Iwb Mag Pouch - First Attempt

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Here's my first attempt at an IWB mag carrier. This was stained red with the Tandy Professional Waterstain, then airbrushed with black accents with Fiebing's Pro Oil dye. I'm really liking the Tandy Pro Waterstain - it's super easy to apply and goes on very evenly (provided you liberally apply it to make sure you get complete coverage). The only downside for holsters is it seems to block water absorption a good bit, which can result in subtle splotches in the coloring when it dries. You can see it a bit on the back photo of the mag pouch - obviously on the back, and also just to the right of the double stitching on the back.

I need to tweak my stitch line under the dustcover. Would love to hear any positive or negative feedback. I'm still relatively new to the IWB scene and trying to iron out all the kinks.

[Matt Alsaker]

Eric....your stuff always looks great. The lines and edges are clean, the stitching looks great, and I really like the boning work on the firearm frame. Some of the guys that test new holster designs for me did not like the single belt loop in the back IWB stuff, neither on the holsters or the magazine pouches. They reported holster / mag pouch would twist when drawing causing binding. Now there is a good chance it was a design issue on my part, but if so I could not get it straightened out. I make most my IWB's just like what you have pictured with the front and back belt loops. On the really small stuff, I put the loops directly over top the firearm or magazine - like the IWB Model 1 pictures you have on your website. I you have good luck with the single belt loop at the back, you'll have to share your secret.

Also - I tried some Eco-Flo Leather Dye about a year ago. The dye ran all over the place when I wet the holster to mold it (I know that should have been obvious to me.). Are you doing something to protect the Tandy Pro Waterstain prior to wetting for molding or does that dye not have the bleeding issues??

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Thanks for the compliments Matt - and I agree about the single belt loop on mag pouches causing binding issues. I'll let you know how the customer does with it. My hope is once the mag breaks in the carrier, it "should" be fine since there is nothing to snag on, unlike a holster where there's all sorts of pressure points to increase the binding problem. Brigade makes one sorta like this, but their strap is much wider, which may be the solution - I didn't want to copy them directly, but hopefully I didn't shoot myself in the foot. I just put the finish on it last night, and boxed it up before I went to bed so I didn't get a chance to try it on myself.

http://brigadegunleather.com/m-20c.html

The Tandy Pro Waterstain doesn't seem to bleed at all when wet'd for molding. I get no rub-off at all. The only time I've gotten a little rub-off is when applying Fiebing's Leather Balm with Atom Wax to a journal cover I made a while back. But, that stuff seems to make everything bleed, so I don't really use it unless I can apply it before stitching the item (journal covers and such).

[Shooter McGavin]

Eric that looks awesome! Im a big fan of your tooling work.

[Tac]

It's a shame that that beautiful work is going to be covered up by the wearer's pants....

[SooperJake]

Eric, Are you still using / spraying the Eco Flo Pro waterstain?

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Yeah, but just for red. I apply it with a sponge. It's easy enough to apply, but it sorta makes the leather a bit water resistant so you have to soak it a tad longer prior to forming, and maybe sponge a little more water on the surface once you insert the gun and start stretching the leather out. I just formed a 4" 1911 IWB stained that same color pattern and was reminded how much more resistant to water the leather becomes when using the water stains...

[SooperJake]

Yeah, but just for red. I apply it with a sponge. It's easy enough to apply....

Have you ever tried spraying it?

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Have you ever tried spraying it?

Sorry, haven't tried spraying it.