Craft Holsters Review

 I like to follow the rule "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all." I'm going to break that rule this evening. 

I was contacted a few months back (pre-Covid) by Al at Craft Holsters about doing a review for one of their holsters. I hesitated, because honestly I've not heard anything positive about these holsters from anyone I trust. But it's content, right? So I said the short version of the Serenity Prayer and agreed. 

I asked for an IWB holster for a Glock 17. I was sent the Open Top IWB-Lynx. It even had my initials on it. 

 My first impression is that it's pretty. The leather looks nice and the stitching is nice (just my opinion). 

However. 

However. It's just not a very good holster. It'll hold a Glock 17, but the gun will fall out if you turn it upside down. It also collapses very easily, making it impossible to return the gun to the holster safely after a draw while wearing it IWB. 

I communicated these concerns to Al and his response was basically he'll communicate that to the design team. He also offered to send me a different model. Unfortunately, I know for a fact this isn't the first time this information has been communicated to Craft Holsters. 

In a nutshell, this holster is unsafe, and I can't and won't recommend anyone purchase it. I also would advise anyone who is given one to not use it. 

I would have preferred not to write a review at all, but Al insisted. He has for months. I finally became annoyed enough to actually write something in the last week. You're welcome, Al. 

Now, I'm not one of those people who has abandoned leather to the dustbin of history when it comes to holsters. I quite like and prefer leather. But I demand quality. For instance, here is a comparison photo of the Craft Holsters IWB and my 5 or 6 year old Galco Royal Guard that I recently retired (Galco on top). I think the difference is pretty obvious, and the Galco is at least five years old with most of that time spent in my pants during five years of steamy Alabama summers. 

So there it is. A review. The holster from Craft Holsters was provided to me free of charge for review purposes. I have now reviewed it. I don't feel that I got the better end of the deal, and I hope no one actually pays for one of these.