Old Faithful holsters a was founded in 2010 by Thomas Tedder who stand behind his product with images of himself all over his emails and website. Tomas goes out of his way to make sure that this is a company with a face. Tomas goes on to explain that as a 2nd amendment supporter and person who carries everyday he was disappointed in the Kydex holsters on the market.
Thomas at Old Faithful Holsters boasts that his holster differs from the other “Big Names” in the following ways:
- Thicker leather
- Different type of leather with more sealers and protection
- Leather cut to allow better grip on draw
- Leather cut with extra wide tabs spread pressure
- Adjustable tension screws
- 50% thicker Kydex
- Affordable Price point
- 30 day challenge guarantee
Old Faithful Holsters offers 2 flagship holster products that come in 3 price points.
- U-Mold-It
- Quick Assemble
- Fully Assembled
U-Mold-IT is a unique cost savings kit for the do it yourselfer who has no issue with tools, ovens, presses and making a holster from almost scratch. Prices on the IWB version rage from $27.97 – $36.97 depending on options such as leather type and Kydex paterns. This option is also for people that have a very rare gun or gun with a specific laser or light on it that may not be offered by the standard pressed Kydex options.
Quick Assemble is all the parts pre-pressed and ready for assembly. By putting this together yourself you can still save lots of money as this retails for $39.97 – $48.97. This comes with a huge selection of available pistol types including variants for crimson lasers and factory based lasers and lights.
Fully assembled is how you would typically buy a holster from most manufacturers. It comes wrapped up and ready to go. Take it out put it on and your good to go. These cost signifcantly more then the other 2 options but are still far lest then most of the competition for a holster of this caliber. There is no variation in price all options come to total of $75
We purchased the Quick-Assemble Inside the Waistband Hip Gun Holster Kit for my Glock 19. Though it was bough for the G19 it worked just fine on the smaller G27 as well. We picked the standard leather and black Kydex like in the first image of this blog. I am not a huge do it yourslefer and had no desire to mess around with the U-Mold-It kit. My personal opinion is if you are ready to do that then you are probably making your own holsters already. No doubt Tomas sells these but the fact is I am not sure who the market would be for the U-Mol-It kit. Even with my limited skill the Quick-Assemble kit was easy to put together. the process took about 30 minutes and required a hammer and allen wrench.
During the assembly period or after if you so choose you are faced with some options. there is 3 holes on either side of the holster. The belt loops attach to these so the height of the holster and cant of the pistol can be adjusted further by moving the clips up or down. The initial cant of the gun was sufficient for me and I like to have a bit more pistol above my waistband. I found the middle hole to be the position that worked best for me.
Unlike many Kydex holsters the Kydex does not attach directly to the leather. Between the Kydex and leather is a rubber tubing like a thick airline hose for a fish tank or rubber lie for a motorcycle carburetor. This buffer allows you to tighten the holster over time as the leather breaks in. Though it looks a bit cheesy and seams trivial this is actually a huge advantage for maintain proper retention as the holster gets used over long periods of time. When the Kydex is fastened straight to the leather you have almost no ability to tighten up the retention as the leather will stretch and loosen through daily use. With all 4 screws having this tubing it allows you to get a truly custom retention on multiple points of the gun based on your draw style and needs.
The leather itself is very high quality and has stood up to my sweat and daily use remarkably well. The edges of the leather were a bit rough when I got the holster but a simple bit of very fine grit sand paper around the edges smoothed that out fast.
One issue I did have with the gun is the fasteners used in the back of the leather. As you can see in the above image the bolt that fastens the screw to the leather is the type with 3 spikes that dig into the leather. Unfortunately this leaves a slightly sharp edge on the back of the holster that when combined with tighter fitting pants will dig into your hip. When I spoke to customer service they told me I needed to make sure I really hammered those nuts into the leather. No matter how much hammering I did I could not get them flush enough to the leather. In defense of Old Faithful Holsters they did offer for me to return the product for a free installation even after the 30 day guarantee. That is some excellent customer service.
As advertised the Kydex is some of the thickest I have seen on any holster including my Supertuck. It is solid well molded and exactly what I would have hoped for but not expected at this price. However based on the thicker leather, thicker Kydex and the issue with the nuts mentioned above it becomes very important to pick the right size pants. You will need to go one size larger then usual without a doubt there is no room for wedging it a bit like you might with a thinner holster.
The belt loops or hooks are fantastic. They are very string and grip to the pants very nicely. The bend at the end is perfect for fitting under the lip of the belt and adding additional retention. Since they are simple and black they disappear nicely when worn with a black belt. They also allow for you to wear this with a tucked in shirt.
After wearing this holster everyday here is the lowdown
- The nuts on the back of the leather bit into my skin. I fixed this by attaching a bit of moleskin to the back of the holster.
- The belt loops bit into my skin a bit when worn without an undershirt or tucked in shirt. Most people will not notice this and it was resolved also with moleskin
- The leather has held up very well.
- The Kydex is solid and strong. No issues with any wear even after more then 2 months of use.
What got me interested in trying this holster are the last 2 points of the Old Faithful Holsters selling proposition. The price point on this is well below that of the competition. For this price I would never expect to get a holster as well made as this is. Granted part of this is because I put it together myself, at the a$75 price point you may not feel the same way. Another factor was the shipping time on the product. Unlike many holster makers they shipped my holster during the Christmas rush within 2 weeks. I ordered another holster from a competitor that has taken over 3 months so far and has not shipped.
Most importantly is the Guarantee. Old Faithful Holsters claims that if your not satisfied in 30 days they will refund the money. Sounds great right and longer then most. Here is the real kicker, they tell you to keep the holster! I like my holster enough that I have not tested this but when I did contact them over 90 days after buying it about the issue I had with the nuts biting my skin they offered to do a full assembly for me free of charge. All this before they knew I was writing an article or who I was.
In summary Old Faithful offers a very cost effective holster that gets the job done and if you don’t like they stand behind the product. Shipping is fast the website is easy to use and they have stellar customer service. Assembly is very easy and they even have videos you can watch to follow along with. Though I do find it a bit uncomfortable as shipped with a bit of sandpaper and moleskin you can make it a very comfortable rig. If comfort is your main concern then I would suggest you spend a bit more on a different rig. If however you want a holster for a gun you do not wear all the time and do not want to spend $200 on a more expensive rig then this is an excellent choice. Further if you are more budget minded you will not find a better rig in this price point that I know of. Most importantly they stand behind the product so I recommend you try it for yourself and see if it will work for you.
What do you think? If you have an Old Faithful Holster please leave your comments below.
