Alien GearShapeshift Core Carry Pack Holster - 4 in 1 Holster, IWB, Appendix, OWB Paddle and OWB Belt Slide Included - Closed and Open Carry - Tuckable - Right or Left Hand Draw - Made in USA

My first impression when I received this product was that I was impressed. The package was very well designed without being overly flashy. Don't get me wrong, it's not like it comes in a shiny metal box that can double as an ammo can, but the box it comes in is certainly better than the typical clear plastic boxes/bags that other holsters tend to be packaged in.Once I opened the box, right on top were the bases for the IWB and Appendix set-ups as well as the instructions. Lift the cardboard with these bases and you find all the other components for this system, neatly organized in their own respective cut outs of a foam pad. But enough about the packaging. We're not paying for a box and foam right?The holster shell itself, is very light weight, has an overall thinner wall thickness than the Black hawk serpa holster, yet it feels as though it has the same level of durability. When comparing the Alien Gear Holster shell mechanisms to those of the Black Hawk serpa: the level 2 retention thumb release of the Alien Gear holster is the only part that I find has a slightly clumsy/flimsy feel. There is some tendency for it to bend a bit when trying to activate the release. This may have to do with my lack of practice with the holster thus far as well as the mechanism being new and not having seen any use. So I'll give it a break in period. This retention device acts in the same manner as the finger release on the Black Hawk serpa in that when the pistol is fully inserted, a latch catches on the trigger guard to keep it in place.The tension adjustment on the Alien Gear is designed to be extremely easy to use. Given the interchangeable nature of this platform, Alien Gear made it to where you can swap the holster shell from one method of carry to the other without the use of tools. The only time you need tools is when initially setting up the different carry platforms to your personal preference. The tension is adjusted using one of the shell twist locks. This is very handy when switching from one carry style to another due to wanting a different tension on the pistol in the holster.The paddle is equipped with a quick release that allows you remove the pistol while still in the holster directly from the paddle. It also allows you to adjust the angle of the holster. This is similar in function to the quick disconnect system available for the Black Hawk holsters. The main differences between the two systems is that the Black Hawk's system requires you to pull two clips then turn the holster to remove it, While the Alien Gear holster simply requires a button push and you can pull it out. One aspect that I'm not fond of with the Alien Gear system is that to put the holster onto the paddle, you have to push the button as well. Also, to change the angle you have to remove the holster, then turn it to your desired angle and put the holster back in. It's not a huge deal, but it would be nice to be able to just push the holster onto the paddle and have it lock in place without having to press the button.The paddle of the Alien Gear is considerably narrower than that of the Black Hawk, but has the same if not better level of comfort that the Black Hawk.Both the IWB and Appendix bases are comfortable, durable and easy to set up. The IWB base has adjustable belt clips to adjust the height and angle of carry and, again, no tool needed to make this adjustment. The Appendix base can be used for either an IWB or OWB carry with the supplied belt attachments. Swapping from IWB to OWB is easy and doesn't take much time at all.Overall, I am impressed with this set. The options of carry that are available with this system and the quality of the materials make this holster well worth the price point. If it wasn't for the very minor things that I personally didn't care for like the level 2 thumb release having a tendency to bend a bit, and the quick release not just snapping into place on the paddle without having to press the button, I'd say its a perfect system.

Bought the Alien Gear Shape Shift Core Carry Pack last month and I have been very happy with it. I always want to buy various holster configurations for any guns that I carry and would need differnt products for different conditions. This pack covers everything in one box and for a very affordable price considering what it comes with. You get IWB which is very comfortable and can be configured different ways for comfort, including appendix carry There are different choices in OWB including including Paddle, double and single belt loop. They even include an extra attachment that you can mount in your car or to a piece of furniture that the holster will attach to for quick access. One great feature other that excellent comfort is that you need no tool to change configurations. When you first open the box, the first thing you notice is that this kit comes with a lot of parts but after five minutes of looking things over it's very simple and easy to reconfigure. Very interesting concept in holsters.

The Holster showed up in a nice shiny box packaged very nicely which I appreciated. The holster had a nice hard shell that was super easy to swap around to the different carry positions, which was also very fun to do. Kinda like a toy for men. It was very comfortable to wear in all the positions. Definitely a very well executed all in 1 holster. You’d think because it’s trying to do everything at once then it would be bad at doing anything right, but you’d be wrong with that assumption. This holster delivers on everything it claims to do, to the letter.

1. Quality, material, workmanship = really good.2. Adjust'ability for cant on IWB appendix and OWB belt slide configuration = does not exist. You can not adjust holster cant of the IWB appendix carry configuration or the OWB belt (loop) slide configuration because those have the belt "interface" (the clip or loop) attached to the holster in only one spot so when the belt is parallel of course the clip or loops are also which means the holster will always be vertical.3. Paddle configuration = sticks out really far. Its nice but is really hanging out there, so unless you are in competition or really really into open OWB carry, this option is useless. This configuration is not for concealed carry. If they included a paddle version for concealed that was adjustable in can't and height it would be really great.4. Not complicated to configure out, but functionally could have been better = Ok I think for the idea and concept of a "modular holster" its good'ish. But its not great because there is a lot of "looks cool" and "over engineering" and some wasted improvement-opportunity going on, and a lack of functionality adjustability for some configurations. For example; The aliengear "alien head" paddle "looks cool" but does not fully stabilize the OWB paddle holster configuration against the body and belt and due to its shape and size it focuses the "wear" into one smaller spot against the body instead of distributing the bearing load to stabilize the holster more. Then not being able to adjust the cant and height on two of the most popular concealed carry configurations, the IWB appendix and the OWB belt slide, detracts from about 50% of the core carry pack usefulness for two of the most popular concealed carry holster configurations.5. Despite the implication from others or reviews or the company marketing language the core carry pack is still only focused on the 4.0 IWB carry with the large backing and the adjustable clips. In this aspect its good, and comfortable (subjectively) - but still has some issues; The holster configuration is really intended for a 4 - 5 o'clock position behind the hip bone because the 3 o'clock position on the hip bone although there is contact with the backing against the body the hip position causes the holster portion (with gun holstered) to sort of pivot on one spot along the horizontal axis. This 3 o'clock position issue is a result of the holster portion (with gun holstered) not having actual full "firm" contact vertically as it begins to ride on the pivot point provided by the shape of the hip bone even though it may feel like it does have full contact because of the backing.Overall: A lot of configurations but it only does one well which is the 4.0 IWB carry with the large backing and the adjustable clips, but then only really in the one body spot 4 - 5 o'clock position behind the hip bone. The IWB appendix carry and the OWB belt slide are functional, but their usefulness is dwarfed by the lack of adjustability of height and cant leaving them with "just gotta accept it and move on" so for IWB appendix carry and OWB belt slide, or even the OWB "paddle" configuration, I'd recommend holsters specifically made for and designed for that use because the alien gear "one size fits all" "modular" concept although functional lacks in these areas.