Kydex is an age-old material, originally made for use in the aircraft interiors, now it is adapted to various other products and industries, from auto body parts, insulators, safety helmets to telescope bodies and trays. Even in the firearm industry, Kydex material is used for knife sheaths & holsters. This means it’s a durable and lightweight polymer, which is formed easily when heated. It is vacuum-formed which creates an ideal fit and yields a thinner profile than the injection-molded counterparts. Kydex holsters generally tend to provide strength, durability, and better retention than the injection-molded counterpart. Let us know more about the Kydex holster in this article!
What’s Kydex?
Kydex is the “high-impact and fire-rated PVC thermoplastic sheet that is perfect for the hard-to-form counterparts for various users and applications. This product has quickly gained a reputation as a highly durable, fire retardant, and chemical resistant polymer innovation. For such popular reasons, Kydex has actually found the home in several industries that includes the firearm holster industry.
Kydex a Type of Thermoplastic Resin
Kydex material is quite impervious to oil, solvents, and sweat. You need to know that any foreign material in its holster can scratch your weapon finish, so you must choose the right material like Kydex. Suppose you have a Melonite-coated or Glock Guncrafter, then its finish won’t suffer. But, if your weapon shows any degradation in its finish, a handgun must be used. Kydex holster is quite stiff and provides a very good and sharp draw. Besides, it is simple to clean with normal soap & water.
Selecting the Right Type of Kydex Holster
Taking little preventive measures and choosing a good holster brand will be very important to prevent any marks, whether the scratch or rub to form on your gun surface when you are using the holster. The primary problem with Kydex Holsters is that there is a lot of basement business that form daily and most of them are very good and use quality in the product.
But, some don’t do their research and look at the finer details no matter if it is the OWB Holster or IWB Holster. The quality holster brand will always design retention to its trigger & not to the gun slide. For instance, when it comes to IWB Kydex Holster for the gun you can place your gun in its holster & when not in your waistband your gun may appear loose, you will feel like the holster is a bit bigger than your gun. But, as tension gets placed on a trigger portion of the holster you may feel that gun is locked in. It happens naturally when your belt or pants hold that holster.
Weapon Security
When choosing any type of holster, which also includes Kydex OWB holsters, the first thing that you must look for is weapon security. There are consequences of accidental discharge, and dropping the gun, will be quite severe. Most of the high-end Kydex holsters come with adjustable retention screws. It means you can adjust its tightness with which this holster grips the weapon.
It’s quite useful if you’re setting up the holster for competition, as you may adjust your weapon level retention as per your purpose. The OWB holsters are good in this respect, as they provide a higher level of adjustability compared to IWB cousins.
Another important thing that you need to look at is its trigger guard mechanism. This guard on the holster must cover the whole trigger mechanism, just to avoid an accidental discharge. Make sure to note that not each Kydex holster fits each gun well. Whereas this holster is accessible for various handguns, in case you have the unusual gun or unusual additions attached, it will be tough to find any type of Kydex holster that can fit in rightly. Certain things are totally out of our way, but I will say that Kydex Holster is ideal for all types of gun owners.
There’re various types and styles of KYDEX
In a way leather gets graded, there’re different grades of the KYDEX. Currently, KYDEX manufactures more than 40 different kinds of thermoplastic sheets, all with their properties & cost. Some of the KYDEX material comes in budget and low-cost plastics are made from recycled sheet grades. It results in lower-cost parts with reduced performance standards compared to higher-cost grade thermoplastics.
There are 3 important factors that can affect KYDEX grade and they are: grain, thickness, and capability of withstanding temperature. And two forms of the KYDEX sheets, which are highly popular with the companies making the gun holsters and the knife sheaths are the KYDEX T & KYDEX 100. The KYDEX 100 is a better material for thermoforming and is durable and tough, and provides the best rigidity, formability, break, and temperature resistance.
Superior material
Suppose you are completely new to the world of Kydex, then you might not know it is currently the highly popular material form for holster makers. The reason is it is simple to work and durable and will be molded to any shape and size. Whenever you opt for the Kydex holster, you are selecting the holster that was made to fit the firearm –it is the best option. This increases the security and safety of your holster and enables this to perform much better. Because Kydex is not porous like nylon or leather, it does not absorb sweat, grime, or dirt, therefore keeping you more comfortable and drier with time.
When it comes to using Kydex, just wipe off the sweat from your holster backside, and you are dry. It helps to keep your gun protected with time, as the material is quite impervious to elements – that is it does not matter in case you are caught in rain and snow when carrying.
Prevention against Dirt and Sweat
This amazing feature of Kydex material is quite handy for people who carry the gun regularly. Suppose you carry the gun inside a waistband & carry this everywhere permissible, it is important to invest in the material that will prevent any wear & tear against dirt and sweat. A high-quality Kydex holster will tolerate the level of moisture & will limit any damage because of the reasons mentioned. This can offer higher durability to the gun.
Final Words
If you are willing to spend money on the KYDEX holster then you have to ask basic questions like what kind of thermoplastic material must be used. Like the leather holster, the quality KYDEX holster will be very much like other hand-designed products, and one that is highly apparent in performance & price point.
