*Disclaimer*
I am in no way affiliated with Versa Carry

Justin Sitz of VersaCarry was nice enough to send me four of his new holsters. I received a 9mm medium, two 9mm small (old and new version) and a 380 medium.

These holsters couldn't get any simpler. They are just a molded piece of kydex with a plastic rod attached to the base at a slight angle. The way this holster works is, you insert the plastic rod inside of the barrel of your handgun. The slight angle of the rod keeps the holster firmly attached to the gun. Once the gun is in the holster (or the holster is in the gun) you slip it inside your waistband. That's it. No tension screw, no cant adjustment, no height adjustment, nothing.

Now this holster has lost something in it's simplicity, the ability to protect the trigger. On the packaging it says, "Warning: do not use this product to carry any handgun with a live round in the chamber." I would typically ignore this "legal jargon" but without the trigger protected I'll heed the warning (kinda, more on this later).

Now we all know that a handgun without a round in the chamber is just a funny looking club. So I wouldn't carry using this holster without a long DA pull and/or an external safety.

Now for the test guns that I have available that are suitable for the holsters I received.

Kel-Tec P3aT
Ruger LCP
M&P9c
Glock 19
Ruger LC9

And for shits and giggles I'll use a few full size guns too. Even though the models I received were not made for full sized guns.

Beretta M9
Ruger SR9

Here are the the holsters.


.380 Medium


9mm Small


9mm Medium


All three. .380 Medium, 9mm small, 9mm Medium.


Here are the test guns.


Now on to the testing. All pics were taken with my wife wearing the holsters because she is nicer to look at than me.

Kel-Tec P3AT in .380 Medium


Ruger LCP in .380 Medium


Ruger LCP in 9mm Small. As you can see it damn near disapears. Pretty good for deep concealment.


Ruger LC9 in 9mm Small


Glock 19 in 9mm Medium


M&P9c in 9mm Medium


M&P9c with a full size mag and X-Grip


Ruger SR9 in 9mm Medium


Beretta M9 in 9mm Medium. This is just silly as this isn't what this holster was made for.



Out of all those guns tested, I feel the best option for these holsters is the Ruger LC9. It fits like a glove and with the external safety and long DAO pull I don't mind the trigger not being covered. Therefore I would be comfortable carrying with it chambered (the only way I feel a handgun should be carried).

Now wait a minute, what else do we have in the safe? Ah, a couple of wheel guns.
Keep in mind these holsters are not advertised for revolvers but what the hell, I'll give them a try.
Now these will fit the holsters a bit differently. With semi autos the holster rides along the side of the slide. With the revolvers you have to cant the holster so it rides above the cylinder. But the fit with no trouble.

Smith & Wesson J-Frame 637 & Ruger SP101


Smith & Wesson J-Frame 637 in 9mm Small


Smith & Wesson J-Frame 637 in 9mm Medium


Ruger SP101 in 9mm Medium.



Now given that I have tried all these guns in these holsters myself, I have a few thoughts.

They claim 75% reduction in holster bulk. That's no bullshit, there is hardly anything to these.
They are very comfortable to wear.
They are 100% ambidextrous and good for small of back carry as well.

The only negatives I see with these are not covering the trigger. And re-holstering.

To re-holster the gun you have to remove the holster, re-insert it into your barrel and the re-insert the whole thing back in your pants.

My final thoughts on these holsters are; for the price they are a pretty good deal. They retail for $20 each. The best guns I found with what I had available are the LC9, J-Frame, and SP101.

It seems like this holster was built for these three guns. For a non bulky way to carry without installing a clip draw you will be hard pressed to find a less bulky option.
From now on when I carry either of those revolvers, the Versa Carry will be my holster of choice.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you again Justin for the chance to try out your awesome product.

http://www.versacarry.com/

Interesting concept, and thank you for your review.

^My responses in red^



I pesonally know the OP and work next door to him. I hastily tried these holster for a few hours with a Walther P99 and a S&W19 while working at a liquor store.



As SGocka says, this holster's niche is, IMO, discreet carry of revolvers and autos with long trigger pulls. It's either great for your CCW or horrible. No middle groung here.



