By Jason Bayne
I made my trip around the custom world over the years and some time ago I finally settled on the Tucker Gunleather Cover-Up Plus as my IWB holster of choice for all of my carry guns. Why? Most IWB holsters are adjustable for either cant or height, but not both…or not adjustable at all.
The Tucker Cover-Up line of holsters were one of the few IWB holsters that I could find that were adjustable for both cant and ride height. Let’s face it, humans come in as many shapes and sizes as there are people. The more adjustment an IWB holster offers, the better the chance of finding that perfect, comfortable fit for day-long carry.
The Cover-Up line is made of leather. I don’t know about you, but I find Kydex rubbing up against my skin all day long to be very uncomfortable; especially in hot and humid South Florida where I call home. I would much rather have leather, which, after all, is actually skin, rubbing against my hip and buttock all day instead of plastic.
Kydex is also rougher on gun finishes than leather as well. I don’t mind being rough on the finish of a utilitarian pistol like a GLOCK, but I want to keep the finishes on my Wilson Combat and Dan Wesson carry guns looking as nice as possible; leather is the only way to do that.
I saw Tucker had a new IWB holster offering, the DC-2 single clip holster which is part of a new line for them (DC stands for deep carry). The DC-2 is Tucker’s IWB option in the DC line. It looks very much like my favorite cant- and height-adjustable Cover-Up holster, but the construction is different.
The DC-2 is made with a Boltaron shell covering a leather interior. For those of you not familiar with Boltaron, it is a thermoplastic that has a softer, more leather-like feel to than Kydex with better heat resistance.
All of the DC line holsters can be ordered in tan, black or teal with either black or brown stitching. It is my understanding a black cherry option will be available in about a month.
If I had one criticism of the Cover-Up rig, since it is all leather, it’s not very rigid. The Cover-Up Plus dealt with that by adding support to the mouth of the holster to make reinserting the pistol after drawing a bit easier. But it’s not perfect; I find I need to use my free hand to help nose the gun back into the holster.
Though Boltaron has the look and feel of leather, it’s much more rigid than leather; so the DC-2 keeps it’s shape and makes re-holstering with one hand a snap. Boltaron is even thinner than leather, which makes the DC-2 less bulky than the all-leather Cover-Up.
There’s one last feature on the DC-2 that I really appreciate that could easily go unnoticed. The belt clip is set up in such a way that it is slightly offset at an angle from the holster itself.
As a result, the grip of the gun is pressed firmly and flush up against your body; it does not stick out from your side at all. Angling the belt clip in this way serves the same purpose as the “claw” feature you see attached to many Kydex IWB holsters these days, and accomplishes the same goal without the added bulk.
Tucker’s Cover-Up holsters don’t have this feature because the leather-only construction isn’t rigid enough to maintain the offset angle of the below clip.
It seems that I have found myself a new IWB holster for my EDC. I have been saying for years the Cover-Up Plus is the best IWB holster on the market. Those days are over. The king is dead, long live the king.
Ratings (out of five stars):
Comfort: * * * *
Boltaron is just as comfortable against your skin as leather, and much more comfortable than Kydex.
Concealability: * * * * *
All of my commander-sized 1911 Pistols disappear under a t-shirt as long as the shirt isn’t skin-tight. I know all about wearing t-shirts and concealed carry; I live in South Florida and carry a gun 15 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Value: * * * *
I have paid twice the price for custom IWB holsters that are neither as functional or as comfortable as the Tucker DC-2 IWB.
Overall: * * * *
The Tucker DC-2 IWB just wins no matter what aspect or feature you consider important for an IWB holster. I have tried them all, the DC-2 is simply the best at any price.
That is some scary, let’s drop my weapon FBI scary, junk.
But that’s OK, it’s custom.
One screw holding the belt clip. Is the holster or clip able to rotate?
There are 52 reviews on that holster at the maker’s website and nearly all are five stars. Only a few are four stars and none are lower. That’s not at all likely. Somebody had to of had a poor opinion on the thing sometime.
I figure those reviews have been cleaned up.
Would that be “self promotion” or Amazon reviews?
I would buy Uncle Mike over this.
look at the pic with both pistolas on the ruled grid table. see the three screws fastening the two sides of this folded design?
that’s where the clip should go.
Doh!
And you paid $105 for that POS (plus tax and shipping)? Ok. Your money.
I like Wright Leather and TT Gunleather.
The De Santis Dual Carry II has a similar clip for IWB, and a belt slide type of setup on the back for OWB. It is also similarly adjustable for cant and ride height in IWB mode, and has a thumb snap for retention. Also only costs about $35.
Wow, thanks for letting me know what NOT to buy.
Looks like a lot of people hate this holster.
Just not the guy who reviewed it.
I get that its pricey, but so are a lot of holsters that are popular.
Hell…kydex is cheap but there are plenty of kydex holster pushing 100 dollars.
My BBF holster was 20 bucks….but it ain’t special….but decently comfotable.
I like my Milt Sparks holsters.
Wait time and pricey but worth it. To each his/her own though.
Joatmon, love my Sparks too. Along with my Kramer, El Paso Saddlery, Mitch Rosen, and Blade Tech (when I go kydex.) Galco for factory. Nice leather is, well nice. And worth every penny.
How about a follow up article on how those Wilson Combats are holding up?
damn that look neat…
کابل شبکه
“I hate plastic it hurts my booty, leather is so much better for a holster. But my favorite holster is leather wrapped in plastic.”
So….you keep calling this a Tucker Gunleather holster…..but the stamping in the pics says Tucker and Byrd.
I know Mr. Tucker’s history with both companies….but who’s holster did you actually review?
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