We’ve long been fans of Alien Gear Holsters.
We carry a Ruger LC9 and Springfield Armory XD40. Alien Gear was nice enough to send us a 3.0 holster for the Springfield and a shell for the LC9. The shell retails for $12.88 and the holster itself retails for $40 to $50.
The holster has a neoprene-like padding on the back of it and a molded plastic layer on the front of it. The stitching seems very sturdy here. The outside part that is in between the firearm and the holster is a molded plastic (actually thermoelastic polymer) shell that mounts to the bottom layer. The neoprene is very comfortable. Unlike a leather backing that takes a while to “break in,” the neoprene is comfortable right away.
What’s cool is that you an swap this shell out. The holster’s interchangeable design allows it to be swapped out with the different guns you carry. The holster is at a good price point, I think. Because of the affordability of it, you could own a couple to avoid having to switch them out if that seemed too inconvenient.
If the underpad wears out, which admittedly would take a lot of wearing, you can replace just that one componet. This saves the wearer money and is more economical and more environmentally friendly, which is not something that we get to say about gun holsters very often! With this feature there is no need to throw the whole thing away. It seems like a super high quality holster so it’s going to take a long while for anything on it to start wearing out. I also love that the holsters are made in the USA.
Compared with previous models, the new holsters seem like they have refined the manufacturing process. The hardware is nicely hidden, the stitching is firm and the material feels thick and substantial.
Now, the actual use. It’s easy to draw the firearm from the holster, and the firearm sits securely in the holster. My gun fit very firmly in place. I did not worry about it jostling. It doesn’t knock or slide or jostle around at all. In fact, it fits so firmly you could run with your gun in this holster and it’s not going to fall out.
Here’s the negative…I’m an average build man. 160 pounds,5 foot 10, with an athletic, slim body. The holster does not work for me. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad holster or that it won’t work for you.
The design is too wide for my body to fit around my hip. If I weighed 15 more pounds I believe this holster would fit very well. But it’s not the ideal holster for a slim build. For a bigger dude, one slightly bigger than myself, there is probably not a better holster on the market. But for a small or slim guy that is my size I recommend a smaller holster.
Because of the width of the holster–it has a wide profile–and the hard outer shell that is not flexible, it just doesn’t sit right on my hip. But overall, it is an excellent holster for the price. Take a look at Alien Gear’s other products and find out what their other models are and find out of one would work better for you. this is also an example of why gun gear and accessories are so difficult to buy online. We highly recommend that you actually try on a holster before purchasing it. Otherwise, we truly loved this holster and if only we were a tad bigger, it would be our best holster ever.
