Alien Gear Offers New Lines of Holsters, Accessories
Earlier this year I bought a pair of Alien Gear IWB Cloak Tuck holsters for some carry guns. I liked them enough (see review here) to pick up another one on the secondary market. The folks at Alien Gear have been keeping busy and I recently had the opportunity to try out some of their new products and accessories.
One of the big features of Alien Gear products – aside from comfort – is their modularity. The Cloak Tuck IWB holsters consist of the leather backing, the Kydex shell, and front and rear belt clips – each with three different mounting positions to adjust for cant and ride height. The removable shell allows for swapping out shells if you change carry guns or if the shell gets damaged. This modularity is also the driving force behind a lot of Alien Gear’s newest offerings. Continue reading
Alien Gear, Old Faithful Holsters Merge
Announced today on each company’s respective Facebook pages, Alien Gear Holsters and Old Faithful Holsters are merging together under Tedder Industries. See our Alien Gear Holsters review.
Alien Gear/Old Faithful merger announcement:
Alien Gear Holsters, the makers of quality, concealed carry holsters announces that they are merging with Old Faithful Holsters, also a manufacturer of concealed carry holsters and accessories, to become the leading hybrid holster manufacturer in the United States under parent company Tedder Industries.
The merger of Alien Gear Holsters, based in Hayden, Idaho, with Old Faithful Holsters, based in Fort Smith, Arkansas, further increases the combined companies share in the concealed carry holster market. “The merger is also expected to result in greater efficiencies and significantly increase our market share,” said Thomas Tedder, president of Tedder Industries. Continue reading
Voters Pick Alien Gear as “Best Holster In The History of Ever”
It seems we were not alone in giving Alien Gear Holsters high marks. The folks over at Concealed Nation recently hosted a poll asking voters to choose their favorite holster. From more than 20,000 total votes, Alien Gear was the landslide victor with almost 10,000 votes, accounting for 48% of the responses.
Crossbreed took second with 28% of the votes while Versacarry (9%) and N82 Tactical Holsters (6%) rounded out the top four as the only other holsters with 1,000+ votes. Meanwhile, big name holster manufacturers like Galco, Blackhawk, DeSantis and Fobus struggled to break the 1% mark in the poll. View the full results here.
If you have a holster that you especially love (or hate!), be sure to leave a review on the Gear Reviews board in the reviews section of the GunLink forums.
Zeroing a Weapon Laser – Constant Offset vs Zeroed For Range
Laser sights can be a valuable tool for shooters. They can aid in low-light shooting, allow for quick target acquisition and, some claim, act as a deterrent in defensive situations. Lasers do not take the place of shooting fundamentals and they may not be for everyone (there is certainly not a consensus on their use), but they can be a useful supplement to a firearm’s fixed sights. As long as they are properly aligned, that is… But what does “properly aligned” mean?
What is “Zero?”
Generally, shooters will zero their weapon sights – whether it is a laser, an optical sight or something else – for a certain distance. What does this mean? Picture the trajectory of the projectile as it leaves the muzzle of a firearm. Disregarding bullet drop, wind, atmospheric conditions and things of that nature, the trajectory should be roughly along a line parallel to the center axis of the barrel. Ideally, to target where the projectile will impact, the shooter would want to sight along that trajectory.
The line of sight for a scope or iron sights is a straight line between the shooter’s eye and one or more points in the sight. That straight line is a bit easier to visualize for a laser sight. Since sights are typically placed above, below or to the side of a firearm’s barrel rather than looking down it, something called parallax is introduced. Due to this offset, the line of sight and the center axis of the barrel are almost – but not quite – parallel. At some point downrange, where the two lines intersect, is where the sights are zeroed. Continue reading
Out of This World Holsters from Alien Gear
Alien Gear Holsters has been generating considerable buzz since they flew their UFO full of holsters onto the scene last year. The Alien Gear business model is to “make and sell gun holsters directly to the public at below wholesale prices.” It all sounds too good to be true, but I want to believe so we probed around a bit to learn more. We already have a big Box o’ Holsters at GunLink HQ, so we were hesitant to order more but at this price point, resistance is futile. After all… It’s the only way to be sure, so we ordered a couple.
Hybrid Holsters
Alien Gear IWB holsters are of the hybrid type, which means that they have a Kydex shell attached to a leather backing. The wide leather backing allows the belt clips to be further apart than some other holster types, more evenly distributing the weight of the pistol and making carry more comfortable. The Kydex shell provides a completely custom, form fitting scabbard that securely holds the pistol. Being an IWB holster it, of course, rides inside the waistband of the wearer’s pants, attaching via the belt clips leaving only the clips and the grip of the pistol exposed above the waistband.
Price
The first thing CCW-ers will probably notice when comparing Alien Gear holsters to similar hybrid holsters is the price. Alien Gear holsters start out Continue reading
Buy, Sell and Trade on the GunLink Marketplace
It is no secret that many companies are anti-gun. There are stories about PayPal freezing accounts used to purchase firearms accessories. eBay seems to selectively police what is and is not allowed for sale on their website on a whim. Amazon recently announced changes that will allow fewer types of firearms accessories to be listed for sale. Facebook disallows firearms related advertising and, along with Instagram, is cracking down on private sales of firearms. If you have ever tried to post wanted or for sale ads for firearms or accessories on Craig’s List, you know that they are almost immediately flagged and deleted.
Putting aside the politics and the theory that this is just more propaganda to demonize anything related to firearms, it makes it difficult to complete legitimate, individual, private sales of firearms and accessories. Let’s say you have a box of holsters you don’t use or a firearm you no longer shoot or magazines for a rifle you no longer own. How can you sell your items if you can not list them on eBay or Amazon to get widespread exposure or even Facebook or Craig’s List for the local crowd? This is a familiar, frustrating experience for many people in the market to buy or sell firearms and firearms related accessories.
All hope is not lost, however. The recently-opened GunLink Marketplace is a section of the online GunLink Forums with sections to post for sale, wanted and wanted to trade ads for legal transactions between private individuals. Forum members are able to post their buy/sell/trade announcements in the forums, communicate with the other parties to the transaction, view and leave feedback and more.
As a bonus, since the GunLink Marketplace is brand new, to get things started we are even offering an opportunity to win some prizes just for posting your ad. For a limited time, when you post a buy/sell/trade ad in the GunLink Marketplace, you will be entered for a chance to win some great prizes like firearm-related stickers and patches, knives, flash drives, paracord gear and more.
