SubNine

Yesterday, one of the clips on my MTAC finally broke, so I had to order up some new ones. I went to Com-Tac's website, only to find they changed the design. I was just wondering if anyone has had any good things to say about the new design.

__________________
USMC rule # 23 of gunfighting: Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

Check out blog reviews of the guns I own at,
http://www.myspace.com/akgunnut

B. Adams

I just got a couple new holsters, a Garrity Triskel and a K&D Dakota defender. The Garrity has what I would consider "old-style" clips, roughly an inch wide. The K&D clips are narrower and longer, and don't look anything like what I would expect from Comp-Tac, yet they are stamped "COMP-TAC.COM" on the back of them. These narrow clips are the same clips that are on the M-Tac on the Comp-Tac website.

The clips on the Garrity appear to be made of Kydex, but the "new-style" clips on my K&D appear to be molded, and seem to be made of ABS rather than Kydex.

All in all, I guess like the new design, but I think there would be occasions where the old design would be more appropriate. I hope they're not completely eliminating the old style, but I don't mind them expanding their product line.

Joe R

Like when?

Comp-Tac's reasons for changing are sound:

1) New clips are longer and have more holes, providing a wider range of adjustment.

2) New clips are narrower, making them less noticeable.

3) New clips have a more pronounced lip for better retention on the belt.

4) Comp-Tac's testing shows the new design and material to be significantly more durable. I don't doubt their claims.]

I highly doubt they will make two styles available once the old style runs out. I wouldn't.

B. Adams

Like on this holster, made by Garrity Gunleather:


Also, while the new clips are longer and more adjustable, I can't think of a situation where I would need to go below the third hole (I've tried). This makes the clips a full inch longer than I would ever need them, and I'm sure I'm not alone. I can cut them down, obviously, but it's still not an advantage for me for them to be longer.

Also, the narrower clip is more prone to tilt on my belt, because it has less surface area. This allows my holster to shfit more than usual, which usually means it ends up further back than I like it. The wider clip has more resistance to the leverage that my holster puts on it, and the result is that the holster shifts less.

I don't doubt that the material is more durable, Kydex is somewhat brittle. It's the choice of holster makers because it's easy to mold, but it's not ideal in every situation.

Retention on the belt has never been a problem for me, the old clips never came undone. Actually, they're almost too tight. It's difficult to move the holster or belt once it's clipped on. When I'm concerned about the clips being visible, I use the Velcro clips.

Are they planning on redesigning all their clips? It seems like the C-clip wouldn't have enough surface are on it to be really effective if you narrowed it that much. And I can't see how they could make the v-clips any smaller and still have enough area for good contact. If they're going to have some clips that are 1" wide and some that are 2/3" wide, I don't see a reason to completely eliminate the old style clips. I'm sure they have a machine that makes the old clips, is there a market for used kydex cutting and bending machines? I don't know.

I don't doubt that the new clip is a "better" design, but I do think there are times when the wider clip is nice. I usually carry with my shirt untucked, so a less visible clip makes no difference to me. Just my opinion.

Edward Nigma

Narrower, as in the thickness of the actual clip? If that's the case, they won't fit over Wilderness belts. I tried a CTAC last year and sent it back because it wouldn't fit over my Wilderness belt using the old clips.

Thanks for this info. This makes it much more likely Ill go with a Crossbreed holster.

K-Man

JoeR pretty much nailed it as to the reasons/differences in the new clips compared to the old. They're still offering the c-clips, j-hooks, and v-clips in the original style.

Here's a pic of the new style of clip:



Any excess/unwanted material can easily be removed. They're available in the 1.25", 1.5", and 1.75" belt sizes, so they should fit on any style of belt that corresponds to the appropriate size.

Joe R

I have a CTAC with the old clips and it fits just fine over my five-stitch Wilderness. I also have a Crossbreed with CTAC clips (old style) and it fits fine over both my Wilderness and Carhartt (two layer Cordura/leather) belts.

And no, the clips aren't narrower in thickness. They are narrower in profile.

I would not go with a Crossbreed again. That is why I have two K&Ds on order.