Search continues for the perfect holster.

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Trey Veston

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Ordered an Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 3.5 IWB holster today directly from the manufacturer for my S&W M&P40c. I also ordered an extra shell that fits my Glock G19, so I can use the same holster for either pistol.

My current IWB holsters are a Don Hume leather H-715 that is beautiful and good quality, but it doesn't have a shield and the M&P's fish scale slide serrations irritate my side, and the leather is so thick that it adds quite a bit of bulk to the pistol.

Also have a CYA IWB holster for the Glock, a Blackhawk OWB leather holster, a Remora for the XDS, and some other no-name kydex that didn't work out.

Read quite a bit of reviews of both the Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 3.0, which is the leather/kydex hybrid, and the 3.5, which went to a heavy nylon/kydex design with other improvements.

I really hope it lives up to the reviews.

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Just picked up the holster from the post office and did some initial fitting.

First of all, this thing is extremely difficult to put on vs my old Don Hume. I could grab my old pistol/holster combo and slip it on in a few seconds. This thing requires partial disrobe to put on, and once on, the only way to adjust it's position is to undo my belt, unbutton and unzip pants, re-position, and then button everything else back up.

Definitely not friendly for days that I anticipate having to disarm in order to go to the courthouse or into work.

But once it's on, it definitely is WAY more comfortable and concealing than my old set-up. And it stays put and doesn't shift around. For long periods of carry, it is clearly superior.

Fit and finish seems pretty good except one weird anomaly; the kydex shell is of good thickness, but it looks like it was formed by a 1st grader unsure of if he's making a holster, a dinosaur, or an ashtray.

I mean, it holds the pistol, and the factory retention setting is about perfect, but it is just ugly. The weird thing is that I also ordered a shell for my G19 and it is a work of art and clearly a completely different process. I may contact Alien Gear with my concerns. I know it's just appearance and doesn't affect performance, but the difference in detail and quality is astonishing. I doubt they want the M&P shell to represent their craftsmanship.

Alien Gear with my two former preferred holsters...

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The ugly shell...

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The very nice shell...

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I threw it on what I happened to be wearing today for bumming around the house and walking to the store, so not ideal for concealed carry, but it disappeared very well. And yes, I am a fat guy, lol.

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Chatted with Alien Gear and they advised that they use injection molded shells for some models, but hand-pressed kydex for less popular models. Looked closely at the photos on their website and the M&P shells on there are as rough as mine, or worse. So whatever. As long as it holds the pistol and is as intended, then I'm good with it.
 
Installed the G19 shell today and wore it all day after I replaced the RMR and suppressor sights with CCW-friendly Glock and Dawson sights.

Surprisingly, the G19 carries just as well as the smaller M&P40c. Hmm... If Glock ever comes out with the Gen 5 G23, I will be seriously tempted.

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I guess I'm just not tacticool or high speed enough to know anything about what I like or what is comfortable. Oh well.

What you like is subjective. There's a bunch of people out there that like Serpa holsters.

Comfort is important it's not the number one thing. I've heard some pretty reputable trainers say that Alien Gear is a sub-optimal product at best.

 
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What you like is subjective.

Comfort is important it's not the number one thing.
However, it may be for some people. There are enough people that value that feature to keep companies like Sticky Holsters and N82 Holsters in business.

When folks "use" a holster, to some that means wearing it. To others, that means drawing and reholstering. As you suggest, everybody weighs each feature differently.
 
However, it may be for some people. There are enough people that value that feature to keep companies like Sticky Holsters and N82 Holsters in business.

When folks "use" a holster, to some that means wearing it. To others, that means drawing and reholstering. As you suggest, everybody weighs each feature differently.

I'm not going to lie, I've never used a hybrid holster and I probably never will.

The biggest issue that I've heard with them or I guess the two biggest issues that I've heard is the clips popping off and that big chunk of soft leather getting flimsy and floppy. There's also the fact that if you're wearing them taught anybody that knows what they're looking at is going to know that those clips are from a holster.

In fact I went to a job interview at focus on the family one morning When I walked into the building a young guy approached me and asked me if there was anything he could do to help me.

I turned around to ask the guy where do I find office 101 or whatever the office number was. The first thing I noticed when I turned around is that he was wearing a rigger belt and then I saw those stupid Clips on the outside of the belt.

The job I was applying for happened to be armed security and during the interview I asked if I was going to be wearing a uniform like the security guard who approached me when I walked through the door.

They were very curious as to how I knew the guy was a security guard and I told them.
 
I'm not going to lie, I've never used a hybrid holster and I probably never will.

The biggest issue that I've heard with them or I guess the two biggest issues that I've heard is the clips popping off and that big chunk of soft leather getting flimsy and floppy. There's also the fact that if you're wearing them taught anybody that knows what they're looking at is going to know that those clips are from a holster.

Well the Cloak Tuck 3.5 is made from metal re-enforced nylon and not leather, and not sure what you're saying about the clips since I'm not aware of any IWB holster that doesn't use an exposed clip. And the 3.5 has a new style of clip that is pretty much impossible to pop off. And the clips are on my belt, which is covered by my shirt, so it doesn't make any sense, unless you are talking about someone tucking their shirt into their pants over the pistol which doesn't seem very tacticool for a fast draw.

And the video you selected is focusing on the leather/kydex designs.

I think the whole bias against hybrids was dreamed up by tacticool operators who had to come up with something to show that they are smarter and more tacticool than everyone else so they are just coming up with nitpicky ridiculous things to make themselves sound smarter and to allow others to be all smug and berate others for happening to like something that they don't like.
 
Well the Cloak Tuck 3.5 is made from metal re-enforced nylon and not leather, and not sure what you're saying about the clips since I'm not aware of any IWB holster that doesn't use an exposed clip. And the 3.5 has a new style of clip that is pretty much impossible to pop off. And the clips are on my belt, which is covered by my shirt, so it doesn't make any sense, unless you are talking about someone tucking their shirt into their pants over the pistol which doesn't seem very tacticool for a fast draw.

And the video you selected is focusing on the leather/kydex designs.

I think the whole bias against hybrids was dreamed up by tacticool operators who had to come up with something to show that they are smarter and more tacticool than everyone else so they are just coming up with nitpicky ridiculous things to make themselves sound smarter and to allow others to be all smug and berate others for happening to like something that they don't like.

I never berated anyone. I merely commented that I've never heard a single person on Pistol Forum say anything good about those holsters. You are the one who went on a rampage.

Having said that, the folks on PF tend to know what they're talking about and if they are in monolithic agreement that a given product is less than optimal I'm willing to take their word for it.

ETA: tuckable holsters are supposed to be for extra concealment and then they ruin it by leaving those stupid clips outside of your shirt
 
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If it works for you, that's great. The Cloak tuck was recommended to me by a friend who liked his. I got one for my Sig 226 Legion and it started marring the finish after I slipped it in and out of the kydex a few times. I went back to a leather Galco. I also found the Cloak tuck to be too bulky and a pain to get on and off of so it lives in a drawer now. Maybe it works better for a smaller gun. I could order a shell for my Shield and try it again but probably won't.
 
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