holsters, three IWB's and two belt models. They are all well made and work very well. I have been wearing one IWB daily for close to 10 years now. Other than a small piece of the sweat guard breaking off and having to replace the loops occasionally, its still going strong. The only maintenience is to run a wet paper towel through it once in awhile and maybe tweak the tension screws now and then. I havent had a rusty gun since I went to it.
I have all 3. I would give the edge in coolness factor to Sidearmor. Blade-tech and comp-tac look handmade and there are small irregularities to all their holsters. Not a big deal.
My decision between the 3 would be based on the type of holster needed. Blade-tech has the Tec-Lok feature available which lets you put on and take off the holster without removing your belt. Sidearmor has the nicest looking holsters, I'd get them for OWB. Comp-Tac has a lot of ingenuity built into their designs in the IWB. I'll post some pics later, after I get back from the gun show.
My decision between the 3 would be based on the type of holster needed. Blade-tech has the Tec-Lok feature available which lets you put on and take off the holster without removing your belt. Sidearmor has the nicest looking holsters, I'd get them for OWB. Comp-Tac has a lot of ingenuity built into their designs in the IWB. I'll post some pics later, after I get back from the gun show.
Techbrute:
Thanks for the reply.
Thanks for the reply.
Does this mean that Sidearmor is not "handmade"?
In terms of comfort, how do Sidearmor IWB holsters (both the simple IWB and the "fourth-generation") fare in comparison to Comp-Tac ones (C-TAC and Pro-Undercover) or Blade-Tech ones?
Denny Hansen
Member
I own holsters from all three manucturers. All three are quality, but I'd rate the Sidearmore the most comfortable for IWB carry.
A relative new comer Cen-Dex, also makes great holsters and the owner, Frank Spezzano, is a pleasure to deal with. Also has a line of carbon fiber holsters. www.cen-dex.com
Denny
A relative new comer Cen-Dex, also makes great holsters and the owner, Frank Spezzano, is a pleasure to deal with. Also has a line of carbon fiber holsters. www.cen-dex.com
Denny
I have seen several good commments about Cen-dex recently, including those here by Denny, and elsewhere by Pat Rogers.
I have only seen one negative about them, this was nearly two years ago. To say the comment was unflattering would be an under statement.
Denny, you folks at SWAT get to see the good and the bad that's out there. Am I correct in stating the Cen-Dex is and up and commer (top notch, just not well known) and the negative reviews are "old news" .
To be clear, this negative review was not made by Denny or anyone affiliated with SWAT mag.
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Denny Hansen
Member
garrettwc-
A few weeks back I attended an intensive two-day class with Jeff Gonzales. I had just received a new Kimber TLE/RL for T&E and wanted to put it through its paces. Not having a holster for a rail gun on hand, Frank made me a one-off for the course. Even though he had to knock it out pretty quickly, its quality was obvious. While in his shop, I took a look at a bunch of his products including mag pouches and other Kydex holsters and was favorably impressed.
I have only used the one Cen-Dex holster. The Trident Concepts class saw about 1200 rounds and a LOT of drawstrokes in two days. I used the same holster the next week during a bus assault course and had probably another 300 drawstrokes with it. Based on my limited experience with the Cen-Dex rig, and on what I observed at Frank's shop I would not hesitate to recommend them to others. Hope this helps.
Denny
p.s. The kimber ran flawlessly right out of the box depsite not being cleaned druing the class, and temps around 35 degrees and snowing on the first day.
A few weeks back I attended an intensive two-day class with Jeff Gonzales. I had just received a new Kimber TLE/RL for T&E and wanted to put it through its paces. Not having a holster for a rail gun on hand, Frank made me a one-off for the course. Even though he had to knock it out pretty quickly, its quality was obvious. While in his shop, I took a look at a bunch of his products including mag pouches and other Kydex holsters and was favorably impressed.
I have only used the one Cen-Dex holster. The Trident Concepts class saw about 1200 rounds and a LOT of drawstrokes in two days. I used the same holster the next week during a bus assault course and had probably another 300 drawstrokes with it. Based on my limited experience with the Cen-Dex rig, and on what I observed at Frank's shop I would not hesitate to recommend them to others. Hope this helps.
Denny
p.s. The kimber ran flawlessly right out of the box depsite not being cleaned druing the class, and temps around 35 degrees and snowing on the first day.
dairycreek
Member
Dear Bahadur!!
I own all three brands of the kydex holsters you mention in your initial post. IMHO the absolute best is Sidearmor - hands down!
Good shooting
I own all three brands of the kydex holsters you mention in your initial post. IMHO the absolute best is Sidearmor - hands down!
Good shooting
txgolfer45
Member
All are good kydex holsters. Another to consider is a newcomer - Top Gun Gear. www.topgungear.com
Their website is new and weak. But, the product is excellent.
Scott
Their website is new and weak. But, the product is excellent.
Scott
GAC
Member
Bus Assault Course?
Denny, was that the bus assault course run by Pro-Active in Phoenix?
Denny, was that the bus assault course run by Pro-Active in Phoenix?
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