Hybrid Style Holster

[cjcinin317]

I saw a post recently where a new poster showed a kinda hybrid style holster. It made me want to make one since I always read on other forums how great they are.

I had some horsehide that was really thin and a section that was really thick but to small for anything so I used this for the holster.

The back is two pieces of the really thin section totaling only about 6oz combined. The front is about 7 oz thickness.

As you can see i really put no effort into the finishing prosess. Just cut, glued, stitched and put to use. No dye or finish. I finished the edges on the back piece but that was it.

Wish I had went the extra mile on the finish details because this is the most comfortable holster I have ever used.

Its as close to stuffing a gun into your waistband and going about your day as I have found. The thin back just forms to you and flexes as you move or sit. And the large size of the back spreads the weight of the gun over a large area. And the holster only adds about 1/4 inch to the thickness of the gun. It stays in place and the thickness of the front piece keeps it from collapsing when you draw the gun.

I can see why this type of holster is praised so much. Guess I was just being a leather snob thinkin a little leather with some kydek and rivots would never work. May have to give those sheets of kydek I got from Springfield a try on the next one.

Thanks for lookin.

CJ

I

Edited February 18, 2012 by cjcinin317

[particle]

That holster looks like it came out great! It's unfortunate you got the black smudge on it, but you could dye the front piece black if you wanted to "fix" it. Another thing you could do is damped the back, then hammer the stitches flat on the backside. Both of those suggestions, of course, are assuming you haven't already sealed the holster. Otherwise, it's a nice looking holster.

[Doc Savage]

That looks familiar

Glad you like it., I'm loving the one I did. Wore it quite a bit this last week, and comfort never was an issue. I'm glad I went with more leather on the backing for mine, the pistol is beginning to form into it some (hey I do carry a full sized 45). Love the design. Enjoyed the process enough that I made a quick belt slide holster for it, and working on a belt slide for the wife's 9mm (bit different molding it as she's a lefty). This can get addictive.

[NoName]

Couple suggestions:

1. Cut away a little more leather where your fingers go around the grip of the gun. You want plenty of clearance there so that you can get a good initial grip of the gun.

2. Sandwich your T-nuts between the two layers of leather.

These type of holsters are not traditional or pretty, but they are comfortable and they work. When forming Kydex, you may have to tape something to the top of the slide behind the front sight so that the Kydex will form with a sight channel.

Edited February 20, 2012 by NoName

[cjcinin317]

That holster looks like it came out great! It's unfortunate you got the black smudge on it, but you could dye the front piece black if you wanted to "fix" it. Another thing you could do is damped the back, then hammer the stitches flat on the backside. Both of those suggestions, of course, are assuming you haven't already sealed the holster. Otherwise, it's a nice looking holster.

Thanks. I think I'll just leave it as is. It was just an experiment anyway. I've got one started for my lc9 that I'll put the effort into the finishing process on that one. Just wanted to say how comfortable but not so pretty a style of holster it is

Thanks.

CJ

That looks familiar

Glad you like it., I'm loving the one I did. Wore it quite a bit this last week, and comfort never was an issue. I'm glad I went with more leather on the backing for mine, the pistol is beginning to form into it some (hey I do carry a full sized 45). Love the design. Enjoyed the process enough that I made a quick belt slide holster for it, and working on a belt slide for the wife's 9mm (bit different molding it as she's a lefty). This can get addictive.

Thanks for posting yours. And yes it's very addictive. Good luck with the lefty holster have yet to do one.

Thanks

CJ

[cjcinin317]

Couple suggestions:

1. Cut away a little more leather where your fingers go around the grip of the gun. You want plenty of clearance there so that you can get a good initial grip of the gun.

2. Sandwich your T-nuts between the two layers of leather.

These type of holsters are not traditional or pretty, but they are comfortable and they work. When forming Kydex, you may have to tape something to the top of the slide behind the front sight so that the Kydex will form with a sight channel.

You can't tell from the photos but with the full thickness of the gun sticking out from the back there actually is room for a full grip. A side photo would show this.

I normally sandwich my t nuts but the back pieces where so thin I couldn't with the t nuts I had on hand. Thanks for commenting and this style aint pretty but super comfortable

Thanks

CJ