Beretta APX A1 IWB Holster: Needs Help

In my years of carrying, I have learned that you need two points of contact with the belt if you are going to carry a pistol the size of a Beretta APX A1 Compact. The Vedder holsters Pro-Tuck, the Clinger Holsters Hinge, and the Aliengear Cloak 3.5 were all good candidates with their own merits. When I got my APX A1 Compact, I soon found that the holster companies had not caught up with the fact that the APX A1 was on the market for two years. None of my favorite holster makers, listed above, had a holster for the APX A1, not to mention the compact model. There were other choices available in the appendix holster arena or the cheap single belt clip arena, but as I mentioned, they would not suffice for my needs. Eventually I ran upon the Beretta APX A1 Hybrid holster sold on Beretta's website. It was fairly expensive, but it seemed like the only option at the time.

DESIGN/FEATURES

​The Beretta APX A1 Holster features a leather base covered with micro-ventilation holes to reduce the occlusive effect against the skin. This is a feature that many other companies such as Alien Gear holsters solve with the use of Neoprene. The black coating is a nice touch that seems to be intended to protect against fraying or the leather getting soaked in perspiration during long days of carry.

The Kydex shell is textured with a series of tiny, rounded, diamond-shaped pyramids, which gives it a surprisingly slick feeling. The Kydex shell is thick and very stiff. The shell is branded in the trigger area with the hand orientation and gun model. This is a simple and effective way to label a holster. ​The Kydex shell is secured tightly to the leather base with circular rivets with a smooth black coating to prevent friction against the wearer. There is no micro-ventilation around the rivets, or where the Kydex meets the leather.
One concern I have is that there is no tension adjustment capability on this holster. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. That can be a good thing because tension adjustment implies there is a screw or something to keep tension on, which means it can unscrew/back-out over time. The bad news is that seeing this implies that retention is going to be solely dependent on the age of the holster and the tension on your hip. That is assuming that the shell is made with the purpose of having retention as a feature.

The Beretta holster is proudly branded on the leather face with the Beretta logo to signify that it is a Beretta product. I am pretty certain that Beretta is outsourcing this project to a holster making company on a contract.
All that I can find is that this holster is made in Italy, which is noted on the website. The maker seems to understand the concept of quality in construction, but seems to miss the mark when it comes to understanding how shooters such as myself carry a firearm, train, and prepare to use a concealed pistol for self-defense. 

The clips on the Beretta holster are thin and secured with standard hardware, but have three total holes for height adjustment on the holster. This will allow you to customize the height and/or cant of the holster. Unfortunately this is where the holster starts sending red flags. The excess of the clips hang near the edge of the holster, making the leather in that area taut and solid against the skin, not to mention that they are right on the edge, threatening to have skin contact. I did not consider this when buying the holster because I was mostly focused on simply getting a holster, period. I was very forgiving in some of my due diligence, but in the end, this can be addressed by getting new clips from holsterbuilder.com or holstersmith.com

The Beretta holster is labeled as being a 2-in-1 holster. The shell is open on the bottom of the shell which allows the shell to house both the compact and full size A1 models. The problem is the backing is swooped up and doesn't even cover the muzzle of the compact model, which worried me right away. The base is not just to hold the holster against the shell for retention, but it also protects the pistol from having contact with you, which could cause corrosion on parts like sights and worn areas. Human perspiration is practically as corrosive as salt water on metals, and this is one of the reasons why this part of the holster design bothers me. As you can see, not only are the pistols exposed on their muzzle end, but the backing doesn't even cover the Kydex. This may be an illustration of the lack of understanding the maker has in what is needed in a holster for serious usage.

Beretta APX A1 Compact

Beretta APX A0 (The holster is not meant for this model, but it fits...Sort of.

PERFORMANCE​

The Beretta holster is very comfortable to carry for a long time thanks to the ventilation holes. The leather is strong but flexible. It hugs the body well and the clips attach snugly to the belt. I was concerned about how the clips swooped out aggressively as if it was designed more for being taken off than for being snag-free. Clips like these snag on shirts and garments all the time. The clips did secure the holster in place very well, which is what these holsters do best.

With hybrid holsters, retention has to be adjusted by the end user. In the absence of adjustability, I have to judge this as having mediocre retention for the pistol. You will not experience a tactile seating of the pistol in the Kydex as you would with the Alien Gear Cloak 3.5 products. You just push in until the gun won't go down anymore. It works, but it is not meeting the standard for holsters these days.

Lastly, I had an issue with the holster chaffing terribly, to the point of drawing blood during a drill that features 100 draw strokes to be performed under time. With the lack of tactile retention, causing me to have to shove the gun down for assurance that it is properly seated, and the clips making the leather rigid at the bottom corners of the holster, my hip was literally rubbed raw. I had friction issues with the Vedder Holsters Pro-Tuck during the initial week of breaking in the holster, but the leather never caused that. I actually stained the leather coating. The metal clip in the front was also covered in some blood but it wiped off. I effectively "blooded" the holster, pun intended.

While conducting live fire drills, the holster allowed my own gun to burn me on the range, thanks to the lack of coverage on the leather face. Luckily I was shooting only a couple of rounds at a time to test my draw stroke with the APX A1 for the first time, or I am sure it would have been much worse. It was exceptionally cold out and that probably helped delay the damage it could have caused. BTW, I was just doing 5 shot draw drills and I made it through two mags before I got seared.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

​My favorite holster companies have leather in their holsters, and particularly where they attach to the belt. However, they are designed around the assumption that you are going to USE the holster, not just treat it like a novelty to be worn and not used. If I am going to own a holster, I am going to use it and train with it dry and live. In any firearms class, your gun is going to heat up fast, and with this holster design, you are asking for a thermal and friction burn within the first hour of any serious training. With that said, the good thing about this holster is that it allowed me to train with my Beretta APX A1 Compact.
I recently found out that Clinger Holsters has a holster for the full size APX A1, which caused me to comfortably impulse buy. I do not recommend spending money on this holster unless you're okay with spending $100 outright just to have to buy new clips and find a way to extend the base  for protection against being burnt by your own gun like me.
I cannot put too much fault on the company of Beretta for not understanding how to make a good holster. I don't see many countries outside the US where civilians can lawfully conceal a weapon for protection against goons and thugs. The makers must not understand what it is like, and may just be working off anecdotes and light input here and there from competitive shooters (who almost exclusively use OWB holsters). 
​
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.