Pros and cons - Elite Survival Systems Mainstay Clipless IWB/Pocket Holsters

Living in a very humid, hot, semi-tropical climate, I was looking mainly for a pocket holster solution for a new Sig P238. In my area, people don't customarily wear jeans or long pants except during December to February and rely on shorts as the standard daily attire most of the year. I own other brands of "sticky", clip-less holsters, but saw this new product from Elite Survival Systems. The holster is well-constructed and stitching is strong, well done and solid. The holster does a very good job of protecting the firearm from moisture, perspiration and humidity. That being said, the Size 11 holster, though advertised by the manufacturer as fitting the Sig P238, is very tight for this gun and is barely long (i.e. deep enough) to cover most of the length of the slide. As expected, initially the gun could not be drawn cleanly without remaining in the holster 90% of the time. I let the pistol stay in the holster for about 72 hours with little improvement. I then wrapped an old sock around my Sig and let the gun stay in the holster for another 5 days, which resulted in significant improvement as to the draw. I then used the holster daily for about 10 days, both as a pocket holster and as an IWB holster. The holster worked and functioned more than adequately in the IWB configuration. The exterior,, however, does not seem as "sticky" and slip-resistant as some other manufacturers' similar products and does not fill the width of the interior of most of my front pockets on my cargo or my "dress" shorts. Consequently, the gun almost always remained in the holster when trying to draw from the pocket, even after the "break in period". While the holster might function much better after some more "break in" when used in a front pocket of jeans or a business suit, with average temps of 92 degrees or higher during the daytime, I wasn't about to adjust or modify my usual daily summer attire to test out this theory. While this seems to be a well-made product which works in the IWB configuration, as I already own a nice, lightweight Kydex IWB holster for my Sig P238 which I like and which functions well and therefore will not be using this holster primarily for IWB carry, I am returning this product as it did not fulfill my need or expectations for a pocket holster.