Wow.
Don’t get me wrong, I like RCS and have some of their gear, and would have a holster for my G19 if it were available, but this is ridiculous.
It’s two slices of kydex riveted together. It’s not like we are talking about a watch or a gun or anything with a large number of moving parts. I will take 90% of the quality for half the price, thanks. Go to glocktalk and there are numerous makers with similar holsters for ~$50.
I think the Magpul thing has driven people crazy.
Do you have any experience with any kydex gear?
I like RCS and have some of their gear
Yes I do.
Raven was going mad even before the Magpul use in DVD
The best then there is the rest …
When I switched to the M&P I sold my G19 Phantom for 80 bucks shipped. I didn’t need it, and I got enough money from the sale to get another one. It never occurred to me to take advantage of the demand for them. I kind of feel like we should find a balance between capitalism and helping out our fellow enthusiasts. $100-125 may be that balance point, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it get really ridiculous in the future if the demand keeps growing.
Are you saying we should raise our prices? 
Obviously the market will bear it…
Owning things and having experience and knowledge of them is very different, as you have shown us.
I have tried Secret City Weaponeers as an alternative and found that I like the RCS a little better for dedicated OWB use. However, the SCW products are excellent for IWB and do an acceptable job at OWB. The main issue is the angle that SCW uses for 4-5 o’clock IWB carry is not ideal for 3 o’clock OWB. The RCS is also a little more snug. Thus, I use my SCW holster when traveling to have both methods of carry in one package.
I’m not saying they’re not great holsters…I would certainly pay more for RCS than the competitors charge, I’m just saying that the secondary market thing is a little weird given the similarities between the holsters.
J., I had a similar thought around January of this year when I got my LEM P30. In addition, I decided to give new upstart companies a chance and try their ideas. So, about over $300 worth of kydex goodies were ordered from three upstart companies in mid-February. None of them were complete unknowns. First company was commissioned to build a holster, second - holster and a mag pouch, third - a holster and two mag pouches, single and a double.
Result (to date): one holster was delayed for a couple of months, quite understandable reasons for delays, but timing didn’t help me much so I had to cancel; one holster and two mag pouches were unusable - got refund on holster after waiting for replacement for 2 months, mag pouches are still in limbo; one holster and one mag pouch are usable and good. Not exactly a great batting average for the upstarts.
Almost ironically, in the meantime I received my prior order from Raven - a mag pouch I decided I didn’t need. I sent it back in exchange for a new mag pouch for P30. RCS built that P30 pouch in 3 weeks and it works great…
Care to elaborate? What kind of experience are you looking for?
Nope. Regardless of what “big name” guys are running your gear it is top notch for a reason. RCS gets all of my kydex orders. If for no other reason other than your OWB loops. I love the new design and material.
Hence why I only order from established brands and from dealers with live sites…meaning they have live tracking on inventory.
I don’t play games with unknown wait times, excuses, and delays.
Its one thing dealing with people on the EE where you have to ship money orders, and the person has a job other than selling stuff in a business. When you run a business, to me, availability and speed of shipment are key. I see a lot of people starting their own business, and they quickly get in over their heads causing months of delays and poor CS.
So what do you think is more useful for a shooter: a $125 holster or a $60 holster and 300 rounds of 9mm? Do you feel that the $125 holster is going to confer some advantage that 300 more rounds of practice won’t?
Very good points.
There certainly is something to be said for the experience of an established maker like RCS…I’m just wondering why someone would spend leather holster prices on something second hand…it just eludes me, I suppose.
In fairness, all well established brands were unknown upstarts once until somebody gave them a chance, and not everybody had a smooth sailing from the very start. I certainly wish all those companies success in the future.
Well, I guess I took the original post to be less about whether Raven’s stuff is worth the money, than about the markup this person is placing on this stuff. That’s more a philosophical issue in my view. Direct from RCS these holsters are about $80, so $125 seems steep for a used one just b/c of the elimination of the wait. I guess it all comes down to how badly you need one.
I don’t think many would argue that Raven’s stuff is not good, I just wish the wait wasn’t so damn long. It’s still a bit hard for me to understand–which isn’t to say the reasons are any less valid.
Anything from a legit need for a high-quality kydex holster NOW to a wanna-have-cool-stuff ninja to more-money-than-sense to a bucket-list entry with time running out, I don’t know…
With all due respect, that’s like saying Milt Sparks is two pieces of dead cow sewn together.
People consistently treat Kydex/Polymer holsters differently simply because of the material. They have an assumption that since the material is synthetic, they should be able to be produced by the thousands and shipped immediately.
The process for making a Kydex holster isn’t much different than that of leather. The materials have their own properties, and the binding material are a bit different (rivets vs stitching), but there are MUCH better machines for stitching leather than riveting custom kydex.
RCS offers more holster models than any other manufacturer. I haven’t run the numbers, but I’d say between all the pistols we offer, all the lights, and all of the available custom options, we have tens of thousands of possible SKU’s.
Because of the nature of the material and our process, those items are each made to order by hand from a well trained craftsman - just like a good leather holster. The same attention to detail must be paid to fit, retention, edge finishing, curves and bends, etc.
The lead time is a simple case of supply and demand. We have a crew of workers (that grows every month) making gear six days a week. Our order volume outpaces what they can currently produce, which causes a lead time. It’s the exact same reason Milt Sparks has a lead time.
This post isn’t really directed at anyone in particular, just some thoughts on the topic. The promise you get from RCS is a skilled maker will give your gear the attention necessary to produce the best holster we can. No company is perfect, and if we make a mistake, our promise is that we will handle it better than anyone else in the industry. We could make holsters faster if we cut corners, but we wont. Our promise of quality and service will never be reduced. If it means we maintain a lead time, we will do so for as long as necessary.
That said, we are always improving our methods are we are gaining speed. It can be hard to tell because our order volume continues to rise with it.
As always, please feel free to ask any questions you may have. I’ll do my best to answer them. 