Toby Mellville of Bad Company Tactical was out at SHOT with his rifle and handgun rapid retention systems on hand. These systems have been out for a while now, but this was the first time I had heard of them. Unlike some of these kydex “M4 holsters” out on the market, the R2S works as a picatinny mounted retention system. The mount can go on the top rail, or some versions go on a side rail. Either way, imagine a complete minimalist Safariland holster, with just the ALS system, sans the actual holster covering. There is a square mounted piece that attaches to MOLLE, or a belt, that has a V shaped opening, with a clip at the bottom of the V, and a square shaped button at the top. The weapon system mount has a picatinny mounted V shaped extrusion, that is then slipped into the V shaped opening on a users belt/flak jacket, thus holstering the weapon until the square shaped button is pressed to release it.

The main idea is for rifles or shotguns, while they have another concept for handguns. This consists of mounting the V mount to the picatinny front rails where a light would normally rest on a handgun, and thus would form part of a holster in of itself. The added usefulness of this system is that a shooter can place their thumb on the mount while firing, thus giving a steady spot to place their thumb on. In addition it has picatinny rails underneath it, for any lights that a shooter would want to add to it, thus keeping the retention system, and a light. But what about a trigger covering? The company makes a kydex trigger covering that is attached to the belt section of the system, that is snapped off the handgun as it is drawn, then the shooter has to re attach it to the handgun once it is holstered.

Toby said the system is currently in use with a number of military and police units around the world. There was a police officer at the booth that was attesting to the usefulness of it, mentioning that his SWAT teams would use it for their door breaching shotguns that they mounted on the back of their vests, ready for use, secured, but also easily put away. In addition, Toby said that the system is extremely strong, saying that they’ve attached all sorts of weight to it, once inserted, and it hasn’t buckled. It has a load bearing weight of 500 pounds or so.

The MSRP for the R2S ranges from $179.99 to $279.99 depending on the configuration you want. Orders can be taken up at the website.