Joe Williams
Shooter
- Jun 26, 2008
- 10,431
- 38
Got home from running around today, and found a present in my mailbox. My holster had arrived! I was hoping this would get here in time for me to write a review for this contest, and was saving it to be my first 
As I've said more than once, I generally prefer leather holsters to kydex, but I've heard and read so much about Raven Concealment's holsters that I wanted to try one out. I bought one that I thought was a Raven holster, and it was a nice enough holster, but turned out it wasn't. Tom from Raven Concealment went out of his way to expedite a real Raven Concealment holster to me, and this holster shows the difference between an okay holster like the one I had and the Uncle Mikes paddle holster that I've been using (and actually like,) and a truly quality holster. Unfortunately, much of that difference is simply impossible to properly convey in writing. No matter how much I've read about Raven's holsters, I simply couldn't figure out what the big deal was about just another plastic holster.
Well, it took about three seconds after sliding this beauty out of the box to figure out the difference. It's a premium holster, and it just FEELS like it. Every edge is wonderfully rounded off, not a sharp edge anywhere to poke, prod, cut or irritate. Instead of just slapping two pieces of kydex together and calling it quits, the edges are melded together, they look like one piece. The detail molding looks like beautiful hand boning that I like so much on a nice leather holster. The holster is about the size of a leather pancake holster, though shaped a little differently, but much thinner and lighter. Can't exactly express why, but even before sliding the gun into the holster I was already heavily impressed.
Then, I unloaded my gun, slid it in, and was in love. Ka-thunk... the gun locked into the holster, and they fit together almost like they were one piece. Once in, the gun absolutely, positively does not move. Not even a tiny bit, not even when I'm yanking around on it trying to make it move. It is flat out locked in. This reduces wear on the finish, it reduces wear on my body from have a couple pounds always wiggling around, and it's how things should be. It locked in so tight, in fact, that I was seriously worried about how hard it would be to draw, especially after I turned the gun upside down and shook the daylights out of it, and the gun didn't budge.
Decided to answer that question, and strapped the gun and holster on. The gun takes a definite pull to get out, but it is not difficult, it is not slow, and it does not feel locked in. I like it. It's very fast, very natural, and provides excellent retention with no hassles. On the subject of retention, Cathy tried to get behind me to draw the gun, and could not do so. This caused me to try with the gun pulled back at an angle, and it just seemed to lock in, which I really like. Doesn't cause any problems whatsoever with drawing the gun. I was concerned because cheapo Fobus holsters lock the gun in really well, too, but I think they are a pain to draw, you have to get the angle exactly right, and even then you have to yank the gun too hard. I've already run a bunch of draws through the Raven from a number of positions, on the move, every way I can think of, and not once has the gun balked or locked in when I didn't want it to. Like I said: fast, natural, and secure. Pretty much perfect.
Putting it on and wearing it also showed the gun to every bit as comfortable as everybody always says it is. It is, in fact, one of the most, if not the most, comfortable holsters I've had on. It rides very tight and close to the body, without forcing the gun into your side. Being as thin as it is, it's not sticking way out to the side getting in the way of your arm, or clunking into things. The holster is curved a bit to conform to your hip, and sits very, very securely to the belt. It rides so flat and close that even in it's current OWB form it conceals even my full size XD9 under a shirt almost as well as an IWB holster, very impressive. One very nice thing about this holster is that there are several different styles of belt clips and loops available to convert this holster from an OWB holster to a tuckable IWB holster, and I'll be buying some for when I need IWB. I've got no doubt that as a tuckable this holster will cause the XD9 to absolutely disappear.
I had Cathy try it on to see how it works on a woman's body, and she is as impressed as I am. She's dissed many, many high quality leather holsters in the past, because they simply don't fit a woman's body. She bent, twisted, turned every which way to try to get the gun to poke or prod her body, and could not get it to do so. She said she didn't have to "chicken wing" to get the gun out, a common problem she has with many holsters that really aren't made for a woman's body. The Raven Phantom, in fact, was as perfect in the area of comfort for both of us as it is every other aspect. I almost had to fight her to get my gun and holster back LOL.
To top off all the other goodness, I'm about to type something I don't think I've ever said about another kydex holster... this one just flat looks good!
I really can't think of any cons to address about this holster. I've been wearing and working with it all afternoon, and have not been able to find a single thing I dislike about it. Not one. This may be the best holster I've ever had.
After experiencing this holster and the quality it exudes, not to mention the unmatched customer service from the company itself, it goes without saying that this will not be my last Raven holster!
Now for the pics. I'll apologize in advance for the quality of the pics, pretty much the best I can do with my camera. They really don't do the holster justice.
Front
Back
Look how TIGHT this holster fits the gun
Bottom of the holster. Like the other pics showing the edges, you can see how everything is rounded off, and how the two pieces are molded together to look like one.
