With the current legislative trend towards "shall issue" concealed weapons permit laws in many states, many Americans are now faced with a mind boggling array of choices.  Revolver or semiauto?  Single or double action?  9x19mm, .40, or .45?  Blue or stainless?  Unfortunately one of the most important choices is  also the most neglected: choosing the right concealment

The problem, however, is that the holster buying public has been effectively held hostage to a few well known holster manufacturers whose product lines often do not cover the niche sought by the customer, are not made for the firearm in question, and are always very expensive.   Additionally, response to customer concerns may not always be up to the levels one would like.  Let's give this a concrete example:

Those readers who have been with us for a while, or who have corresponded with us at all, are well aware that we at CRUFFLER.COM have a love affair with the CZ-75, and consider it to be one of the best, if not the best, double action self loading pistols on the market (We still bear the scars from saying that in too close proximity to the SIG-Sauer crowd and the Glock gang!).  The only problems with the CZ-75 are that it's big, and the holster selection is rather small.   After a good deal of searching, one of our editorial staff found a Bianchi Model 4L belt slide holster for the CZ-75 in a local gun shop.  Retail price for the holster was close to $90.00.  Upon getting home, our  Cruffler immediately slid his CZ-75 into the holster.  Just as soon as he did so, he was aghast.  The gun simply would not fit all the way into the holster!  Further examination revealed that the holster had been made for the older model CZ-75 with a rounded trigger guard, despite the fact that this model has not been produced for more than five years.  A letter and an email to Bianchi went unanswered for weeks, at which point the response was "take it back to the store."  When pressed on the question as to why such a respected company as Bianchi would sell a product that was out of date, packaged misleadingly, and potentially dangerous (a significant portion of the trigger is exposed when the pistol is holstered), Bianchi offered no explanation, but did offer to refund the purchase price.

IRONOAK LEATHER PRODUCTS
Which left us back at square one - looking for a concealment holster for a CZ-75.   Enter Ironoak Leather Products.  Ironoak Leather Products is a Philadelphia based company that specializes in handcrafted leather holsters for real world concealment applications.  Ironoak's owner and sole employee is a gentleman named Paul Litwinow.  Mr. Litwinow has been working with leather goods for more than thirty years, and has been making holsters for fifteen.    While originally specializing in horse tack, Mr. Litwinow began to make holsters when his wife became a police officer.  Based on her feedback, and that from her fellow officers to whom he also supplied holsters, he gradually expanded and refined Ironoak's product line to its current size.  Browsing Ironoak's web page, we were struck by the wide array of holster types available (28 different kinds), and the even wider array of firearms for which holsters were available (in excess of 140).  On closer inspection, we were impressed with the retail prices, which offered significantly greater value than any of the major holster manufacturers.  It cannot be stressed too greatly that Ironoak is a one man operation.  This means two things - one, that you WILL get the proper holster to fit your gun exactly, and two, that there will be a delay while your order is filled.  Unlike the well known holster manufacturers who mass produce their products, Mr. Litwinow hand-crafts each holster himself.

At this point, our intrepid staffer was practically salivating, jumping about like a man with drawers full of Ben-Gay, and screaming "They have it! They have it!"  When he returned to a semblance of of sanity, he explained that his preferred method of concealed carry had long been for the pistol to be inside the waist of his trousers, but instead of on his hip, he wanted the pistol to be nestled in the small of his back.  He'd been looking for a holster for this application for years, but had been unable to find one for his CZ-75.   Curious as we were about to the nature and quality of Ironoak holsters  we emailed Ironoak and ordered a "Sabre" inside the waistband, small of the back  holster for a CZ-75 in oxblood for our staffer to test.  (The CZ-75 is a somewhat unfair test for any concealment holster, as the pistol is both large and heavy.) The Sabre rig consists of a holster that fully encloses the pistol, and a double belt loop that attaches to the holster with snaps for easy removal.  It retails for $64.95.    The holster arrived a few days later.

VISUAL EXAMINATION
Upon opening the box, we were treated to the rich smell of leather and dye, not unlike the strong, but pleasant odor one encounters in a shoe repair shop.  Finish on the holster was flawless, and the leather was molded exactly to the exterior contours of the gun, as if it had been "sprayed" on to a CZ-75.  Importantly, this holster had been made for the contours of the modern CZ-75, with the squared off trigger guard.  The stitching was very expertly done, showing no thread edges or weak spots.  The holster is of cowhide, of laminate construction.  What this means, as was explained to us, is the following:  Most of the strength in a piece of leather is in the smooth or grain side.  When two pieces of leather are bonded together rough side to rough side (flesh side) it creates a single piece of leather that is more stable, with more body than a single piece of leather with the same total thickness.  After the stitching, wet moulding, and applying the finish, a holster far superior than any single-ply holster is created.  What that also means is that the holster is finished with a smooth inside as well as outside, which is much better for the finish on blued guns.

