Article originally published on Spotter Up by Steve Rabinovich

When testing the Rock Island Armory 1911 I found a classic holster to go with it. While shoulder holsters may be cool for Hunter and Kojak, I thought a more modern approach.  Mark from Squared Away Customs made an offer impossible to resist, and built us a custom Kydex holster and double mag holder, called Oscar and Delta.  We at Spotter Up love stories of people who make thing better, and find a way to do so outside the box, and usually out of necessity.  Squared Away started exactly this way.

You can read more about Mark and his business at www.squaredawaycustoms.com There seems to be some talk in professional circles about major Kydex gear manufacturers.  Who’s better, who endorsed them, and more importantly – why are they so freaking expensive.  But some people want to quietly build awesome holsters, and be good at it.  Mark’s passion for his craft is evident from start.  He answers the phones, manages the web traffic and oh, he builds all your gear.  Quality of that gear is evident from the start.  Ours came in Carbon Fiber Coyote.

A color which would make even a Bengal Tiger blush.  The Kydex Mark uses is  .080 inches in thickness, and it’s evident when you hold the product.  I have seen some Kydex holsters where light almost comes through the plastic, because of the desired cost savings.  When you’re bargaining with weapon retention, that should not be an option.  The Oscar is solid.  It doesn’t bend or give, which is nice to know before you even insert the weapon.  Mark bases his designs off actual weapons, not plastic replicas of them.  The resulting fit is perfect.  Snug, with just a little force required on the draw.  Running and rolling with the holster on still leaves the weapon secured.  Even flipping it upside down is not going to make dislodge it.

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