Why Kydex is Currently the King of Holster Sales
I remember buying my first concealed carry holster more than ten years ago. I was coming off the high of passing my concealed carry class and decided it would be a good time to go shop for holsters. I went to a big-box store, and they had a pretty terrible selection by modern standards. The shelves at that time were lined with mass-produced leather and nylon universal holsters.
In that day and age, Kydex was available but often a quality leather holster was the go-to. Leather craftsmen could mold a piece of leather to fit each pistol individually leading to good retention for the period. Kydex was often seen as controversial at the time. The veteran marksman and concealed carrier knew to stay away from the one-size-fits-all nylon holsters and opt for the more expensive custom-tailored offerings. Still, new shooters often bought what was on the shelves at the big box store.
Although you can still buy the same nylon and leather holsters that were available in 2014, today there is a new option that is taking up more and more shelf space: Kydex.
I’m not claiming that Kydex is better than leather or Nylon for every situation. I’m not saying that every individual who carries a firearm prefers Kydex over the competition. I am saying that I believe Kydex holster sales have surpassed leather holster sales in the past 10 years by a significant margin.
Comparing Kydex to leather bears many of the same similarities as polymer pistols do to steel or aluminum pistols. In both cases, the newer and more manufacturer-friendly material has found a better price point. Let’s explore why this might be the case with Kydex.
Ease of Manufacturing:
- A single sheet of Kydex can be formed to fit a specific pistol in a matter of minutes. Essentially, a sheet of Kydex is heated, placed on top of a mold, and vacuumed-sealed to the mold using a vacuum pump. The excess is then trimmed with a router, and buffed. The end product is referred to as a “holster shell.” The holster shell is then heated at the center, bent in half like a taco, drilled for retention and belt fasteners, and assembled.
- I have personally built 4 or 5 Kydex holsters by buying holster shells directly from manufacturers, and finishing the holsters with nothing more than a hair curler, Dremel and Phillips head screwdriver. One of the home-made holsters even survived a Thunder Ranch class. As long as the holster shells are good quality, the end product will usually turn out well.
- Good leather holster manufacturing on the other hand requires a true leather craftsman. In order to turn out a good leather holster, one must have a ton of leather working tools and loads of leather working experience. I’m not a leathersmith, so I won’t pretend to know exactly how to make a good leather holster, but from my understanding basically, the leather needs to be cut, stitched, molded, slicked, shaped, boned, dried and dyed. Each of these steps requires a ton of individual attention to be paid to the holster, and a lot of time. For instance, it can take a day or more just for the leather to dry.
Cost of Materials:
- Leather is pretty dang expensive nowadays, while Kydex on the other hand is not. In my experience, even the cheapest piece of leather is twice as expensive as a similarly sized piece of Kydex. In 2024 we see manufacturers of all kinds moving to less expensive materials, and holster builders are no exception.
Less Specialized Training:
- Remember all those steps above to make a leather holster? People don’t learn those skills overnight. Depending on the training of the leathersmith, it could take years to master the holster.
- Building proper Kydex holsters with specialized jigs and molds can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to master. If you have the tooling available, you can hire someone and train them to pump out holsters relatively easily. Special equipment is needed, but not a lot of special training is needed. Once the equipment is in place, almost anyone can create a good Kydex holster.
All these little factors add up to a more affordable product for the end user. I think we all know that if the end product were trash, no one would buy it. The many benefits of Kydex holsters vs leather holsters have been documented by TFB throughout the years, so I won’t restate them all here. From my experience reading the articles and watching TFBTV, it seems that today the savvy marksman and concealed carrier opts for Kydex holsters, regardless of the price.
In a nutshell, it seems like more and more Kydex holsters are being sold because they are easier to manufacture, cost less after manufacturing, and people tend to like them more than the alternatives. I don’t have any hard data or references to back this up, but if my experience in the big-box store is any indication, the all-leather holster may become a rarer sight in the future.
If you’re interested in the benefits of Kydex over leather holsters, check out this article from Pete https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2018/09/13/leather-versus-kydex/ , or this one from Matt https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/04/19/leather-or-kydex-picking-the-right-holster/
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lighter, better retention, doesn't soak up sweat and filth....
But, many leathers for OWB carry print less in concealed carry, like the many oof the Versacarry holsters, and tend to be more comfortable, especially when sitting.