My recommendation for the mfg. is to make it cant adjustable.

That's a deal breaker for me.

They were nice enough to send me one as well.  I gave it a try with an eye toward having a lower profile holster for suit and tie wear.

On the surface it looks lower bulk but I was less impressed after I actually took some measurements.  Near the muzzle it measures one inch (.997) from the outside of the Vera Carry to the inside of the pistol used - a PPK/S. At the top of the clip, just above the ejection port it measures 1.44".  The holster it was potentially replacing was a no frills Galco tuckable holster. With pistol installed it measures 1.27" at the muzzle - 1/4" wider, while at the top of the clip it measures 1.42" essentially identical to the Versatile Carry. And of course with both, it measures the same 1.29" at the widest part of the grip.

So in effect the Versa Carry reduces the width at the muzzle by 1/4".  In exchange for that you get a holster,  as noted by the OP, with no trigger protection and that cannot be reholstered in the traditional manner.

In comparison to the Galco it is also potentially tuckable, which is nice for the intended purpose.  However the design unfortunately leaves you tucking your shirt around an unprotected trigger and it would not take much to work the hem of the shirt between the trigger and guard creating the potential for an AD if you were then to untuck the shirt in a hurry - as in when you need it.

Given that my PPK/S has a manual safety in addition to a long DA trigger pull, it is probably not a dangerous arrangement in and of itself, but attempting to place the Versa Carry and pistol in your waistband or draw the pistol with the safety off would have potentially painful consequences.  I would in no way consider carrying a pistol with a loaded chamber if it lacked a manual safety, nor would I carry a pistol with a trigger operated safety on a loaded chamber.  I also would not carry DA revolver at all with it due to the unprotected trigger and the potential for the trigger to be snagged and unintentionally pulled.

Another minor issue is that there is also no holster between your pistol and your shirt or pants so if you run it wet at all, your shirt and/or pants will acquire some oil stains.

I did wear it a couple days and noted that after an hour or two I could feel the hard edge of the slide near the muzzle. This is not a surprise as it lies right next to you with at best the thin material of your underwear between you and it rather than the more forgiving and softer edge of a holster.  Similarly, the pistol will be next to you with basically no protection from sweat.

I also found the weapon was less stable when running, etc and I found my self protecting the gun like the average gang banger with a pistol stuck in his belt.  On the plus side, it works almost anywhere and is obviously ambidextrous. Who knows, it could be a popular sfep up for gang bangers.

In light of all of the above my conclusion is that it is a nice idea but one that does not play out well in the real world.

+1 as I carry a G23 and without one in the chamber its just a paperweight.

I saw some gadget somewhere once that is designed to snap on over the trigger guard of the Glocks to protect the trigger, so I suppose you could have one of those with its lanyard tied to the holster, thus drawing the pistol (off? out of?) from the holster would yank it off the gun.  Seems like too much drama for me though.

Thank you for posting this review.  Could sticking that plastic thing down the barrel possible put the barrel out of battery?

Thanks for the review!


Can we get some better pics of the wife?  

The dowel is about 1.5" long. Being plastic, it can be trimmed.

This is not GD, Devil Dog.

Thank you for the excellent product review.

Interesting design, but I wonder how good the retention is?  Does the pistol move around any, or does the dowel fit securely enough to prevent this?  Looks like it would work best as SOB or Mexican carry.

The holsters are caliber specific. Retention is actually quite good.

Good review, is it hard to get a grip on the guns while drawing? The pics make it look that way.

Seems like a great option for a J-Frame and some smaller autos.....but as others have stated I'd pass on this for any Glock.

I received a medium 9mm for a 228 that I have. I carried it for a couple of days with this and the retention is fine. Very light weight and you don't even notice it's there. I did not feel that the pistol would come loose or that I would lose it at all. I did use a proper gun belt. I then tried it with my 340pd in AIWB. It works very well in this capacity and I have used it every day since, when I carry the 340. The way it sits above the cyllinder, it kind of cants the grip back into your side making this very concealable. I really like it for apendix carry with the 340pd.

I like the idea behind this holster. I wonder how it will hold up over time.