Comp-Tac Infidel Holster Review (XD-9 4")

[Subverto]

I ordered the Comp-Tac Infidel from Comp-Tac on 4/27/10. At the time the current production time was 8 days. On 5/10/10 I got an email telling my my holster was complete and would be shipping, and I received the holster yesterday (5/13/10).





I have to say, the construction of the holster itself is rock solid. It fits my XD9 like a glove, and upon sliding the pistol completely in there is a very solid and loud "CLICK". Once you hear the click you know your gun isn't going anywhere. The holster can even be turned upside down and shaken and the gun doesn't move a bit. The retention on the holster is easily overcome by the force of drawing however. When force is applied on the draw my XD slides quickly and smoothly out of the holster.

The cool thing about the Infidel holster is that you get one holster, and then you can choose from a variety of attachment options. I ordered the Infidel 1 1/2" belt clip with my holster. Unfortunately, belt clip is not nearly the same quality as the holster itself. The clip is said to be made of kydex, but it feels more like cheap plastic. Definitely not the same quality of material as the holster. Furthermore, it doesn't secure the holster to belts very well. I tried attaching this holster with 3 different belts, 2 of which were very thick, and on all 3 of them the holster failed to sit securely. This is attributed to what I consider a design flaw.





In the above pictures you can see that the clip actually consists of two separate clips. Though these clips are aligned with each other, they don't conform properly to the holster. The clip nearest the trigger sits flush with the holster, which works fine, but the clip nearest the sights has about a 1/4" gap between it and the holster. The problem here is that when wearing a belt, the belt wants to conform to the holster, and it wraps around it tightly. When this happens the clip nearest the sights doesn't hold on to the belt well and after some movement always seems to slip off. The clips have little ledges on the bottom for the belt to hold on to, but they aren't nearly long enough for the clip nearest the sights to stay attached.

Unfortunately these clips are designed to evenly balance the load of carrying and the force of the draw. When the clip nearest the sights comes unattached from the belt (as it always does) the holster is only held on by one clip on one side of the holster. This makes the holster twist when drawing, sometimes causes the clip that is attached to come off as well. When this happens the holster is pulled out of the pants when drawing. Since the holster has a full trigger cover, pulling your gun, with holster, out of your pants during a life or death situation is going to get you killed.

Because of the clips, I cannot comment on the comfort of wearing this holster all day, because I refuse to bet my life on a holster that can pull out of my pants with the gun leaving me defenseless.




However, I like the quality of the holster enough to try out a different attachment. I will be returning the Infidel 1 1/2" belt clip in exchange for the Infidel 1 1/2" belt loops. I will update this review once I receive the belt loops, to let you know if they are a better attachment option, and hopefully be able to comment on this holsters comfort after a day of wear.

***** UPDATED *****





I got my Infidel 1.5" Belt Loops delivered on Monday (5/24/10). Attaching them was extremely easy. I just unscrewed the belt clip with the hex key Comp-Tac provides you with. Then I screwed the two belt loops in with a philips screw driver. I have worn the holster with the belt loops pretty much all day for the past two days, and I have to say I am very impressed.





Since the kydex wraps around the shape of the gun, there isn't much excess material sticking out. When carrying in this holster it feels very similar to if you were to just tuck your gun inside your belt without a holster (there is a lot more support though). There's really no bulk to it though. I like that a lot. With the belt loop attachments I also feel very confident that the holster isn't going anywhere. It stays firmly attached to the belt.





Throughout my two full days of wear the holster never really felt uncomfortable, but I knew I was wearing it. This can probably be attributed to the fact that I am CCing a full sized gun with it, so the weight is a factor. The only time that I was a little annoyed with the holster was when getting into my car. The sweat shield that extends up the back of the slide would jab into my side every time I sat down in the car. This doesn't happen when sitting in a regular chair however, only in the car. This problem is easily remedied once I am seated, because I can shift the angle of the holster and make it more comfortable. But I always get jabbed when sitting down. Other than that the holster is pretty darn comfortable.

As far as concealment goes, the holster does a great job of hiding my XD. I am 6'7" 220lbs and typically just wear shorts and a form fitting t-shirt (not skin tight, but also not very loose). I wear the holster at 3:30-4:00 and the cant angle does a great job of angling the grip of my gun up my side and not out away from my back. This keeps printing to a minimum. The only time I noticed any printing was when I bent completely over and touched my toes. Even then it wasn't a "I have a gun!" type of printing, it just looked like a little bulge of some sort.



The one drawback I noticed with the belt loops was that since they have some extra material sticking up past the snaps, they like to grab onto your shirt and hold it up. For instance, when I am in the car my shirt might ride up over the top of the loops. When I get out of the car my shirt stays caught on the top of the loops until I actually lift the shirt up and pull it back down. I didn't have that problem with the belt clip. I am considering just using some scissors to cut off the excess material as I suspect it's only there to accommodate a 1.75" belt. Other than that I am yet to really see any disadvantages to the belt loops.

I would recommend this holster to anyone looking for a slim IWB holster that is easily removable and relatively comfortable.

[falcn]

I have this for my CW9 and like it. I have the tuckable strut in 1 1/2 belt width and 1 1/4 belt width. It holds very well to the belt.

[Curmudgeon]

I am not in the market for something like this, but this is an excellent report!

+rep sent!

[Subverto]

Bump for update!

[kevindsingleton]

Great, and apparently very honest, review of the holster.

Sorry to hear about your "little bulge", though!