Video Transcript
The New Sidecar Design (00:00):
This is the Sidecar Holster. Now I as some of you can tell the design has changed a little bit from the design that we've been selling for a few years. With that design, we had a pistol magazine that was infused into the holster as a one-piece design, but it meant you could only carry it appendix. What we have now is a holster that is much more modular that can also be carried in the 3 and 4 o'clock position. What we have is this Spine System, all these teeth in the front with a metal rod running down the center, that allows you to accept a multitude of attachments and be able to scale up your carry system based on what you need.
Raptor Wing Attachment (00:33):
By default this holster comes with this wing on the side with another clip attached. So you'll have two clips here in the front. This means you a very stable holster if you carry this appendix. But this also means you can wear this at 4 o'clock because you don't have that pistol mag in the front getting in the way. But when you're ready and you want to add another attachment, all you do is pop the rod out. You can then run a pistol magazine, rifle mag carrier, tourniquet holder, or even a handcuff carrier. And then at any time you can swap back to your standard clip. You can adjust it for 4 o'clock carry, 3 o'clock carry. There's all these little holes on the back. You can adjust the cant of the clip itself, drop that back on, and you're good to go.
Swapping Attachments (01:13):
So what I'm gonna do is take this default Sidecar. We're gonna remove this clip from it, and we're gonna add a pistol mag carrier, similar to a older, more traditional Sidecar. So I'm gonna take basic tools. The metal pin is here inside. So I have a key and I'm just simply going to push the pin from the bottom or the top—either/or. Pull the pin out. This is a friction washer. It helps prevent the metal rod from sliding or falling out of the holster. And now my holster is ready to accept any of these attachments. So it could be a rifle magazine, tourniquet, or a handcuff carrier.
Adjusting Attachment Height (01:58):
Now, the other cool thing with this holster is because of the teeth design, the Spine design, I can actually adjust the height of my attachment. So if I have a longer pistol magazine, like a PMAG 20 or something like that, I can actually shift this down a little bit. So the magazine isn't, you know, shooting up into my stomach quite as much. But what we're gonna do is we're gonna go ahead and have the pistol magazine here at the top, flush with the top of the holster. We're gonna insert the friction wash here in the space, and then the metal pin, the metal rod, as you'll notice has two little notches here on the top and the bottom. That's to help you remove this using various tools, such as a coin or a key to help get the pin out of the holster when you're switching out your accessories. So I'm gonna go ahead and insert here from the top. You could also go from the bottom—either/or. It will be a tight fit. And there we go. Now I've configured my holster from the default with the standard clip to a holster that can take my handgun and a spare pistol magazine.
Removing the Pin (03:06):
To remove the pin, it's fairly straightforward. There are a couple nuances though. The retention screws on the pistol mag carrier, the rifle mag carrier, and the handcuff carrier—you'll see, there's a screw right here at the end—based on how much you tighten this screw, it will affect the retention of the metal rod when you go to remove it, to add a different accessory. So if you're having trouble like the metal rod is just not moving at all, you might wanna loosen this screw right here. But for the most part to get adequate retention on your equipment it will still be loose enough to be able to remove the metal pin itself.
The best tool is a Phillips screwdriver. So we're just gonna get it out a little bit. It's easier if you go out the bottom, we'll go out the top for this. And as you'll see, the little notch here at the top is now exposed. So now I can take my key or my coin or whatever, and that can help kind of be used to help pull the clip out. So we'll go ahead and use this key right here. Get into that notch, pull, and now the rod pin is removed. Remove the pistol mag carrier. We'll go back to four o'clock or just a standard clip. Add the friction washer back in, push the rod back in, and we're back to where we started.
Retention and Clip Adjustments (04:25):
Every Sidecar holster comes optic compatible. Now granted, only for standardized miniature optics mounted behind the ejection port, nothing crazy in front or frame mounted optics. Sorry, open shooters. And then the retention on the holster is adjustable near the trigger guard. On the light-compatible holster, you have two screws right here by the trigger guard of the pistol. And then on a standard non-light-compatible Sidecar, you'll also have the two clips that are below the trigger guard, where the clip actually attaches. The clip is also adjustable as far as ride height. So if you want your pistol to ride a little bit deeper or maybe be a little higher, so you have a easier draw to get a, you know, get your hand on the pistol, the clip can be adjusted and moved up and down. There's five little holes here on the clip itself. And then as you're doing that, you'll also wanna adjust the height of your other clip, whether it's on your pistol magazine attachment, your rifle magazine, or your just standard clip that comes with the holster. You'll just simply use the screws here or you'll actually move the entire attachment itself along the Spine system to achieve the appropriate ride height that you need.
Flexibility and Stability (05:25):
One of the biggest changes in the Sidecar is the fact that the holster can now bend in the center. We've had a lot of questions over the years like, "Hey, why don't you guys make a flex Sidecar? Why don't you make a holster that's, you know, all bendy?" Part of the problem is we've... In testing other holsters and other flex holsters we've never liked the approach that the pistol magazine can bend and flip outwards from the holster. It leads to more printing, generally speaking, less consistency, and not always very much comfort. The benefit of this holster as far as some of the flexibility is, it is only bending on one axis. The magazine is not gonna flip forward. The entire holster can only bend in one direction. So it's a little more consistent. It's much more stable. So you have the stability of the, you know, older, more traditional Sidecar, but you do have that flexibility, which can be useful for certain body types. Or just if that's something you're interested in.
If you're looking for further information on the various attachments for the Sidecar, we have detailed overview videos on those product pages. And if you have any further questions for us, go ahead and email us at [email protected], and we'll be right with you.