Tucker “The Answer” IWB holster
I received my Tucker Gunleather “The Answer” hybrid holster for $115 (ouch) from pistol-gear.com. Fast order processing and handling…I’m pretty happy with the service! But on to the holster itself.
The holster is a hybrid design, essentially sandwiching the gun between leather and kydex:
The leather side faces your body, and has a kind of pleasant suede surface (see middle image above) on the part that touches your body. The other side comes in contact with the gun and is the smooth tanned side.
The kydex side ends up between the leather and your pants, and is molded to fit your gun (in my case, an XD-9 4″ Service). Although the kydex is rigid, since it’s only on one side of the gun the structural rigidity isn’t as high as a full-shell design. Your body pressing against the leather provides retention pressure against the kydex. The thermoplastic / kydex parts, incidentally, are all from Comp-Tac.
The entire rig is secured with the two adjustable belt loops. The ones on this particular holster slip over your belt (the “standard” clips).
Here’s what it looks like in a pair of pants (which are too small…I need to buy some bigger pants to accomodate the extra girth of the gun).
Initial Impressions
This is my first ever inside-the-waistband (IWB) holster, so I’m not quite sure what to expect from it. I’m wearing it around the house while doing regular work to see how comfortable it is.
Comfort: The main issue I have right now is my pants are too small around the waist now, so I’ll have to get some special pants. The leather prevents the gun from touching my skin, so I’m not being poked or scraped.
Stability: I have to try some practice draws with this after moving around. The suede-backed leather patch helps hold the entire gun in place, so while there is some shifting around it doesn’t feel unstable at all. Rather clever.
Concealability: It seems OK, but I need to get the larger pants to really assess this.
Ease of Draw: It comes right out…seems fast. The retention is not as snappy as other kydex holsters, because the shell is only on one side.
Ease of Reholstering: With my pants being a bit too small now, the mouth of the holster is slightly pinched shut. However, it still remains open enough to, with practice, enable a safe one-handed reholster. I found that I could run the thumb of my gunhand along the top of the belt until I felt the leather, then guide the gun in at the correct angle after about an hour of trying out different techniques. You can also improve the rigidity a bit by having the holster ride up a little higher, so more plastic is exposed above the beltline.
Construction: Seems like a high-quality product, designed for adjustability and comfort. The plastic parts and metal rivets seem substantial. The angle of the holster can be adjusted by unscrewing the belt hooks and moving them. An adjustment wrench is included. My only issue is with the retention mechanism, which seems a bit on the weak side and is adjustable only to a point. More on that below.
Retention: Unlike full kydex holsters, this one doesn’t have that “snap” feel to it. There is a slight resistance to overcome, but it’s much less pronounced compared to my Uncle Mike’s Kydex OWB holster. 
There are adjustment for this, but the ends of the screws start to press in on the other side of the leather…the screws would have to be physically shortened to prevent them from poking through on the other side, so your tightening is limited. One thing that might have helped is putting a small plastic plate opposite of the kydex shell, just in the trigger area to provide more aggressive retention; If I dropped my pants while unbuttoning in the bathroom, I have the feeling I might lose the gun. I tried to simulate this, and I’d say it’s possible, but you’d have to REALLY screw up badly.
Misc: The magazine release is partially covered by the kydex shell. Because of this, an in-holster magazine change is a bit difficult to do. Since the snap retention is on loose side, you can lift the gun slightly and then press the mag release.
The bottom of the holster is open, but the muzzle doesn’t extend past the leather protection with the XD 4″. The Tactical model, though, would protrude lower.
A lot of people are saying this is a very comfortable holster, so I probably lack the broad experience of other designs. I’ll wear it for a few days and see how it really works out. After I get some new pants. The retention questions I have may be non-issues with a better fitted pair of pants.
If this doesn’t work out, one of the other holsters mentioned here may be due a visit. The Tucker Gunleather Store mentions several other positive reviews too.