Put it there!
Rod Pascoe visits a new custom holster-maker
A brand new start-up industry has appeared in suburban Canberra and can boast of being the first to manufacturer Kydex holsters in Australia. What’s Kydex? It’s a polycarbonate material which can be easily moulded and shaped to snugly fit anything, including handguns and magazines. Not only is Airborne Customs the first to manufacture these products, they’ll also make holsters and magazine pouches to fit some of the more unusual pistols, including vintage military and police firearms for the ‘classic handgun’ style of matches.
The business name is based on proprietor Sam Miller’s former employment. He spent 10 years in the Australian Army as a rifleman, posted to the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR), which at one time was Australia’s only light-infantry battalion with parachute-insertion capability. Inspired by his service, the Airborne Customs logo consists of stylised wings based on 3 RAR’s parachute qualification badge, magpie wings and .45 ACP cartridge in the risers at the top of a parachute.
Sam and business partner Luc researched similar products made from the same materials and found they mainly originated in the US. Prices out of the US for holsters were high enough even before Covid and now, along with the exorbitant postage rates, an American-made holster becomes an expensive proposition.
So it’s a great thing for Aussie shooters to be able to not only source holsters, but have them custom-made to their specific handgun. As Sam says: “There’s more than one 1911,” referring to the multitude of pistols based on the Colt 1911 shape, yet with minor variations which require individual holster fitting. Pistols with accessory rails and torches attached can also be accommodated.
Sam ran me through the process as he creates a holster from scratch. A mould is made by first taking a 3D image of the pistol, that image split in two for each side of the handgun then laid out to make a mould from which the holster will be formed. A sheet of Kydex, roughly 300mm square, is heated in a device resembling a sandwich maker to a temperature which makes it soft and floppy, then the sheet’s laid over the mould which itself is lying on a perfectly flat steel table with a vacuum pump beneath.
When the Kydex is positioned over the moulds the vacuum pump is turned on and the soft Kydex sucked into every detailed shape, the sheet then removed and allowed to cool down in a fridge. Another template is placed over the cooled sheet and a router used to shape the final holster, still in one piece, laid out flat. During this stage the guard height is cut to the customer’s request, leaving the desired height of holster material between the handgun and shooter’s body.
Then comes the final process in the shaping, which folds the material along the line of the top of the slide following the front sight channel, concentrating heat down the middle of the material this time to fold the holster in half then shape it to make sharp edges. Once the Airborne Customs logo is attached, the tensioning screws and belt attachment hardware are fitted and the holster’s complete.
Customers can request colours or patterns outside the current range and they’ll try their best to source Kydex to make them, though this may incur a surcharge, such as those with sublimated images or patterns. When ordering, use the drop-down menu on the website to select from the current colour range.
The supplied belt attachments are from Blade-Tech and range from the adjustable Stingray loop holster mount to the more complex and versatile Tek-Mount 360 Quick Connect Mounting System, which incorporates a belt attachment and removable disk that permits various holster angles. All Airborne holsters have multiple holes in the back to accommodate other belt attachment brands, such as Safariland for those who want to use their own attachment hardware. There’s also a mini-disc system for magazine pouches, again permitting several angles.
Apart from the Blade-Tech mounting belt attachment systems, the other logical accessory for Airborne Customs to stock are the belts themselves. Kore’s belts aren’t new yet not particularly well known in Australia. There are a couple of different models, however the Competition version includes a racket belt buckle with an inner that’ll take up the slack when the outer belt is tightened. The belt comes in one size and users are given guidelines on how to customise the length to suit themselves, while a QR code will take you to an instructional video.
As well as holsters, magazine pouches and belts, Airborne Customs has a Cerakoting service along with a laser cutting system capable of fancy work on pistol grips and other objects not necessarily associated with shooting and firearms. The company’s Facebook page provides additional imagery to complement their website.
Airborne Customs is slowly building on its library of moulds for all sorts of handguns and magazine pouches, as more and more shooters request holsters, some of them for weird and wonderful pistols no other manufacturer has attempted to make. As a postscript, people buying handguns often ask the question: “Can I buy a holster for this pistol?” This has happened to me a couple of times since working on this story and now, thanks to Airborne Customs, the answer will always be, and without hesitation: “Yes you can.” More at www.airbornecustoms.com.au