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When it comes to IWB holsters, I started out with a Remora, and liked the fact that it stays wherever you position it without the need to attach it to a belt or waistband, but gun-plus-holster becomes a pretty thick package to jam into your waistband.
Next I tried a Galco Stow-N-Go, which makes a pretty thin package, but found that it holds the gun much too high above the waistband, making it more prone to print. Other holsters built along the same general lines also looked as if they would carry the gun too high.
The Versacarry eliminates the problem of bulk and the problem of riding too high above the belt line. It weighs virtually nothing and adds only an eighth of an inch to the width of the pistol. Plus, it rides deep – I bought size “small” to get the deeper carry for the CM9 (See photo at end of post). For those who prefer a higher carry of their CM9 (or PM9), the Versacarry sizing chart recommends the “extra small” model.
The Versacarry is a strip of plastic with a strong belt hook at one end, and a plastic plug that slides into the barrel of the pistol at the other. The pistol is not enclosed, as in a conventional holster, though it does include an optional crescent-shaped shield that covers the trigger on one side of the gun only.
The holster can be used right-handed or left-handed. When used lefthanded, the CM9 fits the holster at a slightly different angle because the slide-lock lever sticks out on the left side of the gun.
To get a clear idea of how this holster works, visit the website at www.versacarry.com and hit the “How it works” link at the top of the home page. Better yet, check out the YouTube videos, including this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWwBmNWENK0
Of course, since there is no enclosure, per se, when you wear the holster, the gun itself is pressed directly against you (well, against whatever you’re wearing under your pants). However, I do not find this uncomfortable, and so far, I haven’t seen any postings complaining about a lack of comfort.
There are a couple of issues that will put some people off. One is the fact that the trigger is shielded only on one side of the gun (the side facing the belt), meaning that conceivably the trigger could be snagged and pulled by something on the other side of the gun, such as an undershirt or the wearer’s underwear.
For this reason, I don’t carry my CM9 with a chambered round.
Versacarry, too, recommends that the holster be used without chambering a round. Beause the holster works by sticking a plug in the barrel, some may be concerned about what would happen if the gun were fired with the holster’s plug still in the barrel. Versacarry says the plug would be expelled without damaging the pistol, and there is a YouTube video sowing someone conducting this very experiment. But I have not conducted this experiment and cannot vouch for the YouTube video or the company’s claims about the matter.
I found that when the holster was new, the plug fit into the barrel of my CM9 so tightly that it made it difficult to draw the pistol. To fix this, I worked the plug in and out of the barrel probably 100 times, and this shaved off a lot of the excess plastic. The pistol now draws with little resistance from the holster. One of the Versacarry videos shows a user holding the holster upside-down and shaking it in order to demonstrate that the gun will not shake out of the holster. However, in the case of my Versacarry, because the barrel plug has been shaved by repeated draws and holsterings, the gun WILL fall out of the holster if I turn it upside down. But this is true of my Remora and my Galco, too.
This is the gun partly inserted into (onto?) the holster.
This is the gun partly fully seated on the holster.
This shows the fully-seated gun from the other side.
From below, this shows the CM9 partially inserted on the barrel plug.
Versacarry says that users should holster the gun before putting on the holster. After drawing the pistol, Versacarry advises that you’ll have to take the holster off in order to reholster the gun. However, I find that after I draw the gun, I am able to reholster without having to take off the holster. So in this respect, the holster is more convenient than the manufacturer believes.
I’ve mentioned that the holster is plastic, which might suggest some lack of durability. I’ve had the holster for two weeks, so I can’t vouch for its long-term durability. But the plastic is substantial, a little more than an eighth of an inch thick and it feels very strong and doesn’t seem likely to break. But only time will tell.
There is good news and bad news about the price of the holster. The good news is that at $24.99, it is very affordable. The bad news is, that when you see it, you’ll wonder why it costs $24.99. It looks like about 5 cents worth of plastic and a 25-cent metal screw. Sure, there’s a lot of overhead in a plastics factory, but even so, $24.99 seems a bit much for what went into this holster. $12 or $15 would seem more reasonable.
But even at that price, I find this holster so convenient, so light and so comfortable that I don’t feel ripped off. I would advise Versacarry, however, to avoid the temptation to raise the price for a long, long time.
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