Holster on my side. We took some of it concealed under my shirt, but I was losing my light, the pics looked even worse, and frankly there was nothing to see but shirt. The gun just disappeared.
As I've said more than once, I generally prefer leather holsters to kydex, but I've heard and read so much about Raven Concealment's holsters that I wanted to try one out. I bought one that I thought was a Raven holster, and it was a nice enough holster, but turned out it wasn't. Tom from Raven Concealment went out of his way to expedite a real Raven Concealment holster to me, and this holster shows the difference between an okay holster like the one I had and the Uncle Mikes paddle holster that I've been using (and actually like,) and a truly quality holster. Unfortunately, much of that difference is simply impossible to properly convey in writing. No matter how much I've read about Raven's holsters, I simply couldn't figure out what the big deal was about just another plastic holster.
Well, it took about three seconds after sliding this beauty out of the box to figure out the difference. It's a premium holster, and it just FEELS like it. Every edge is wonderfully rounded off, not a sharp edge anywhere to poke, prod, cut or irritate. Instead of just slapping two pieces of kydex together and calling it quits, the edges are melded together, they look like one piece. The detail molding looks like beautiful hand boning that I like so much on a nice leather holster. The holster is about the size of a leather pancake holster, though shaped a little differently, but much thinner and lighter. Can't exactly express why, but even before sliding the gun into the holster I was already heavily impressed.
Then, I unloaded my gun, slid it in, and was in love. Ka-thunk... the gun locked into the holster, and they fit together almost like they were one piece. Once in, the gun absolutely, positively does not move. Not even a tiny bit, not even when I'm yanking around on it trying to make it move. It is flat out locked in. This reduces wear on the finish, it reduces wear on my body from have a couple pounds always wiggling around, and it's how things should be. It locked in so tight, in fact, that I was seriously worried about how hard it would be to draw, especially after I turned the gun upside down and shook the daylights out of it, and the gun didn't budge.
Decided to answer that question, and strapped the gun and holster on. The gun takes a definite pull to get out, but it is not difficult, it is not slow, and it does not feel locked in. I like it. It's very fast, very natural, and provides excellent retention with no hassles. On the subject of retention, Cathy tried to get behind me to draw the gun, and could not do so. This caused me to try with the gun pulled back at an angle, and it just seemed to lock in, which I really like. Doesn't cause any problems whatsoever with drawing the gun. I was concerned because cheapo Fobus holsters lock the gun in really well, too, but I think they are a pain to draw, you have to get the angle exactly right, and even then you have to yank the gun too hard. I've already run a bunch of draws through the Raven from a number of positions, on the move, every way I can think of, and not once has the gun balked or locked in when I didn't want it to. Like I said: fast, natural, and secure. Pretty much perfect.
Putting it on and wearing it also showed the gun to every bit as comfortable as everybody always says it is. It is, in fact, one of the most, if not the most, comfortable holsters I've had on. It rides very tight and close to the body, without forcing the gun into your side. Being as thin as it is, it's not sticking way out to the side getting in the way of your arm, or clunking into things. The holster is curved a bit to conform to your hip, and sits very, very securely to the belt. It rides so flat and close that even in it's current OWB form it conceals even my full size XD9 under a shirt almost as well as an IWB holster, very impressive. One very nice thing about this holster is that there are several different styles of belt clips and loops available to convert this holster from an OWB holster to a tuckable IWB holster, and I'll be buying some for when I need IWB. I've got no doubt that as a tuckable this holster will cause the XD9 to absolutely disappear.
I had Cathy try it on to see how it works on a woman's body, and she is as impressed as I am. She's dissed many, many high quality leather holsters in the past, because they simply don't fit a woman's body. She bent, twisted, turned every which way to try to get the gun to poke or prod her body, and could not get it to do so. She said she didn't have to "chicken wing" to get the gun out, a common problem she has with many holsters that really aren't made for a woman's body. The Raven Phantom, in fact, was as perfect in the area of comfort for both of us as it is every other aspect. I almost had to fight her to get my gun and holster back LOL.
To top off all the other goodness, I'm about to type something I don't think I've ever said about another kydex holster... this one just flat looks good!
I really can't think of any cons to address about this holster. I've been wearing and working with it all afternoon, and have not been able to find a single thing I dislike about it. Not one. This may be the best holster I've ever had.
After experiencing this holster and the quality it exudes, not to mention the unmatched customer service from the company itself, it goes without saying that this will not be my last Raven holster!
Now for the pics. I'll apologize in advance for the quality of the pics, pretty much the best I can do with my camera. They really don't do the holster justice.
Front
Back
Look how TIGHT this holster fits the gun
Bottom of the holster. Like the other pics showing the edges, you can see how everything is rounded off, and how the two pieces are molded together to look like one.
Holster on my side. We took some of it concealed under my shirt, but I was losing my light, the pics looked even worse, and frankly there was nothing to see but shirt. The gun just disappeared.
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Nice review. Care to share the price and time to deliver?
