My First Wet Molding Holster (Xd)

[malabar]

First things first: I think you'll find that holster with that pistol will have a tendency to tilt away from the body. There's a lot of weight above the holster and the belt is essentially a fulcrum. You need a good inch or more below the bottom of the belt to prevent it from camming outward.

As far as reinforcing pieces go, you have to know your audience. Most pancake holsters do not have reinforcing pieces at the mouth. Some do.

I'm a firearms instructor and I build all of my holsters keeping in mind proper technique for presentation and reholstering. That's one reason why kydex is popular with the tacticool set -- proper reholstering is easy.

Most of my holsters have a mouth that is reinforced with a steel insert -- but they're not pancakes.

tk

[Kansan]

Good feedback, Malabar. I may make the next one lower, especially since it's for a larger gun.

I tried again with a clip on IWB and might have over-engineered it. I went with 8-9 oz leather, with 6-7oz mouth reinforcement piece. Also, lined it with ~2oz pigskin. It's certainly solid and the mouth stays open even IWB, making it easy to re holster.

It works great, with the only two downsides being that I couldn't mold it as deeply with such a thick piece, and it may be too thick for some body types or clothing styles.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Kansan