Kydex holster Qs

[Marty916]

Kydex is very forgiving material and easy to work with. If you have excessive retention force you can use a hair dryer to heat it up and adjust the amount of force.

[99HMC4]

Got a peters customs kydex holster for my p30 and had a few questions. This is my first kydex and the retention seems really high. Is this normal? It fits the weapon very well but it takes a lot of upwards force to pull it free. Almost to the point I would need to use my left hand to hold down my belt in front of the holster as I'm pulling the weapon out. Not that I mind doing this but would this be a proper technique to practice?

[Alpha Sierra]

I have a Peters IWB and it does not hold the pistol anywhere near that much.

[nobody knows]

This was the case with my first kydex holster as well. after a few hundred draw strokes it broke in very well. But I have also herd of other members here having to send holster's back because it would not brake in. So only time will tell, but peters custome's should be able to replace it with no problems if it doesn't end up working out. Good luck

[99HMC4]

I figured it would break in a bit, just drawing a few times I could see wear marks inside. I did use a heat gun round off the sides a bit and I thought about doing the main area and letting the kydex relax a bit. I may still but I don't want to go to loose either...

[RagweedZulu]

Don't train to draw using your off hand to hold the holster down. Bad Juju. You might need thaw paw to hold back good guys or bad guys etc. If it won't draw with strong hand only, work it over or send it back.

[99HMC4]

That's what I figured. I'll try to break it in a bit...

[SCBradley]

Look inside the holster and find the spots where kydex is being shaved by the gun. You can use a hairdryer to ease retention at these points. Go slowly, 10 or 15 seconds, and insert and remove the weapon a few times. Repeat as necessary.

If it makes you nervous to do this yourself, contact the maker.

[MSteele]

I figured it would break in a bit, just drawing a few times I could see wear marks inside. I did use a heat gun round off the sides a bit and I thought about doing the main area and letting the kydex relax a bit. I may still but I don't want to go to loose either...

I had the same problem, it took both hands to rip it out of the holster. I used a heat gun on low at about 12" away from the kydex and slowly heated it up. I used an old sock and placed it over the entire gun starting from the barrel. I then placed it in the holster, after a few times of inserting the gun it now fits perfectly with the correct amount of retention.

[Trajan]

I too had the same problem with two Spadas. I am still awaiting the third replacement.

[Alpha Sierra]

Look inside the holster and find the spots where kydex is being shaved by the gun. You can use a hairdryer to ease retention at these points. Go slowly, 10 or 15 seconds, and insert and remove the weapon a few times. Repeat as necessary.

If it makes you nervous to do this yourself, contact the maker.

Best advice in the whole tread.

[orionz06]

To those having issues, how tight is your belt? Is it at a location on your body where perhaps the belt tension is bending the holster to make it tighter?

[Steve S.]

To those having issues, how tight is your belt? Is it at a location on your body where perhaps the belt tension is bending the holster to make it tighter?

+1.

A lot of times a holster can feel fine to the maker, but once it cools or is threaded tightly on a belt - it stiffens up.

There's a few tricks I picked up along the way to help this. "Repetition is the father of learning". I'm into the thousands of holsters shipped, and I still learn little things all the time.

I agree with the suggestions above. Just contact the maker. A lot can go wrong trying to loosen it yourself. If you do give it a shot - it's going to take a hell of a lot longer then 15-20 seconds to get the material warmed with a hair dryer. You are looking at at least 30-60 seconds on each side to loosen the material with a hairdryer. 15-20 seconds may work with a heatgun - but it's easy to really mess things up with a heatgun. Especially if it's a light carrier. Theres a very fine line between too much retention and too little retention on a light carrier. I'd hate to see you stuck with a holster that is too loose and the maker won't replace it (NOT saying this particular maker would do that - I'd just let him fine tune it).

Also Kydex shavings don't necessarily mean too much retention. A lot of times it's just sights or other areas on the gun breaking in to the mold. Weapon lights are notorious for having some variations in specs.

Hope this helps. Stay safe.