FIST HolstersAs far as gun holsters are concerned, FIST is an interesting manufacturer. I say that as they are a completely custom shop where each holster is made one at a time, yet they can turn out high quality, custom holsters extremely quick when compared to a comparable custom competitor.
Based out of Brooklyn, NY, FIST offer a large variety of holster styles and configurations for well over 100 different handguns. They can fit most anything and are very quick to adopt new handguns as they come into the market (as opposed to many other manufacturers who take months to tool up production for a new gun model). FIST produces holsters in cowhide leather and/or a thermoplastic material called kydex. FIST leather - They appear to use a very high grade of leather which is typically either an 8 or 9 ounce version. The "ounce" rating refers to the weight of the leather in a square foot. So a 6 or 7 ounce leather is typically thinner than an 8 to 9 ounce leather. Leather holsters are offered in a plain version or a handboned version. "Handboning" refers to a process where the holster is molded to the specific weapon to a degree where the weapon details can be seen in the leather. As you can also expect by the name, it's typically done by hand. I'll show some images of handboned versus plain leather down below. Having bought or tried just about every holster maker on the market (at least mainstream ones), I have to say that the FIST boning is fantastic. It's very attractive and, in my humble opinion, makes for a slightly better fit with the handgun.
FIST also offers a choice of about 8 different leather colors ranging from tan all the way to traditional black. A suggestion here: the dye that FIST uses is somewhat custom and not every batch is exactly the same color (except for black). If you happen to be considering a matching set such as holster and mag carrier or holster, mag carrier, and belt; consider ordering it all at once so that it's all dyed together at the same time. I had a prior situation where I ordered a FIST light brown holster one month and then ordered a matching double mag carrier about 2 months later. Unfortunately, the mag carrier didn't really match the color of the holster and I was told about the custom dye matching mentioned above then. FIST kydex - As mentioned before, kydex is a thermoplastic that has become very popular in the holster industry. FIST adopted it early on, and offers two different classifications of kydex depending on the holster usage: Thin - The thin kydex that FIST uses is significantly thinner than any grade or width of kydex that other kydex holster makers use. For example, G-CODE is a popular kydex manufacturer and their kydex holsters are made with a kydex sheet that is .72 thick, and FIST thin kydex is significantly thinner than that. Thin kydex is generally used for OWB holsters or FIST holsters that can be transitioned from OWB to IWB. Ultra thin - This style of kydex is really about as thick as heavy duty construction paper, and is the thinnest kydex I've ever seen. It's only used for IWB and pocket holsters.
Most manufacturers attach kydex using screws or rivets, while FIST actually stitches the kydex together and then applies a thin line of glue. Customizations - One area where FIST really differentiates themselves from the other custom makers is through holster customizations. By that I mean that FIST will allow you to order a holster and then "add-on" customizations like:
Customizations at that level are really unheard of in the holster industry, especially considering the turnaround time that it takes a holster to be created. Obviously, nothing is ever absolutely perfect, so here a few points where FIST could improve:
With that being said, I'm still a huge fan of the FIST line and own several of their holsters. If you are interested in a FIST, you can see their holster offering here, or if you prefer there are some discounted FIST holsters that are for sale below.
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US $35.00
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