Falco's Hybrid IWB Holster: More Than Meets the Eye

The world can be a shady place, especially in our corner of the globe. We are a melting pot, not just of ages, ethnicities and religious backgrounds, but of worldviews, personalities, values, and moral compasses, too. “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” Forrest Gump was on point! What a relevant statement describing our era, nation and social temperature, and a perfect reason to carry a firearm for protection.

While such thoughts can be daunting and uncomfortable, carrying a firearm shouldn’t be. As a firearm writer, I have employed a ridiculous number of holsters, inside the waistband (IWB), outside the waistband (OWB), belly band, shoulder and chest-carry models and everything in between. As a student of Marine Corps teachings, I understand the importance of the element of surprise and it remains my primary personal defense strategy. Indeed, in the interest of appearing non-threatening, I use IWB holsters pretty exclusively for concealed carrying. My new favorite being the Falco’s A116 Hybrid IWB Holster; a solid hat-tip mix of old-world European artisanship and today’s industrial return-on-investment production approach, which we benefit from.

A Look Inside Falco Holsters

What happens within the company’s walls says quite a bit about the products heading out of their doors. As such, before getting into Falco’s Hybrid IWB Holster, the company itself is worth understanding. Resting quietly in an ancient caldera surrounded by mountains, Banská Štiavnica has thrived on mining, craftsmanship and artistry for more than 800 years. Regional ancestors worked their fingers to their bones to mine for gold, silver, lead, copper and zinc, and to handcraft heirloom-quality goods from the same elements, as well as pottery and leather. Such unwavering dedication to those legacy principles remains alive and well today, Falco Holsters, founded in 1988, is a shining example.

I was fortunate to spend a week within Falco’s walls exploring and experiencing all facets of the company’s design, development, production and customer service processes with Falco’s VP of Sales and Marketing, Katarína Zacharová, and marketing manager, Martin Lukačko. During off-hours, I also was fortunate to gain valuable insight into Slovakian culture and the enthusiastic work of Banská Štiavnica’s own Falco workforce, who are all fiercely dedicated to producing goods that pay homage to their artisan ancestry and loyal to their gentle, heritage-driven CEO, Róbert Kováč. Falco is a family-owned business, originally dedicated to producing premium leather falconry gloves and Kováč is laser-focused on preserving the honor and integrity of his father’s company and legacy.

Production Pedigree

Production begins with careful inspection of raw materials, most importantly, premium, pre-tanned Italian leather sheets. Robert is clear about the leather chosen for Falco holsters–input determines output. Once cleared for production, leather sheets (or fabric depending on work orders) are placed on a high-tech cutting table. A combination of optimizing software (to minimize waste) and a cutting head operating on X and Y axis is used to efficiently cut programmed patterns of holster components (for more than 3,000 inventoried handgun designs, including optic and mounted-light solutions) out of the sheet to be organized into parts bins. For the moment, this is the end of high-tech production. Slovakian handwork takes over.

Employees remove holster components by bin and clean the cut edges, primarily with lighters, burning and smoothing rough-cut edges. Once the edges are clean, the leather parts are dressed in dark stain, often referred to as edge dressing. With edges cleaned and dressed, (leather) pieces are treated and softened, then all components are moved into sewing rooms. This is the last bit of high-tech manufacturing in Falco’s leather holster production cycle. Of course, high-tech is a loose term here considering sewing machines have made stitching more efficient for more than 190 years!

Once holsters are stitched together, leather holsters are further molded, styled and stamped by hand for perfect fitment and retention. Once completed, holsters, leather and fabric alike, get the extras like belt clips. Even Falco’s Kydex holsters exhibit tell-tale signs of artistry and technology. Employees use Falco’s previously mentioned inventory of handgun molds and super-heated American-made Kydex to hand-form and style cooling material into a holster. Once cooled, edges are polished, and fasteners and accessories are added. Cut sheets of Kydex and heating aside, all processing of Kydex holsters is by hand. What a fitting example (pun intended) of merging handwork and techy processes alive and well in today’s more advanced Kydex holster systems. Honestly, the only products leaning heavily on technology are Falco’s latest holster plays in the realms of carbon fiber and 3D printing.

