Great if you carry while rappelling upside down. - Alien Gear Holsters ShapeShift 4.0 IWB Holster

The Springfield XD Mod.2 Subcompact 9mm/40cal 3 inch ShapeShift OWB Paddle Holster is great for its price if you plan on carrying your weapon OWB and often perform physical activity where you might find yourself upside down and don't want to have your weapon come out of its holster. If that's the case for you then this holster is fine. However, you carry concealed and OWB and you think you might find yourself in a gun battle where seconds count and you have to draw the weapon from the holster, then you may want to reconsider. This holster is not a good design for concealed carry. For starters, the holster sits an inch away from your belt, meaning that it pushes your covering garment unusually far away from your body, unless you're wearing a heavy winter coat or sweater where extra bulk hides the fat profile of the holster, you may want to consider a better option. But worse than the profile of the holster is the retention mechanism for the weapon in the holster. The retention mechanism is deactivated (meaning when you use it, it releases the weapon) by pushing down on a lever with your thumb. They designed it with a large area for the thumb to find. Think of an "L" shaped device but upside down where you press on the bottom or top of the L if it were upside down. The problem is that if your thumb does not hit the release exactly in the right spot where pressure is exerted along the vertical axis of the "L" the level bends (because its made of plastic), and the release mechanism won't release. In a gun battle, that second or two while you're trying to find the correct release spot can cost you your life. For those people that are members of Front Sight training academy, this holster would not be allowed in their defensive handgun classes because of the weapon retaining mechanism. I would rather have a weapon that I can draw more smoothly and quickly rather than one that won't release the weapon unless I position my thumb in the exact place it needs to be. You may ask, "why wouldn't I place my thumb exactly where it needs to be?" The answer is that they designed a large area for your thumb, so you would think that if you place your thumb anywhere on the designed area and push down, that the latch would release. Such is not the case - your thumb has to be on a specific place on the designed area, and the downward force you exert must be exactly downward and not have any lateral motion - and that flawed design is what will get you killed - because most don't practice enough to do it perfectly everytime, anytime, and under duress. On the other hand, if you're engaged in physical activity where weapon retention is the most important thing (like rappelling upside down) and you would have plenty of time to unholster the weapon, then this is a great holster for that.