30-Day Carry: New Rig is Less Bulky and Highly Versatile

G&A's editor wore Vedder's LightTuck Kydex IWB for 30 days straight. Here's what he discovered.

Hailing from central Florida, Vedder Holsters is a family-owned company that handcrafts all of its products in the U.S. Those products include inside-the-waistband (IWB), outside-the-waistband (OWB) and pocket-carry holsters, as well as IWB spare magazine pouches made of Kydex. Completing the carry rig ensemble, Vedder also offers stiff, 1½-inch, dual-layered nylon belts with Cobra® buckles. To see how comfortable these rigs really are and how well they functioned, I wore one as my carry rig for a month. Here's how it performed.

Vedder's LightTuck Kydex IWB is the brand's most popular holster, and it has received more than 2,100 positive online reviews from customers who don't typically take the time to write reviews. The reason for this is its design and construction.

In most cases, I've found that an IWB holster is either great for carry behind-the-hip or for the appendix position (AIWB). Largely due to a lack of adjustability in cant and ride height, Kydex-constructed IWB holsters are rarely good at both.

However, the LightTuck qualifies for wear behind the hip carry and appendix carry for two reasons.

No Sharp Edges

The first reason the LightTuck qualifies for both appendix and behind-the-hip carry is for the lack of a sharp edge. In my experience, there's at least one sharp edge in the muzzle area. The only cornered edges to speak of are with the black, spring-steel clip, which hangs out comfortably on the outside of the waistband. The edges of the one-piece formed Kydex shell are smartly melted. Also making the LightTuck comfortable is where the skin-side of the holster is cut and formed to shield us against any irritation caused by a pistol's rear slide serrations. And users who like to carry AIWB will appreciate that the width of the LightTuck extends no further than to the bottom of the triggerguard, which means that the inside of our pubis bone won't be sawed on as we move about the day.

Lots of Adjustment

The second reason that the LightTuck qualifies for both appendix and behind-the-hip carry is adjustability for wear at different locations. When placing your order, you can opt for either the 1½-inch belt-loop clip, one for 1¾-inch belts or you can select both clips for an extra $4. With four holes drilled through the clip-side of the Kydex shell, the LightTuck affords users adjustability for three different ride heights and negative-30-degree, zero or plus-30-degree cants.

If you carry AIWB, I highly recommend a Kydex holster so that the holster doesn't collapse and prevent proper insertion. With a soft-sided holster, each time the pistol is unholstered you should remove the holster from inside the waistband before you can safely reholster and reinsert the holster in the AIWB position. With a rigid holster such as the LightTuck, you can safely reholster with minimum risk.

Peace of mind is added when inserting a pistol in the LightTuck because there is an audible and tactile click when the pistol is properly secured for carry. The force required for unholstering a pistol can be adjusted using a Phillips-head screwdriver to tighten or loosen the tensioning screw located under the triggerguard. A rubber bushing on the inside keeps pressure on the screw and the opposing nut, and unlike other tensioning screws I've carried, this setup never backed out during testing.

30-Day Carry

I ordered the LightTuck for a Glock 17. Once I verified its function at the range, I carried the G17 in the appendix position for 15 days and then at the 4-o'clock position for another 15 days. I rarely carry a full-size pistol AIWB, but the design of the LightTuck gave me absolutely no comfort issues with carrying a G17. Therefore, my draw time from concealment averaged nearly .1-second faster with more precise hits than shooting a G19 using iron sights than my results wearing the same pistols behind the hip.

After 30 days of everyday carry, there is almost no evidence of wear and tear on this holster or my pistol. There is a rub on the top adjustment screw securing the clip to the shell where I tweaked the cant when transitioning from carrying AIWB to behind-the-hip.

Vedder's MagTuck IWB magazine pouch is a complement to the LightTuck and is molded specifically for your pistol's magazine. Also available for different belt sizes, cants, orientations, ride heights and colors, the MagTuck carries one spare magazine, features adjustable retention and costs only $30. If your waistline is no wider than your torso, you should experience no discomfort in wearing a MagTuck pouch.

A Great Belt

No carry rig is complete without a proper gun belt, and Vedder offers one constructed of two layers of rigid, 1½-inch nylon webbing with Velcro adjustability. When wrapped around your waist, it's secured by a Cobra® quick-release buckle. Due to the quick-release design, you'll have to fit the belt the first time to accommodate the added girth of wearing your IWB holster and spare mag pouch. If you want to wear the belt without the holster and mag pouch, you'll have to readjust the belt to keep your pants up.

If you choose to use a belt like this with a Cobra® buckle to carry a closed-loop holster, you will find that the Cobra® buckle makes it more difficult to thread through each belt loop. Vedder's closed loop attachment for its OWB holsters will accept a Cobra® buckle, but just barely.

Vedder Holsters may not be a big name now, but I predict they will be. Looking through their product line and examining multiple products, there isn't any garbage in the catalog as there is with bigger holster brands. That said, I hope they quickly move to accommodate pistols using mounted lights. Still, the details I see suggest that the people designing and making the holsters actually carry the products they sell. That tells you everything you need to know about Vedder.

Vedder Holsters LightTuck Kydex IWB

Materials Kydex; spring steel (clip); rubber (bushing)

Carry Type IWB or AIWB

Retention Type Level 1, friction, adjustable tension

Adjustability Ride height, -30 deg., 0 deg. or 30 deg. cants, 1.5- or 1.75-in. belt

Dimensions Height: 6.4 in.; Width: 2.16 in.

MSRP $62 (tested)

Handgun Fit Glock 17 Gen 4 (tested); multiple brands available

Accessory Rail Accommodations None

Positions to Carry AIWB or 3 o'clock to 5 o'clock

Average Time to Attach 60 seconds

Comfort Rating 4/5

Concealment Clothing Jacket or loose-fitting, untucked shirt

Average Draw-to-Fire Time 1.37 seconds (AWIB); 1.45 seconds (IWB, 4 o'clock)

Manufacturer Vedder Holsters, 352-729-6749, vedderholsters.com

Draw-to-fire time is the average of five clean draws from under a concealed garment producing an A-zone hit on a stationary target positioned at 21 feet.

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