Purchasing something using one of the links on this page could get me a commission. Won’t cost you a thing.
Update, 8/31/2022. I received an email from AlienGear yesterday. From the email: “The Warcat AIWB and OWB holsters are now a part of the Alien Gear Holsters family. In the transition, the name has changed to the Roswell IWB and OWB holster.”
I’m updating this post to reflect the changes.
There are a number of double-digit, sub-compact 9mm handguns available right now. I wanted to try one so I purchased a Sig Sauer P365. You can read my review of the gun. Or someone else’s. It’s a great gun.
Since the point of such a gun is to carry it, let’s start with this holster: Roswell from AlienGear (formerly Warcat tactical.) There are actually two holsters in this review. They make an Inside Waist Band and an Outside Waist Band.
Let’s start with the answer to the question, do the holsters work well? Yes. Yes, they do. And the IWB comes, standard, with several options that normally cost extra. So they’re an excellent value for the money.
Table of Contents
The basics.
The basics are pretty basic. They’re polymer shells formed for the individual gun. As you can see from the screenshot below they currently have a limited selection of some of the more popular carry guns.
The shells are almost identical, of course, since I bought them for the same gun. The only real difference is what side the holes are drilled in.
The weight of each holster is negligible: 2.5 oz for the IWB and 3.25 for the OWB.
The IWB has a polymer clip. The OWB is a paddle type that is surprisingly free of flop.
The extras.
Every IWB holster comes with a claw designed to pull the heel of the gun’s grip in closer to your body to reduce printing. It’s a polymer bar with some serrations on the part that will go against your belt.
It also comes with a pad, or wedge, that can be attached to the bottom of the holster to pull the top of the gun in, also to reduce printing. That is a soft sloth rectangle filled with something or another. I’ve no idea what and I don’t intend to cut it open to find out.
Both of them work well. The claw doesn’t come attached so you have to put it on yourself but it’s pretty simple, using the Allen wrench that comes included with both holsters and the longer screw.
They also have a no-cost option for a hood to cover your Micro Red Dot Sight. Since my P365 doesn’t have an MRDS option I can’t really speak to this option except to say that I expect the quality to be the same as all the rest of the holster and it appears to be formed as part of the shell instead of being bolted on.
Adjustments
Both holsters are adjustable for ride height, cant, and retention. Depending on what you do with the wedge I guess you could say that is adjustable, too.
It’s a pretty simple set of adjustments. Move the screws to the position that gives you the desired position of the holster.
I ended up setting the OWB as high as I could get it. Any lower and the frame of the paddle got in the way of my thumb when grasping the gun.
Retention is just a screw adjustment on each of the holsters. It’s a set it and forget it. I haven’t had to re-adjust either of them.
The wedge.
As you can see, there is a 1.5″ dot that you stick to the inside part of the IWB holster. I’m not sure how to describe the material. It’s kind of like the hook part of Velcro and the wedge itself is kind of like the loop part of Velcro. But they’re not really.
They’re kind of Velcro-lite, I guess. They work well, though. The main function is to prevent sliding movement and it does the job.
It’s also infinitely adjustable since you’re just removing a pad and sticking it back on.
It’s comfortable against the skin and helps solve one of my main complaints about pure Kydex holsters: the bottom of them tends to dig into me.
Anything to watch out for?
Yes. It’s minor, but if you look at the screws you use to adjust the cant and ride height you’ll see they’re kind of beat up. That’s because they’re so tight the Allen wrench that comes with them is wholly inadequate. It slipped a lot.
I ended up using a socket wrench for it and they came right out. Cordless drill or screw gun would also do it.
Obviously, this is a one-time thing because when you put the screws back in you’ll not over-tighten them like the sadist who set up the machine at the factory.
I’m still not a big fan of bare Kydex against my skin but the wedge solves some of that. T-shirts can do the rest.
Concealment
The IWB is excellent. It’s low bulk and the claw and wedge work well to keep the butt of the gun from printing.
The OWB isn’t too bad, either. Also low bulk, and the paddle system works better than other paddle holsters I’ve tried. Although I will say those other holsters were for larger guns: think Springfield XDS or 1911.
It’s been cool in Tucson lately so I’ve been wearing a light jacket more than normal. The OWB has worked flawlessly there.
They’ll both work fine if you dress for them; the IWB obviously requires less dressing around than the OWB. My un-tucked shirt works just for the IWB.
Conclusion
As I said at the top, I like both of these a lot. And they’re pretty inexpensive.
You can get the IWB here.
The OWB is here.
Wherever you get one you’ll be getting a good holster.
