(00:00):
So the most important part of the new, latest edition T.REX ARMS Sidecar Holster is the spine system, which is this modular Kydex hinge that we've created, which allows for not just flexibility of the holster and the attachment, but also adjustability and modularity. So this is something, even from the very beginning, we wanted to open source. We wanted to make it available to other holster makers to build on and to tinker with, but not just other holster makers. We wanted it to be a very accessible system for you to tinker with and to do field expedient stuff with. And so everything about this is as close us to off the shelf parts as we could find. So the pins that we are using here for this system are 1/4" pin with no head. We've tried a whole bunch of stuff.
(00:49):
We've tried Cotter pins, clevis pins, slick pins, ball retention pins. We've tried holding stuff together with little shaft collars that have set screws in them. But ultimately what we have discovered is the best thing to use is a steel pin that adds rigidity to the holster. That's held in place by a rubber friction washer with no head, nothing that can get snagged. That is the best option. We're not trying to discourage you from experimenting with other stuff, but these are our findings. And this is what we're going with.
(01:21):
If you want to make your own attachments these notches in the spine system… they're teeth in the spine system are cut with a quarter inch bit. So we tend to do this with a CNC machine, but it's really easy to do on a tabletop router with an off the shelf, 1/4" end Mill. That's how we were making all of our prototype up until very recently.
(01:45):
And for those of you who are wanting to get into maybe larger scale production with products, we're gonna make sure that there are prints. There's gonna be blueprints of exactly what this shape is supposed to look like. And all the dimensions. Again, almost all of them are a quarter inch, but we're gonna have those drawings and those prints there. And we're also gonna have some 3d printable files of some of the different attachments that we have made and tinkered with so that you can start experimenting with those. One of the beauties of this system is that it is very adaptable and usable. So once you have this metal pin in here it is really easy to attach either Kydex accessories directly to it, or nylon accessories. If they are the right material, this is a material called Biothane and it works really well for attaching to this pin and having some good strength and rigidity to it.
(02:37):
But also injection molded parts, 3d printed parts, zip ties work really well to attach things over here. If you have some of our parts, it's really easy to bolt other things onto them like this Flagrant Beard HAVOC knife. So there's a lot of options for tinkering with this. And again, we wanna make sure that this is a platform that works for you. You're able to customize it the way that you want, whether that means using our parts that are off the shelf, or whether there's another developer out there that has ideas of ways to expand upon this system to better serve customers. And so hopefully this is something that is helpful for everybody. Whether or not you, you end up building your own manufacturing and clamping setups to build parts, or whether you zip tie really interesting stuff to the system in the field. We want it to be customizable and work for you.