Last year Nathan S. posted about the introduction of the WarFytr companies IWB Kydex holster Fabriclip belt clips. I initially read about it with interest but soon found myself working on numerous other projects and eventually forgot about the product. However, fast forward several months later and I was trying to find a much better method to attach a Kydex holster to my pants or belt while appendix carrying. I initially started out with my Kydex trigger guard holster made for my Smith & Wesson M&P 9x19mm Shield, with a simple paracord loop that was attaching the holster to my belt. This began as an excellent idea, and still is in some situations, but for the most part it breeds a number of issues.

First of all, the position of the firearm isn’t the same throughout a typical day of carry. This can be useful because it allows a user to change the grip angle, barrel position, etc… for better comfortability, ease of usage, possible printing, and other reasons. But nine times out of ten, this leads to the firearm going where you precisely don’t want it to go. Sometimes this is further down your pants, maybe even out of it. Other times this means it shifts further right or left of the belt. The other point this brings up is that the only “retention” the handgun has in the waistline is through the pressure of the belt itself, and the pressure of the firearm against your skin. I found this to become extremely irritating after a long day, where the pressure would just build up and up, until the point it would simply hurt too much. In addition, although the paracord does work very well at retaining the trigger guard holster when the firearm is drawn, there is always an element of concern of either the paracord, belt or even belt loop failing, and the entire handgun bend drawn with the holster still clasped around it. Then there is the issue of not being able to “reholster” or attach the holster back to the trigger guard without using both hands to do so. Although it can be done, it is highly unrealistic in a real world scenario where a firearm would need to be holstered rapidly, and possibly with only the use of one hand.

Thus, I knew I didn’t want a trigger guard holster, but I also wasn’t very impressed with many of the other holster clips on the market. I wanted something that was extremely low-profile, retain the handgun at an angle to the belt and could clip to a pair of pants underneath the belt holding them up. The third factor I found out accidentally by attaching a separate IWB belt clip as a sort of improvised clip in lieu of a better one. I used an IWB clip in use by Black Rhino Concealment, a company I’ve come to admire for their Kydex abilities. This clip worked, but I wanted something better, something that could actually clip to a belt. After doing some searching, I remembered the WarFytr clips that Nathan S. had posted about and realized they fit all of my requirements for an IWB clip.

Installation

The most important fact about the clips is that you absolutely need some experience with Kydex/the materials necessary for modification, or at least a friend or local gun store that knows how to work/handle the material. Fitting of the clips does require this expertise because you’ll have to drill holes in the holster, heat up the surface area to expand the Kydex, insert the screw nuts, make sure they are positioned right, and then actually screw them in. If you don’t go through this properly, you risk the chance of ruining a perfectly good Kydex holster. Myself, although I’m running Kydex all the time, I actually have very little experience with working the material, so thus relied heavily on a buddy who does it professionally.

Even with some experience, the Fabriclip takes a solid reading of the instructions and looking at the photographs to see exactly how it is set up. Biggest piece of advice is to have the largest portion flat on the Kydex holster, THEN put the retaining bar on top of it, THEN screwing it in at the bottom, with the rubber piece in between the two. Honestly, I don’t see why the company can’t have the product shipped as a single piece unit, so all you have to do is drill, insert the screws and nuts, tighten, and viola. 

I personally preferred setting the Fabriclip at an angle to my waistline. I liked this because it puts the grip of the handgun at an angle to my chest so it isn’t sticking up parallel to my belt. I feel that it helps in concealing the hardest part of the handgun, the grip while it is being carried every day. This does point the muzzle directly into your thigh at times, and if carried with a round in the chamber, could result in a negligent discharge into your femoral artery, which would be a very bad day indeed. However, I feel that if you are carrying appendix, you’ve probably already made peace with the fact that a load firearm is pointing directly at some pretty sensitive parts of your body.

Setting the grip at an angle led my friend to believe that it could put too much stress on the clip while drawing the handgun. So we tried a slight cant with a Glock 19 holster and the Fabriclip, and then a severe cant on a Shield Fabriclip equipped holster. Rest assured, the severe cant is working perfectly fine on the Shield, with no evidence of it putting too much strain on it.

My first fear with the Fabriclip was that it would be too flexible or too weak. And indeed, the clip is very, very flexible indeed. If you are used to practically any other Kydex retention material, you’ll be thinking how it even holds up. But hold up it does. By clipping to a thin belt or your pants by pushing up on the material, and then being held in by a belt, the retention of the holster in the waistline is superb in many respects.

Drawing

I can’t say much about drawing from the Kydex holster because honestly, this is dependent on your firearm, technique, and holster, much more so than the Fabriclip. That is only IF you have it snapped in correctly. If you don’t, and the entire piece comes out when you draw the handgun, it really is user error.

Concealability

Because concealing firearms can be very subjective to each one of us, I’m going to let photographs speak for themselves. I had my buddy lean back and put himself in various positions that might reveal a handgun the most, so take a look for yourselves-

Downfalls

The first thing that potential users need to take into account is that this product won’t work with a thick belt, essentially anything thicker than a BDU Riggers material. This is a real bummer for those out there who use thick leather belts, or even the Cobra belts out there on the market. The first issues is even fitting the Fabriclip around the material, to begin with. The second issue is even if it does fit, keeping it clipped it place is a hassle because it keeps popping out from the width. I’ve managed to get around this predicament by slicing the two portions of my Cobra belts in two, thus giving it a thin enough portion of the material to actually clip on to. I like sewing stuff and improvising my wardrobe to fit me so it’s not as much of an issue as it might be to others.

The second issue is if you don’t have a sturdy pair of pants when clipped just to the pant line itself, the clip has a tendency to push the holster down into the pants, helped by the belt pressing it in as well. This actually isn’t an issue at all if you want the most in handgun conceal ability, because it pushes the grip halfway into the belt, making it a tad harder to get a grip on, but if you are looking the maximum concealment, this beats a full grip above the belt line. The problem is that you have this odd looking plastic square sticking out below your belt, on your pants, raising suspicions if your shirt comes up too high. This is why you really need to have the clip fully concealed by the belt itself.

Final Thoughts

I like the Fabriclip, and it is staying on my two CCW setups with my Shield, and my Glock 19 IWBs. I’ve been carrying concealed for a number of years, and when it comes to appendix carry, this is the best option I’ve found so far, that corresponds best to my body type and lifestyle. The website shows the clip being used with a magazine, and I regret to inform that I wasn’t able to test the clip with a magazine, just my carry handguns.

Thank you so much for modeling for a day Fatah!