Video Transcript
Something that's very important to us here at T.REX ARMS is constantly improving our products. These improvements are very small, they're little inline changes that we don't even necessarily announce. We don't even necessarily change all the photos on our website because the changes don't necessarily show up in photography, but when we have a large change such as creating essentially a brand new product, that is something that we have to educate and message on and what I like to do is actually take you guys back and compare to the old product. So in this case we have the brand new Raptor holster, the new version of it. We could call it the Raptor 2.0, we could call it the 2nd generation Raptor, the Mark 2 Raptor, but in this case it's just the Raptor holster.
But we have an older one here that we produced for a few years and then discontinued a while back and as you will see it's very simple in nature. It has a plastic quick clip option here on the front that is screwed together with two screws. There are some holes here so you can run a single clip just like one of our Sidecar style clips or tuckable clips that you can run right there. It has our claw on the side cut for optics and you'll also see the definition on this Glock 19 with TLR7 is fairly rudimentary compared to our newer products. We then later released the Sidecar and this was a product that could be converted into a 4 o'clock, 3 o'clock holster option so it's not appennix carry only where you have the claw and you have two clips for much more stability. Because the downside to the original Raptor especially using a single clip is it just wasn't very stable to the body.
Even using this larger fatter clip, this plastic clip, it also wasn't super stable. Now some people like that because it can move at the body when you're sitting down. But typically speaking it was just not very stable when it comes to drawing the pistol and actually accessing the weapon and that is obviously a problem. The biggest issue that we really ran into with this clip is it breaking. This clip can break quite easily and there were just a lot of people getting replacements and so that wasn't super great. So fast forward now to the new Raptor. You will notice right off the bat that it can take two tuckable clips which is much more stable than your standard single clip on the old Raptor. They are not spaced far enough apart to fit a belt buckle in the middle. If that's something that you like to do in the appendix carry position, I recommend getting a Sidecar where you can get much more distance between both clips and actually fit it in between your belt buckle.
But if that's not really an issue, the Raptor allows you to have very good stability with both clips and unlike on the Sidecar, we have functionality for a larger clip in the center if you don't want to do two tuckable clips. We are utilizing this metal monoblock which actually has two independent little claws or tooths or little areas which gives it some redundancy once you put it on the belt. But it is metal, it's very aggressive and it's much more stable than this traditional plastic clip and much more durable as well. So this is going to get dropped right onto the front. You are going to remove your tuckable clips and then you can go back to your single sort of clip version of the Raptor.
Wear it at 4 o'clock, wear it at 3 o'clock, wear it at appendix, wear it wherever you want. And then the other cool thing with the new Raptor is it is compatible with a special Raptor backer. Just like on the Ironside Hybrid, we have this soft hybrid style backer that you can actually screw the holster directly to and then have a soft sided holster which is a little bit more comfortable. And as you will see, this is also much smaller than the Ironside Hybrid and it gives you the claw functionality that the Ironside Hybrid doesn't either. But that also can make it a little bit harder to put into your pants at 3 or 4 o'clock. So it is just something that you are going to need to consider. But this is compatible.
We have the holes here on the back of the new Raptor on the side channel and then obviously where the retention screws are and the washers here are all going to be made up to the holes that we have built into our backer and so you can adapt this to the holster whenever you need to. Now the main difference between the new Raptor and the older Raptor is the fit and finish of the holster. We have much better processes and systems now for creating molds in house. We have scans of firearms so that we are able to get the holster as perfect as possible for good fit and finish. But the other thing that the development team was experimenting with for a while was actually building different degrees of cant into the holster.
So I am not talking adapting different accessories to the outside on the inside of the holster to kind of mold it to your body but it is actually built into the holster mold itself. For example there is a one degree of tilt built into the holster angling the pistol into your body. Then there is also a 7.5 degree, they are very specific about this, a 7.5 degree tilt into the holster to push your grip into the body to help with that sort of tucking the grip of the pistol and preventing it from printing.
