Alien Gear ShapeShift Holster – Use Trial & After Action Report

By John Crump

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- I am a big fan of Alien Gear holsters. I find that they are built well and last a long time.

I have and do use a number of Alien Gear Holsters myself. I have carried everything from my Glock 19 to my Smith & Wesson Airweight around in an Alien Gear Holster. I love the fact that they will exchange the holster shell for free if you change your carry guns. This is something I do all the time for the sake of journalism (or so I tell my wife ).This has saved me a lot of money in the past.

Alien Gear has always been on the forefront of new techniques in the holster world such as their neoprene backing which makes the holsters a lot more comfortable for wearing for longs hours at a time.

I was excited when they contacted me to see if I would be interested in trying out their new Alien Gear ShapeShift holster.

Alien Gear ShapeShift Holster Kit

I first heard of the Alien Gear ShapeShift holster from Shot Show. There was quite a buzz surrounding the holster. Since then I have been following the release of this holster for awhile. This holster was supposed to change the industry so it got mine and a lot of other people’s attention. I immediately agreed to put the ShapeShift through it’s paces and see if there was anything to the hype. (que hype video)

The first thing that stands out with the ShapeShift is that Alien Gear abandoned the kydex model of holster making to go with a polymer injection mold process for the ShapeShift. Alien Gear claims to use the same polymer a lot of the gun manufacturers use for their handguns and I believe them.

This enables Alien Gear to get a more constant fit over kydex because it isn’t as temperature sensitive.

The Alien Gear ShapeShift Holster is just not a standard holster. It is more of a kit. In fact when I opened it up it reminded me of a Lego set. There are tons of different options and I was a little overwhelmed at first, but then I looked over the kit and everything was pretty straightforward and easy to put together.

This is the first modular firearms holster system I have been able to check out. With the kit there are several different configurations the holster can be used in. The whole purpose of the Alien Gear ShapeShift is that this is supposed to be the last holster you will need to buy due to the multiple configurations.

For the user who likes carrying inside the waistband the ShapeShift can be used in a couple of different configuration. The first configuration is an appendix carry. Anyone who has read my articles in the past knows I am not a fan of appendix carry. I did use the holster in the appendix carry configuration for a few days strictly for the review. It was more comfortable than most of appendix carry holsters I have tried due to the neoprene, but appendix carry is still not for me.

The second way this holster can be worn is with the double clip method which is the same setup as most of the Alien Gear Holsters I have tested in the past. I wore The ShapeShift on my strong side at the 5 o’clock position. It was really comfortable. I think it is even more comfortable than most of the other hosters that has similar designs.

For the user who prefers an outside the waistband carry the Alien Gear ShapeShift can be set up in a few different ways. This is the cool thing about the holster. If for some reason you decide to change the way you want to wear the holster you just pop off the two little nuts and convert the holster in less than a minute.

The first way to wear the holster in a OWB configuration is by using the ShapeShift as a paddle holster. This carry position was comfortable and if you are going to be using the included in the car mounting system this is probably the way you are going to want to use it because it will let you take off the holster and transfer it to the car mounting system easily.

The second way to wear this holster in a OWB configuration is with the belt loops. Again The Alien Gear ShapeShift is comfortable this way. My only complaint is that I like my OWB holsters to be tight into my body so if I choose to I can throw my tee shirt over the holster. The ShapeShift holster in either OWB configuration sticks out a little too far for my liking.

There is also a piece that can be attached to give the user a thumb release. I am not a big fan of thumb releases. If I am going to have to pull my gun it is going to be a high stress environment, and the thumb release is just going to be one more thing to get in the way and slow me down. It is there if you want to use it though.

For the most part to change from one type of holster to another there are two little nuts that are removed by hand that lets you add or subtract pieces. This gives the user a lot of different possibilities.

Doing holster work with all these holsters configuration was very smooth and easy. There is no hangups no matter what configuration the holster was in. I was suspecting I would have issues with one or more of the configurations, but this wasn’t the case at all.

Overall this is an awesome concept that I am glad Alien Gear is bringing modular holster systems to the forefront of the industry. Alien Gear also offers a 30 day test drive of their holsters. Alien Gear calls this the ShapeShift Starter Kit so I can’t wait to see what new pieces come out in the future.

Alien Gear can be found at www.aliengearholsters.com

About John Crump

John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on the history of the patriot movement and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss or at www.crumpy.com.