I’m going to say upfront, that this more of a warning about bad holsters, and being penny-wise, but pound-foolish, than it is a review. Already, you may be saying, “great, a giveaway of a crappy holster”. Well, stick with me, because I’ll make it worth your while.
The Holster:
Most of our reviews give the name of the holster, right at the top of the review. I’m going to do this one without a name, to protect the poor fool who built this piece of junk. Maybe he’ll read the review and step up his game. I’m also going to skip the on-body sections, since it’s not worth showing….I don’t want you to buy something like this.
The best this holster is ever going to look.
About two years ago, I bought a Sig SP2022, in 9mm and immediately went looking for an IWB holster. I checked some of the main players and found that this wasn’t the most popular pistol for IWB carry (although there are more options available now). It is considered by many to be a service pistol, suitable for OWB carry, only. That seemed odd, since it is one of the lightest Sigs out there. Sure the barrel is a bit long, but for me, that has never been the area of concern when carrying. I’m tall enough that it doesn’t really matter if the barrel is 4.5 or 6.5 inches. It’s more about the grip size and “height” dimension of the gun. Anyway, IWB was an option for me and I was coming up with few holster models to pick from. The ones I did find were between $60 and $120 and I THOUGHT I wanted to pay less. Years on, I realize that cost is the LAST thing you should consider. The gun is pretty useless if it isn’t with you and you won’t carry it if the holster doesn’t work….but I digress. I paid $28 for this holster, free shipping.
A fake holster deserves a fake gun!
At the time, I figured going on Ebay or Amazon was a good option. It is, provided you know what you are buying. But I went in looking for a cheap option…..and that is what I found. If you look at either Amazon or Ebay, you’ll find a lot of hobbyists that figure they can slap a piece of molten Kydex over a gun mold and then attach a piece of thin leather, to make a holster. The problem is, you are not carrying a plastic gun mold that weighs 15 oz or less, you are carrying 30-40 oz of lead and steel. More on that, in a bit.
Impressions:
A good name for this section, since the leather was so thin, the gun made an impression THROUGH the leather. It might be a little difficult to see this in the picture, but the leather backing actually formed around the gun features. I don’t mean this in a general sense, I mean, it literally formed around the decocker and slide release to the point that you could ID the gun through the leather. Although a leather/kydex hybrid holster is supposed to conform to your body to a degree, it’s not good when the features of the carry gun dig into your butt cheek.
Impressive…in that it shows a perfect impression of the gun.
The weight of the gun tended to twist this holster, when doing anything other than sitting down. As it twisted, the belt hooks tended to “walk” around. In other words, it changed position. Take a look at the leather used in this knock-off, vs the Old Faithful. The Ebay holster is about 1/3 the thickness.
Leather sourced from Hannibal Lecter.
Even worse, the quality of the belt hooks was lacking, in that they had some sharp edges. Unfortunately, I noticed all of this AFTER they wore into my Nylon belt and cut into my leather one. I have since knocked the rough edges off, but c’mon, should I really need to do that? Anyway, it’s something I would not have thought of. Something that companies like Old Faithful and Cross Breed, really get right. So, add in the cost of new hooks and belts. Penny-wise, Pound-foolish.
Thin is not what you want in a leather backing.
Adjustability:
None. Well ok, to be fair, there is a little. The belt clips can be moved around to adjust the cant and ride height….a little. You can see how close together the holes are. Really, what’s the point of so little adjustment. Unless it already rides at the perfect height for your gun and draw, these holes are not going to give you enough adjustment to make a difference. To illustrate the point, here is a comparison of the Ebay holster and the Old Faithful, we reviewed earlier. Notice the wide spacing on the Old Faithful? That’s what you want. Really, the real estate is there on El cheapo holster, so I can’t figure why they didn’t put some more holes. Or space them out.
Minimum adjustability in a full size package!
Retention:
A little. When new, or when carrying the airsoft, there is enough retention to keep the gun in place, as long as you stay mostly upright. I would not bet that this will be the case when jogging, or when you get knocked down. The combo of thin, flexible leather, and poorly formed Kydex, conspire to give you little retention. The twisting, mentioned above, does not help either. Plus, this style of holster does not include any retention adjustment, short of stuffing a Kleenex in there (humor, do not try this at home ;-). Again, compare and contrast with the Old Faithful, reviewed below (I really think they do a great job of EVERYTHING). The Old Faithful has adjustable tension!