So we have all this baked into the new Raptor. It is just a much superior product compared to the old Raptor. If you do have an old Raptor though, still a good holster, you don't necessarily have to upgrade. But if some of these features that you see, the ability to use a backer, the ability to use something a little bit more sturdy, although I do believe you could technically put this on the old Raptor, you sure could. If all the new features in the new Raptor are something that you are interested in, then yes you might want to consider upgrading. Now all Raptor holsters come shipped with these two tuckable clips already installed, which is in my opinion the most optimal way to use this holster. However, if you are someone who wants to use the monoblock attachment, you can purchase this separately and then mount it to the holster. It will come with all the appropriate hardware and then all you are going to have to do is take this off and add this monoblock to the actual holster.
First thing we are going to do is remove the existing clips. The loctite is really solid in there, take one of the rubber washers from your little screw kit with the monoblock. Now another feature that we have built into the Raptor that you are not going to see right off the bat is we actually have an angled slot here in the middle that actually allows you to can the clips even more. So again, if you really do want to can the pistol in a certain way in your pants or if you are wearing it at four o'clock, you actually have the ability to do so due to these nice little slots here in the middle.
So there is a lot of functionality as far as you have all the holes on the tuckable clip. You can set ride height, you can set the exact angle you want and then you can really tighten down on that screw so that it doesn't move. So again, the Raptor is just the guys have put a lot of features into this holster. It's a feature rich holster. I'm not going to say it's a game changer, but it is a feature rich holster so you can really modify it to your preferences and I recommend you do that. You know, it's pretty good to go out of the box, but try it, play with it, unscrew some things, loosen it, tighten it, see what works best for you and then tighten those suckers down and then you're good to go. But back to installing the monoblock. You're going to take posts, rubber washers in between and again, as we're building all these features into this holster, there's also, you have the functionality to be able to adjust the cant of the monoblock up here in the front by moving the screw post up or down. I like a really straight draw, especially from appendix. So I'm going to keep my monoblock pretty straight.
Now we have yet another feature that's built into the holster, and that is you'll see on your standard Raptor holster, this enlarged area here in the center that extends down from where the monoblock is going to be attached. And the reason for this is to make the belt that you're wearing be a little bit tighter against the monoblock once you've put it in your pants. Because typically what can happen with some of these clips is, you know, you'll attach them with rubber washers so you can tighten them down properly, and there'll just be this large air gap in between so it can still move around pretty freely on your belt.
But because the guys with all of our molds that we've been making in-house built this area up, it just makes it a much tighter and better fit once you actually put this on on your belt and you're carrying a fully loaded duty sized handgun with a red dot with a weapon light so that the pistol doesn't move. So that's what the monoblock attached. There's also plenty of room as you'll see down here because the guys sized it appropriately so that the little toots of the clips are sitting down underneath to also prevent the holster from potentially coming off, just a little bit of added security. So then I'll take my handgun Glock 19 with a TLR7 SRO is my carry on right, grab the outside of the little clips. Then those are going to bite on the underside of my belt. And I'm good to go with a hoodie. I can conceal that just fine. Also super comfortable. I don't have the extra attachment over here like a magazine or a tourniquet,
but I should be good to go.
Now, if you are confused as to, hey, the Raptor holster now exists, the Sidecar can be built into sort of a Raptor holster where I don't have my accessory to have another clip. Which should I buy? Well, ultimately the Sidecar should be purchased as a option if you are primarily carrying appendix. If you're primarily interested in carrying that additional attachment in the front. If you're someone who is more interested in carrying three or four o'clock appendixes doesn't work for you, then I recommend getting a Raptor holster. It's just going to be a better carrying experience dedicated to three or four o'clock.
You can obviously wear them appendix. Lots of people are going to wear these appendix because they don't necessarily want the extra accessory. They just want something streamlined and very simple. Or they want something they can move back and forth very easily. The Sidecar, while it can be adapted to four o'clock and in some ways is a little bit more stable because there's more distance in it with the clips.
The Sidecar is built around being a more dedicated appendix carry holster. Some of those angles and things with the holster are not necessarily built into it to help with the three or four o'clock like they're built into the Raptor for carrying in those positions. So that's just kind of how we have things set up with our holster line. If you're looking into appendix carry, go with the Sidecar. If you want something you can move around wherever you want, you probably want to look into the Raptor. And if you're ever interested in running it as a hybrid, obviously the Raptor is going to have this and that is very nifty. If you have any other questions about the Raptor holster, compatibility with other manufacturers and other parts, go ahead and email us at team@trex-arms.com.