TST

About a month ago, I went on a kydex binge.  Man, it was bad–I just couldn’t get enough of the stuff.  Click. Pay. Wait.  I think I was even getting jittery.  In my revelry, I purchased a Micro Carry holster from Rounds Down Range (RDR) Custom Kydex, out of south Florida.  I’m late to the appendix-carry craze–at least with a holster.  I might have “Mexican carried” a time or two in the front of my waistband, but I’ll never admit to it.  But I thought I’d give appendix carry a go with my S&W 637, a 2-inch .38 that I carry on and off duty as my backup.

The Micro is a minimalist design similar in many ways to the other appendix-oriented rigs other holster makers are pumping out.  The kydex is folded taco-style, with just enough material to cover the trigger guard and the midsection of the revolver, leaving the muzzle exposed.  A tuckable-strut is attached to the holster body under the trigger guard, with a snap loop that is adjustable for belt width (as of 11/01, RDR will replace the soft loop with a kydex clip, which i’m anxious to try.  I like loops, but they flex too much for me and sometimes print under shirts).  The kydex is thin but strong, and the overall size of the holster–and the pistol it was designed for–gives the rig a very small footprint on the belt.

I’m one of those weird ambidextrous people you hear about.  I write left-handed, but I carry and shoot my primary weapons right-handed.  (And, yes, I think anyone who carries a gun for defense should be able to shoot with either hand.)  I prefer to carry my backup gun in a left-handed position, so that my support hand can draw and fire if my primary hand is busy defending my Glock.  I often carry the J-frame in a pocket holster or an ankle holster on my left ankle.  Drawing from either can be slow, and I hoped the Micro would be a way to carry my BUG and draw it quickly when needed.  When the holster arrived last week–barely three weeks after my order was placed–it was set up for right-handed carry.  However, the strut and loop are reversible, so a few turns of the screws was all that was needed to remedy the problem.  Or so I thought.  My only complaint of the holster is that it utilizes hex-head screws.  When I went to switch the strut, wouldn’t you know the only drivers and bits I could find were flat and phillips?  Hex-head screws are sometimes the bane of my existence.  I always have flat or phillips drivers, but my hex driver bits always seem to disappear.

In any case, I found my bits, and I switched the strut very quickly.  I’d recommend hitting the screws with blue Loctite, just to keep ’em where you want ’em.  Then, I loosened my belt, put the holster on, and holstered Victoria, my 637.  Retention on the holster is very good.  With Victoria holstered, she stays put during my inverted-shake test, but I don’t have to fight the holster to draw.  Several practice draws into my session, I noticed that if I got sloppy, trying to draw the holster up and slightly toward my midline, the gun would snag on the ejector shroud.  However, if I drew up or up and slightly to the rear, Victoria came out quickly and easily.  Modifying my training, I managed to crank out a few hundred practice draws with no further issues.

Concealability of this holster is simply ridiculous.  Any shirt makes the revolver disappear, but drawing from concealment is much quicker than my pocket or ankle holsters.  Lift the shirt, gun is out.  I can even present Victoria one-handed.  So, while appendix carry–or opposite appendix carry–proves effective for my little J-frame, I’ll talk more about my attempt at appendix carrying my G17 in another review.

As you probably know, after retention and concealability, comfort is a very important aspect for me when using a CCW holster.  If it’s not marginally comfortable, I won’t wear it.  I find the Micro to be very comfortable, although it took a few days to get used to the revolver in the front of my waistband.  I’ve never really carried IWB, so that was a new feeling.  However, the rig and gun created no pressure points or hotspots for me or my waist.  I could sit comfortably and generally go about my day as if nothing were different about my EDC.  I’m sure the size of the 637 helped the comfort factor, but the holster didn’t get in the way, either.

The price of the holster is probably my favorite part.  I am a thrifty bastard, after all.  As of this writing, the Micro is selling for $34.95 plus shipping.  And RDR seems to run specials fairly often, so if you keep your eye out, you might save 10-15%.  After shipping, I paid about $42 for a custom rig that got to me within three weeks.  The thrifty kydex junkie in me finally got a fix.  I’m just not sure how long it will last . . .