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Product: DeSantis Sof-Tuck

Specifications: size depends on specific model; it’s not a one size fits all but a one size fits many.

Weight: 2.27 oz for this one.

You can get them at Amazon.

What kind of holster is this?

The Sof-Tuck is a leather, tuckable, IWB holster. It’s inexpensive, which is not the same as cheap. It’s a quality holster that I’ve owned for over ten years and still use for my M&P Shield (original model.)

Advantages:

• The holster small and light so adds little mass to your belt and reduces printing.
• The little strip of leather at the top is surprisingly effective at holding the holster open for re-holstering.
• Easy on and off.
• Can be used on multiple guns as long as they’re similarly sized.
• Adjustable cant and ride height.
• Performs the basic function of keeping stray objects out of the trigger guard to prevent accidental discharges.

Disadvantages:

• Its lack of bulk means it’s not the most secure holster on the market.
• It’s not molded to any particular gun but purchased by size.
• It tends to adjust itself to your body so where it started may not be exactly where it ends up.

Aren’t some of those the same?

Yes. Some of those advantages and disadvantages are two sides of the same coin. If you’re new to this, concealed carry is generally an exercise in trade-offs.

Size.

It’s small. Obviously the version for the Beretta M9 is larger than the version I use for my Shield. And there’s a version for a Ruger LCP sized gun that’s even smaller. The point is that it adds very little bulk to the gun itself. That is both good and bad.

It doesn’t provide the retention that a molded holster does, whether Kydex or leather. It also has no internal retention method like the LockLeather system that Urban Carry has recently come out with.

There is a single mount point on your belt and it’s designed for low bulk, not max security. Depending on how you look at it, low bulk can be security. It prints less and people don’t try to take what they don’t know is there. As mentioned above, it does tend to move around a bit, at least for me. I don’t mean it does this throughout the day; I mean that it will find a place it rides well and that’s where it will go. My solution to that is just to remember where it ends up and make sure I start from approximately there.

Not for a specific firearm.

As I said, I use this with my M&P Shield. If I also happened to have a Springfield XDS it would work just as well. I could switch out as I wished and use one holster for multiple guns. That’s cost-effectiveness and is one of the primary advantages of non-specific holsters.

Does it carry well?

For the most part, yes. As mentioned before, it will tend to “adjust” itself to find a good place against your body. That sounds bad but it isn’t, really. It’s not like it moves halfway around your waist; it just shifts a little to avoid the larger parts of you.

The gun sticks out the top of the holster so in hot weather you will have some metal and polymer against your skin. Or you can learn to love t-shirts. On the other hand, that means there’s nothing in the way of you getting to the grip should you need the gun.

It’s user adjustable. Ride height can be adjusted by removing a screw and changing the hold in the clip that you use. Cant can be changed by loosening that screw and then adjusting as needed.

Then there’s the clip.

As you can see, it uses a plastic j-clip to fix itself to your belt. That is a mixed bag. It’s very good for concealment if you tuck your shirt in. Dark pants and a black belt and the small part of the clip that’s over the belt just disappears. It’s also very durable. As I said, I’ve had this holster for years and it’s still on the original clip. The holster not as stable as one of the over-the-belt clips, though. J-clips only provide good resistance to the drawing force, not the reholstering force.

The only real issue I’ve ever had with the clip is that I have one belt that’s very thick. The j-hook doesn’t fit around it. I don’t wear that combination.

As you can see in the pictures below, the part of the clip that goes against the holster has little ridges. This keeps the cant set once you tighten the screw. Which uses a star tool, by the way.

Speaking of reholstering.

As I’ve mentioned before, the idea of speed reholstering is silly. Still, there’s no need to make it more difficult than necessary. Note the leather strap around the front of the holster on the outside. That does a surprisingly good job of holding the throat open for one handed holstering. Is it as good as Kydex? No. It’s not.

This is the one part that I’ve noticed doesn’t work quite as well as it used to. When I first got the holster It held it wide open. Now, as you can see, not so much. I can still do one handed holstering, though, so it’s good enough. And as I said before, the holster is at least ten years old.

Taking the holster on and off.

Boy, is that easy. Pull the belt over the lip of the j-clip and just lift it off. Same with putting it back on. Hold the belt out and slide the clip over the top of your pants then make sure the clip is in the right place around the bottom of your belt.

Conclusion.

This was really my first daily carry holster. At that time I basically carried to work but couldn’t take the gun inside so I had to secure it in the car. Then I’d put it on while going home. Most of my errands were run while headed home after work so I was wearing it then. I’d wear it any time I left the house on weekends.

It worked for that. Now I don’t normally have the restrictions I did then. I wear a gun all day every day and I find the Sof-Tuck a little wanting in that environment. I also find the Shield a little wanting so that factors in. As I said at the beginning I do still use it. It’s more occasional use now. If I need to run an errand that won’t take long, especially if I’m just wearing shorts and a t-shirt, I may just put this on while I do my task. It’s fine for a quick trip to the store or whatever. The “all day every day” holsters tend to be a bit more of a chore to put on and off. As do the larger guns that they carry.

This quality holster still has a place in my rotation and probably always will. If it fits one of your needs head on over to Amazon and pick one up.