Of course, in a place built upon the crossroad of artisanry and advanced technology, it’s only fitting that I share my experiences with the crossroad within a crossroad, Falco’s Hybrid IWB Holster.

Falco’s A116 Hybrid IWB Holster

A result of Falco’s hybrid handmade/high-tech approach, the Hybrid IWB is aptly named, comprised of a premium leather backing and rigid U.S.-made Kydex shell, to me, the best of both worlds. It’s hard to beat the comfort of broken-in leather and the peace-of-mind reliability found in a hard-sided Kydex exterior. I tend to believe comfortable, hard-side Kydex protection and positive, passive firearm retention without locking mechanisms are the types of holsters most of us are after for all-day, everyday wear. The only difference here is that while most tolerate or accept Kydex-only holsters, I have found a better way in Falco’s Hybrid IWB.

Carriers can lie all they want, but if I had a dollar for every friend of mine who takes their holstered handgun out of their waistband while sitting or driving, I wouldn’t have to write this article. I get it. If I do happen to be carrying a Kydex-only holster while driving, it often ends up in my cupholder or center console until I’m ready to walk again. Many of you do the same. What I have found in the Falco Hybrid IWB Holster is all-day standing and sitting comfort carrying at my 3:30–4 o’clock position.

Depending on the pistol model, and accessory like a weapon-mounted light, the Kydex shell occupies roughly one-third of the total footprint and is flanked nearer to each edge by high-tension steel belt clips for up to a 1.5-inch belt. You can opt for 2-inch belt clips but I prefer mine smaller for better comfort under my unruly gut.

As I write this, I have two Falco A116 Hybrid IWB Holsters, one for my Avidity Arms PD10 (my current carry pistol) and another for a Glock 19 Gen 3, my previous carry pistol of choice. I am waiting for a third to accommodate a sub-compact pistol I am looking forward to testing and carrying, the Taurus GX4 Carry.

Key Attributes

Employing the Falco Hybrid IWB Holster, I realized several key attributes important to concealed carriers. First, I have worn the holster for months, now carrying two different pistols with the same results, the holster is comfortable. Even on sweltering summer days here in Texas, it dries quickly and the expanded footprint of the leather against my body makes the feeling of wearing a holster forgettable, as I often don’t feel it at all. The pressure of wearing it beneath my belt and pant-waist is distributed evenly across a larger, more comfortable swath of my side. The belt-clip tension is quite tight, it can be tough to wedge on and off the belt and has not relaxed much. I have learned to apply and remove the holster fairly easily but it’s even easier to simply run my belt through the clips.

In both pistol models, the Kydex shell hugs my pistols evenly, completely encapsulates the trigger and offers the reliable passive retention most important to me. Even holding it upside down, my pistol is secure; however, drawing and holstering are also easy. Why is this important? I want the peace of mind that comes with knowing that even if I am running, falling, rolling around (those who know me are laughing now)–my pistol stays holstered.

Equally as important, is that if something does happen, my draw won’t be inhibited by poor fitment or any iteration of a locking mechanism which is the same reason I prefer a personal defense pistol without a safety lever. In the thick of something, I want the ability to draw, point and shoot without the potential for some life-altering/ending delay.

At the end of the day, concealed carriers aren’t asking for rocket-science holster solutions. Our demands are pretty basic: comfort, durability, that peace-of-mind retention that I keep repeating, and uninhibited access; however, so many manufacturers lose points here. Sure, the pistol might be secure but the holster sucks to wear it every day. Falco’s Hybrid IWB Holster delivers on all of those demands and much more. The holster is a shining representation of what Kováč hopes it to be worthy of the Slovakian heritage poured into every single holster exiting Falco’s family-business walls.

My hope is new gun owners learn about their firearms, train and carry them responsibly…in holsters that work–Falco’s Hybrid IWB being an exceptional choice. Learn more at www.FalcoHolsters.com. 

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