The thin leather and poorly formed Kydex do little to provide retention.
Old Faithful has adjustable retention!
What We Liked:
Nothing. It comes up short everywhere. HOWEVER, not wanting to throw it away, I found a use. It turns out that there is an airsoft version of the SP2022. I bought it on Ebay for about $45 and it works GREAT for a training tool. Weighing less than half of the actual SP2022, the holster actually works for it. Plus, it’s less of a problem when your airsoft gun falls out during training, than when you get knocked down by someone about to put a knife in your back and drop your real gun.
What We Didn’t Like:
Everything. Ok, maybe the stainless screws were a nice touch. Also, we liked the chance to show everyone some factors that make for a poor (or good) IWB Hybrid Holster. Oh, and while poorly formed, the Kydex WAS thick enough for the purpose. Really, the Kydex was the only think holding the shape of the leather.
Conclusion:
For about the same money, I could have assembled my own Old Faithful! Notice the nicely formed Kydex.
Just buy quality the first time.
GunPorn:
Actually we would have to call this SoftGunPorn! Get it?! AirSoftGunPorn? (crickets)
A dead ringer for a real Sig SP2022! Perfect for training.
So this review will be different in that we are giving away an airsoft gun with the holster. This model is a dead-ringer for an SP2022, right down to the barrel at the ejector port, the controls and the markings. Other than being lighter, it feels EXACTLY like an SP2022. Actually, since a lot of Sigs have a similar feel (at least the DA/SA double stacks), I think it would be a good trainer for other guns as well. Note, this is not a toy. It uses CO2 cartridges (that YOU supply, hint, hint) to drive the pellets. The pellets will penetrate a thick carboard box at 21 feet, so you don’t want the kids to have access to this without supervision. But, under supervision, it would be an awesome way to teach them gun safety and muzzle awareness. Wear a good pair of jeans, some safety glasses, and as long as they don’t shoot you in the nuts, you should be good.
With removable Mag
Please note, if you live in MA or Chicago, or some other place you should be moving out of, we can’t ship to you. If you win this drawing and there are local prohibitions to us shipping the package to you, you will automatically win the next drawing and then we will give this to the next person whose name is drawn. Or, vote with your moving van and get the hell out of there!
Even has a hammer and textured grip.
Note: we run the words in this section together, so someone looking for adult entertainment does not accidentally have to see a gun. See how courteous we are to the feelings of others. If only those sites showed the same consideration. Got an eyeful the first time I searched “Love” and “Guns” in the same phrase……
Notes about our Reviews:
Please look at our “Categories” section and read the About info. There, you can see some photos of my “body type” (no, I’m not naked, nobody needs to see that shit). I’m a middle-aged guy with a little bit of flab. Not a whale, but the six-pack abs passed by about 300 cases ago. You need to have a look, because the comfort of any holster system is strongly dependent on body type and any review will be biased accordingly.
Next, the belt. Hold the “get a proper gun belt” comments. I’ve got one. But, it’s hard to see where the holster starts the belt stops, when I use a 1.5 inch black leather strap with no markings. So, I’m using a 5.11 Nylon belt, which provides a nicer background for the photos. For that reason, I don’t comment on belt sag, because, some of it is the dang belt!
Please comment and add your experiences with this or any other holster for this model of firearm
Thanks!
–Hank
by 
I’m the guy who won this holster, and I have to say, you called it. It’s a great example of why holster buyers need to be wary. There are undoubtedly lots of guys out there making crappy holsters like this, because the barrier to entry on the Kydex holster market is pretty low. It’s a shame, too, because no doubt there are small, one-man shop holster makers out there who are doing great work, but remain unknown. The guy who buys something like this flimsy junk is probably going to swear off buying from anyone but a known “big name” holster maker, which in the end just hurts the little guy who’s trying to make a quality product.
I have an Alien Gear holster, that cost me about 15 bucks more than Hank paid for this thing, and it’s a night and day difference in quality, as he shows in the comparison to the Old Faithful holster in the review.
The Airsoft SP2022 is a pretty nice
toytraining aid, though it would be better if it had some weights in it to get it a little closer to the actual weight of the SIG. I’ve never used a real SP2022, so I can’t compare the feel, but it certainly looks the part. Relatively accurate (over short distances) for a plastic BB gun, too. I have a couple cheap springer Airsoft guns, and this one definitely spits the BBs with more authority than those!