Alien Gear Holsters

Alien Gear Holsters started when Thomas Tedder couldn't find a handgun holster he genuinely wanted to carry a pistol in, and started to dabble in holster design. Eventually, he found a design that he was willing to concealed carry with, and began producing and selling holsters initially on a small scale. The company became bigger and Alien Gear Holsters finally relocated to Hayden, Idaho. Tedder realized that the most potential lay in the hybrid holster design, which mates a hard plastic retention shell molded for the gun it would hold to a backing platform made of a durable cloth such as leather.

One of the goals of Alien Gear's inception was to address the weaknesses of typical holster design. Whereas the typical hybrid holster with a leather backer would employ a 8-ounce leather, Alien Gear uses a 12-ounce leather backer. Instead of using a thin shell made of thermoplastic acrylic polyvinyl chloride such as Kydex, a thicker shell was devised for greater durability.

Another common feature of Alien Gear's holsters is the use of hex screws and crushable rubber washers to attach the retention shell to the holster. Belt clips on the inside-the-waistband holster were also made adjustable so the holster would ride at the height and tilt angle that customers preferred.

Innovation of Alien Gear was the universal shell system, as the same holster shell can be placed on any backer made by Alien Gear.