The version we ordered came with the "Bodyguard" feature.  The Bodyguard, which is available on Ironoak holsters at no additional cost, is an integral extension of the side of the holster closest to the body.  This extension prevents grip tangs and hammer spurs from biting into the wearer, serves as a reholstering guide, and also shields more of the gun from sweat.

The leather is nicely stiffened so that it both retains its shape when worn, and also makes one-handed reholstering much easier than expected with a small of the back holster.  Additionally, the form fitting nature of the holster ensures excellent retention qualities (one can actually feel and hear the pistol "click" into place) while ensuring that one can draw the pistol without difficulty.  In sum, the holster seemed to be very nicely, and very thoughtfully made.

FIELD TEST
After visually examining the holster, we determined to put it through a rigorous, but realistic test. . . .which means that we handed it off to our salivating staffer and told him to "real world test" the holster.    Tests were designed to measure the holster's comfort to the user,  concealability, and  useability (i.e. ability to draw and present the pistol).  We've reproduced our tester's reports in their entirety:

Comfort

"I wore the holster for a minimum of eight hours a day, for six days straight.  Clothing varied from jeans and a t-shirt with an overshirt, to slacks with a dress shirt, to a suit.  Outside temperature ranged from about 40 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.   Through it all I found myself bordering on oblivious to the holster's presence.  The only times I became acutely aware of it were when I bent over.  The only negative comment I can make about wearing this holster is actually a comment about the CZ-75, and not the holster itself.  The baseplate on a CZ-75 magazine is stamped sheet steel, and extends beyond the edge of the frame.  On one occasion or another this sheet steel piece would dig into my back.  A small piece of electrical tape on the edge of the baseplate solved that problem.

I also wore the holster while driving in three different kinds of vehicles - a small, low to the ground, Japanese sports car where your legs are practically parallel to the ground, a typical family sedan, and a light truck.  I drove all of these vehicles for a minimum of one hour, and more often two to four.  Driving conditions included rain, sun, and extremely heavy traffic.  In all circumstances the holster was a pleasure to wear and contributed not at all to any discomfort.

All in all, this one of the most comfortable holsters I've worn."

"The CZ-75 is not an easy pistol to conceal.  It's big.  It's heavy.  It has a very long grip. Which is exactly why it's a great test for a concealment rig.  I've long been an advocate of the school of thought that you can conceal just about any pistol, regardless of size.  The Sabre rig from Ironoak vindicates this way of thinking.  Since I live in the Washington DC suburbs, in the spring and summer, I normally do not wear suits or jackets, but rather jeans or khakis with a t-shirt and an untucked, unbuttoned overshirt.  While this makes hiding smaller guns a snap, it is more difficult to conceal a larger pistol because of the tendency of the outline of the gun to reveal itself, or "print" on the fabric of the overshirt.  What the Sabre rig does is position the bulkiest part of the gun, the grip, in the hollow of the small of the back, and uses the body's natural curvature to conceal the pistol.  The pistol is positioned so that the majority of the gun is below the waistline, with the muzzle pointing down and to the left (this is a right handed rig) and the bottom of the butt pointing up and to the left.

I walked around with the pistol/rig in the supermarket, in the park while walking my dog, in the mall, while having dinner at the home of some friends, and in general everywhere I went for six days straight.  While I was constrained from some actions, such as bending at the waist to tie my shoes, I generally have those same constraints with any rig worn on or inside the belt.  To my knowledge, the pistol remained unobtrusive and concealed, and was not spotted in any circumstance.  I am very happy with the concealment qualities of the Sabre."

"Drawing the pistol from the Sabre takes a little getting used to, owing wholly to the gun's position relative to the strong hand.  What one has to do is move the hand back as if one was going to draw the gun from a standard hip holster and then keep moving the hand to the rear.  The pistol requires a bit of effort to free it from the holster, but this is more a consequence of the newness of the holster and the glove-like fit to the gun.  Regardless, it should be said that this sort of holster does NOT make for a rapid presentation.  Speed is sacrificed for concealability.  It's not hard or difficult to draw from the Sabre, it just requires a little more time and effort than drawing from a hip holster, although not quite as much as a shoulder holster.  I had no difficulty presenting from the holster.  However, as I mentioned, anyone buying ANY small of the back holster must understand the speed vs. concealability trade off.

That being said, I felt very confident that had I  needed to do so, I would have been able to draw in plenty of time to protect myself."

And now, our Buy-O-Meter rating for this product:
 

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