Versacarry The Minimalist Holster
It’s that time of year again when spring is approaching and we start thinking about warm weather. Of course warm weather means a change in holsters and sometimes the guns we carry.
With that in mind I thought there was no better time to talk about the Versacarry holster and its minimalist design.
Versacarry started several years ago after the designer’s home burned to the ground! When his insurance paid for his home he used a good deal of the money to start the Versacarry company. That’s a pretty gutsy decision considering the circumstances. In hindsight it was the right decision.
The Versacarry design is about as simple as they come. Even so this holster can accommodate about any handgun you care to name. The holster starts out with a vertical piece of polymer that goes inside the waistband. At the top of the vertical it bends over with a built in hook securing the holster to a belt. At the bottom of the vertical piece it takes a 90 degree angle of about one inch. In this “L” shaped part a hole is drilled and a sized and color coded delrin rod is fixed in place as you see in the picture below. These delrin rods are made in many sizes to fit the internal dimensions of various caliber barrels.
An upgrade to the original design is a trigger guard. Again, it’s simple and easily accommodates an ambidextrous carry option. The trigger guard is show below. It fits into a slot that runs through the vertical piece allowing it to be moved from one side to another. It does fit securely so no worries about it coming loose. Simply pull the part out and put it on the other side—that’s it.
Now some may hesitate to have a gun secured by placing the delrin rod in the gun barrel and I understand that. As long as you don’t force the rod into the barrel it draws easy. Delrin certainly won’t hurt the barrel.
Sizing is simple. You choose the gun you want it to fit and you get a holster that matches the height and width of the gun with the appropriate size delrin rod for the caliber of gun your using. If you have two identical guns with the exception of caliber the delrin rod can be changed out to accommodate the new gun.
The cost for any holster is $25, which is a bargain price for a holster that works.
Now I do have a couple of concerns. The first is one I mentioned. You absolutely cannot push the gun barrel hard over the delrin rod and get it stuck. Even though the rod has a natural lubricity you can still overdo it and possibly break the rod off. The screw that attaches the rod to the holster is the weak spot. The second thing is once drawn you have to remove the holster in order to re-holster. It is possible to re-holster without removal but it’s difficult to do and takes less time to remove and re-holster. That’s not a big deal in a critical situation because you’ll not re-holster until things are resolved. This is not the type of holster you take to the range to practice drawing!
Overall it’s good holster for its intended purpose of deep concealment.
Retired police officer with 30 years of service. Firearms instructor and SRU team member. I still instruct with local agencies. My daily carry pistol is the tried and true 1911. I'm retired as associate editor since December 14th 2017. My replacement is my friend Pete M email: pete.m@staff.thefirearmblog.com you can reach Pete for product reviews etc.
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If you're mildly interested you can make a basic version of this out of quarter inch steel rod from election or contractor advertising signs, Just bend it once for a belt hook and then much lower down bend it again to fit up into the muzzle. Wrap the whole thing with electrical tape to prevent scratching the inside of the barrel or outside of the gun. Can save you the $25.
I became familiar with the Versacarry after hearing about it from a friend. Although I was skeptical at first, I tried it out and I'm really happy with the way it works. I'll admit, I was a little paranoid about having the trigger partially exposed when I first began to carry - especially when I bent over or squatted. However, logic kicked in and I was able to re-affirm and remind myself that there's no way my bare skin is going to provide enough pull to depress the trigger. I suppose it all comes down to how comfortable you are with your handgun. In the end though I can only really speak for myself. In my search for a concealed carry holster, Versacarry was my choice.