Upon my first look at Sticky holsters I had my doubts, how can a holster with no clip, hook, Velcro or any other type of retention stay in place as advertised? Well, Sticky Holsters proved themselves to me pretty quickly.
First, let’s examine the environment in which this holster had to work. My EDC consists of a Springfield XDM 45, Kel-Tec P3AT, Kershaw Shallot, 2 full spare magazines of 45, 1 spare magazine of 380, Kel-Tec CL42 tactical light, cell phone, wallet and a wad of keys the size of your fist hanging on a Kershaw carabiner multi-tool. I need a belt to hold the 45 in place and the pants up, but I have a nickel allergy so I need to keep the pants a little loose. So I add suspenders to the mix which certainly helps to carry this much hardware. So now I have a Sticky Holster to test out with this set up. Believe it or not, the Sticky holster stays in place even though I don’t tighten down my belt.
The exterior of the holster is a rubberized porous material which creates such friction that it tends to hold its place anywhere that it makes contact on both sides. So this holster can be placed in whatever position you wish with your preferred cant and there it will stay. This means one holster can be your appendix, crossdraw, pocket, strong side, behind the hip, small of the back, or even off side holster. I even used this as a vehicle holster when I realized I could push it between the seat and console. I was able to put the gun in place and jump in place while wearing it. It did move slightly due to the loose fit of the pants I wear. In a regular situation it would hold firm. Even in my case I was never in danger of losing the weapon. I was able to use this holster for all day wear without question. The holster is very comfortable as it is soft and completely without any sort of edge.
The most impressive, portion of the testing for me came when I looked at the Ankle Biter rig. The Ankle Biter allows the user to turn any Sticky Holster into a comfortable and secure ankle holster. The Ankle Biter is covered inside and out with the sticky material and enough Velcro and elastic to ensure a perfect fit on almost anyone. The interior sticky material makes contact with your skin and holds the rig in place for a solid all day anchor point. The exterior has a large sticky pad area where you add the sticky holster of your choice and the final wrap of stick material holds it in place. Part of the genius of this design is the detached retention strap. The strap is ¾ Velcro with a 2 inch section of sticky material on one end. Simply sandwich the sticky material between the holster and the sticky pad on the Ankle Biter and use the Velcro to strap your gun in. Rest assured it is secure! Not only did I wear the Ankle Biter all day with multiple weapons but I also shook the heck out of it with no movement at all in the rig. Sticky Holsters got this one right!
Lastly, a quick comment about customer service; these holsters come with a lifetime warranty and the service to back that up. Every time I had a question Sticky Holsters was right there with an answer for me, no matter how strange. More impressively, this week Sticky Holsters is very busy with the PA Great American Outdoors Show and somehow still managed to get the holsters to our winners before I had time to post this review.