Discover Easier EDC With The ShapeShift Pocket Holster

A safer, slimmer, simpler pocket holster for everyday carry

Pocket holsters can be safe, but often require a tradeoff in accessibility.

Pocket holsters can be convenient, but often require a tradeoff in safety.

Pocket holsters can be compact, but often require a tradeoff in trigger guard coverage.

The is safe, convenient and compact. It's Alien Gear's slimmest holster, and includes full, rigid trigger guard coverage. Its design allows for a swift draw stroke.

We've made a few tweaks to the traditional pocket carry design.

Pocket Carry Requires A Pocket Holster

Make no mistake - if you're going to carry a pistol in a pocket instead of on the waistband, you need a pocket holster.

When it comes to unsafe actions that some gun owners engage in, one of the most frequent and most dangerous of them is pocket carry without a holster. It is responsible for a great many negligent discharges as well as a number of injuries and even fatalities.

Carrying a loaded pistol in one's pocket puts you and everyone around you at risk. The trigger can easily be snagged by the fabric inside the pocket or by anything else in the pocket, leading to a gunshot. Even double-action pistols can and have been involved in such accidents.

The best way to prevent them from happening is to use a pocket holster. With a pocket holster, the trigger is protected and the pistol can be carried in total safety. However, classic pocket holster designs can be bulky and uncomfortable, or are too flimsy to seriously protect the trigger guard.

How we redesigned pocket carry

Many pocket carry options tend to be a soft textile folded in half and sewn in the shape of a given handgun.

We're not a fan.

Others are a piece of plastic heated and molded over just the trigger guard.

There are flaws in that approach.

Most include some method of disguising the presence of a handgun.

That's needed.

The ShapeShift Pocket Holster is made (in USA) with a proprietary polymer blend -- a material almost identical to that which is in the compact, striker-fired gun it's made to hold.

We removed all soft textiles. It's safer that way.

That polymer compound is injection molded into a thin shell that covers the front of the slide and trigger guard. Another molded piece locks beneath the trigger guard, fully enveloping it.

A single polymer hook is bolted to the underside of the trigger guard -- the side resting against the body.

This hook attachment achieves four specific things:

  1. It extends sideways to remove the visibility of the handgun, eliminating printing.
  2. It pushes through the shell and inside the trigger guard to latch onto the gun for adjustable passive retention.
  3. It provides a textured space for the thumb to brace against and push off the shell when drawn.
  4. It latches onto the pocket during the draw stroke to keep the holster in the pocket.

We changed things. Not a lot. Nothing radical.

Just enough to make pocket carry safer, simpler and slimmer.

So, is pocket carry worth your time?

Why this new pocket holster could be for you

A pocket holster is really convenient -- under the right conditions.

Apparel and gun choice, of course, will be key when .

The pocket hook attached to the slim ShapeShift Shell is 1.73" tall, 1.9" wide and 1.05" thick. There's no printing, and the holster curves with the leg.

There is no visible handgun in the pocket. Slip it into a pair of jeans or a jacket.

The ShapeShift Pocket Holster is for anyone who wants ...

  • Complete trigger guard coverage
  • Rigid trigger guard coverage
  • An unobstructed trigger guard
  • Vastly reduced likelihood of negligent discharge
  • Pocket carry without printing
  • A smooth draw stroke when pocket carrying
  • A safe and convenient way to carry a compact handgun
  • A quickly accessible backup handgun
  • A holster mechanically engineered and torture tested for strength and durability
  • Adjustable retention
  • The ability to reconfigure the holster into other common carry styles
  • A cost effective solution for everyday carry
  • The ability to test drive a holster for 30 days
  • A lifetime warranty on their holster
  • A holster from a company that makes its products in America

Is this pocket holster for you?

You can be the judge of that.

What we can say is that it's engineered to be the slimmest, safest and simplest way to pocket carry.

Already own a ShapeShift Holster? The fits every Shift Shell besides the 1911 - 5 Inch and S&W SD9/40 VE.

About The Author

Jake Smith (@notjakesmith) is a copywriter and photographer based in the pacific northwest. He graduated from the University of Idaho with degrees in public relations and apparel.

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