[mulder]

After asking a number of questions about the CQC Carbon Fiber holster for the XD I decided to purchase one but finding one that wasnt going to cost a fortune to ship to Australia was an ordeal in its self. That was until a kind offer from a forum member was made to me and it was too good to refuse. A very big thankyou to j2fast for his kind offer and true to his word the holster and mag holders arrived in excellent time and with no hassle. Thanks j2fast!

Upon opening the parcel the first thing I noticed was the packaging. Large and solid resealable plastic bags held the contents for easy viewing and removal should the need arise that you would want to try your pistol in it before buying.
First impression are usually the lasting ones and I must say that even though this holster is plastic it is very solid and very well made. No sharp edges so to speak of and the carbon fibre appearance really sets the holster off. Included in the package is both a paddle holster plate and a belt loop plate so you can choose wether you wish to use the holster as either one. Conversion is as simple as removing a few screws and swapping over.

As you can see by the photo the holster is abjustable in both forward and rear cant which adds to configurability and comfort when wearing this rig.
The top of the holster is "Speed Cut" which simply means it is cut away to allow faster drawing of the pistol.

I holstered the HS and after adjusting the retention screw to suit I tried several different draws and the pistol always cleared the holster quickly and more importantly smoothly. I also noticed that the holster sits very close to the body and would aid in concealment of the rig. It is also very comfortable to wear.

Yes the end of the barrel sticks out as this is a 5 inch model HS. This should be of no concern to anyone using the holster with XD's that have the same or shorter barrel length.
One thing I did notice in all the comments that I have read about this holster is that the 9mm models rattle in the holster. After I adjusted the tension I tried moving the pistol around in the holster and yes it does move but only a very very little and there was no noise eminating from the pistol moving. I walked around and then did a number of small jumps and the pistol didnt make a sound nor did it move to any degree that it was noticable.
The trigger of the pistol is well covered also so there is no way that you could put your finger on the trigger and discharge it. A very good safety feature. Another feature I noticed was the belt width adjuster (thats what I call it). This feature allows you to adjust the holster to fit various width belts. Again a simple screw adjustment allows you to tighten the holster to your belt which further eliminated movement. The photo below shows the adjuster.

You will notice that this holster doesn't have the serpa system and really I dont think it matters all that much. Its retention is great as it is.All up this holster lives up to its name and I would recommend it to any one looking to purchase one.

I was also lucky to get some mag holders with the deal and I am glad I did. These are also a solid plastic holder with a carbon fiber look. Again very well made. The one thing I did notice was the retention arm inside the mag holder.

This "arm" really does hold your magazine solidly. There is no way that your mag will fall out of this baby. The only way is to pull it out. Very impressive! The other thing about this holster is the system by which it attaches to your belt. The holder simply slides over your belt but there is no way that it just slides back off. It is very secure and it takes a bit of jiggling around to get it off. This system gives you the flexibility to change to amount of mags you want to take out with you depending on the occasion with out having to take you belt on and off.

The whole system is very light weight which we all know can be an added bonus as well. All up this is a great, solid and safe system for concealed carry.
I hope this article helps someone in their choice of holsters.
A big thanks to j2fast for his help in getting this rig to me. Kudos to you!
Cheers
mulder

 

[Eric_Oh]

nice review with pics. I have the same holster minus the cf look. I'm pretty happy with mine as well. Althoughi don't use it much. But the only other thing i may mention is that i found myself pulling in my shirt into the holster with my xd when reholstering if i wasn't being careful. Other than that, i think its a great holster. Oh and i have a xd40 service.

 

[aiformula]

Mulder,

something else nice about those mag holders is they detach from the belt clips. If you pull the mag out of the holder, reach under it to the back side, and push the little tab, it will disengage from the belt clip and slide up and off your belt. I like this feature because I will put them on before going to the range and arrange them at home so I don't have to take the belt off at the range, but since the whole mag holder isn't on the belt, it isn't uncomfortable to drive w/ them situated forward of the hip (USPSA/IPSC reload position).

 

[j2fast]

Thanks for the kind words...

The story behind why I had this extra holster is kind of amusing (at least to me). I began shooting USPSA matches this year and a week or so out from my first match I had no holster or mag pouches. I had tried out someone else’s CQC and liked it so that's what I wanted but never got around to ordering it.

I went to every friggin site on the web that I could locate that said it stocked CQC equipment. 3 said they had the items in stock then one by one as I ordered from the sites I received back order notifications after they took my credit card payment. After I cancelled all of those orders I went directly to the Blackhawk site started placing my order, started the check out process then decided there had to be some place to find a better deal. In the beginning I had checked Pistol Gear but they we out of stock on the item and I thought I had checked ajames' site and he didn't carry the holster.

Long story short I went back to ajames' site and holy crap he did have the CQC holster and in stock! So I fire him an email and arrange to pay a little extra to have the holster and some UM's pouches overnighted to me. Got the package on Thursday before my match which left me 3 days to practice with my new gear. All of the vendors that support the form are great but on that deal James went above and beyond, thanks again!

Anyway two weeks later I come home from a business trip to my wife saying, "Did you order more crap for that gun"? Confused I open the box and it’s a CQC CF look holster from Blackhawk that I never finished ordering. Flash forward a week or two for a replay of the same scenario but this time its 4 mag pouches from Blackhawk. After checking and rechecking my credit card statement I verify that they never charged me for any of the items. I'll admitt that for a brief second I thought, "cool, free gear because their ecommerce site dropped the ball" but if you screw someone chances are it'll come back on you bigger and badder... Instead of sending everything back I call a very confused customer service rep at Blackhawk who couldn't comprehend that the website made a mistake and paid for the items.

All of that lead to me having the holster and mag pouches laying around in my office for a month until I come across Mulder's post about his shipping cost problems. Luckily my fine friends at the USPS :wink: offered shipping in the $21 neighborhood to the land down under.

Glad I could help, enjoy!

Jim

 

[Man_In_Camo]

note to self... pretend to order stuff from the blackhawk website... :shock:

 

[S&S firearms]

Hi, Nice holster. I'm thinking about getting one like that. Do you think holster wear will be a problem? You also said you have a 5" 9mm hs. Is that a Generation #3? Have you had any problems with it?

 

[Eric_Oh]

the only place that i can see it wearing a little is where the holster clamps onto the trigger guard, so you might see a little wear on the polymer of your trigger guard there a bit.

 

[mulder]

Generation 3. Latest type and no problems. One of only 3 in Oz at the moment. The new one will have Australian designated serial numbers so I have been told.
aiformula, I have checked that little trick you told me about but I will went I finish night shifts.
Cheers and thanks for the compliments everyone.
mulder

 

[The Tegnu]

I use the Blackhawk magazine holster too, but I don't use the doublestack version.

I use the singlestack mag carrier without the retention device. Shaves off a good bit of width for better concealment.

 

[aiformula]

Greg,

are you saying you use the single stack holder to hold the double stack mag? I had thought about that for my hk mags when I feel the need to carry more than just the gun, but didn't think it would work.

 

[The Tegnu]

Yeah, the Blackhawk magazine carriers have a curved "tongue" inside of them to aid retention. It also adds width.

I just unscrewed the retention piece on a singlestack Blackhawk carrier and put the doublestack XD mag in. Fits perfectly, and it's snug too.