Lenwood holster review

March of 2018 my friend Mark wanted to get me a holster for my upcoming birthday. He told me to go to the Lenwood site and design exactly what I want, so I did.

I wanted a holster for my Glock 34 MOS. The holster I chose was the Wraith, in Highlander pattern. The Wraith are designed for Outside the Waistband carry (OWB).

The holster is made of Kydex and is .08” thick. This allows the shooter to use the holster while lying on their side or accidently hip bump things like concrete tables and not break or crack the holster.

The edges are all sanded smooth, no burs or sharp edges are left to tear up shirts and clothing. The fit between the two pieces of Kydex was excellent.

The Wraith has 3 tension screws. I did have to spend more time adjusting them than I have had to on other holsters that only have two screws. I was unable to find the perfect balance between retention and draw. A big part of this is the belts chosen.

The owner of Lenwood created his own belt loops, and he called them the Lenwood Loop. The holster belt loops are leather with an automotive hose. This is different than most holsters that use plastic retention loops. While I have never broken a plastic belt loop, I have heard of it happening at shooting events. Remember in those situations you are drawing and holstering your firearm for every stage. If you shoot often and train often this can put stress on the plastic.

The loops are adjustable for height but not cant or belt thickness. You could change one belt loop to be higher than the other to give yourself a cant. It’s not ideal but will work.

There is about ½” of gap for made by the automotive hose for a belt to run through. A little too much in my opinion.

While the loops do not make for quick on and off, this holster wasn’t designed that way. I don’t see a need to be taking it on or off. The Lenwood Loop does cause the holster to stick out from the body a millimeter or two more than plastic loops. Lenwood does offer several different loop options if you want that space savings.
I have worn the holster with three different types of belts.

At my first IDPA shoot, with this holster, I wore a 1.5” 5.11 TDU belt. The holster flopped all over. Drawing the gun was a struggle, the belt holster and gun rode up well over an inch with each draw. The weight of the Glock caused the pistol butt to tilt away from my body, no matter how tight I made the belt.

The next weekend was an USPSA shoot. I wore a 1.5” 5.11 Operator belt which is about twice a thick as the TDU. The gap caused the pistol to tilt away from my body and flop. Once again the belt, pistol and holster all came up with my draws.

When wearing my dress leather gun belts, the pistol stays firmly at my side. I can draw and the holster and belt stay in place while the pistol comes out appropriately.

Lots of space here for the TDU belt to slide around.
Hard to tell but the trainer belt rubbing the offsets, making extremely difficult to put on the holster.
The Galco belt is extremely tight, the belt is very taunt against the rubber offsets.

All of these belts then required me to adjust all three tension screws for the different conditions of carry.

There seems to be three ways to make a Kydex or plastic holster. The first is with a flat back against the body and the gun molded to the holster, 100% more or less. The second is where the molding has about 50/50 with half the gun molded into the back of your holster and hip and the rest on the outside. The Wraith is setup so that about 20% of the gun molded to the body side. The other 80% of the holster, molded around the pistol, is on the outside of your hip, preventing too much push against your body. I really like it this way.


The Wraith has the now standard arch or curve where it wraps around the hip. This helps it stay tighter to the body.

I have used this holster at every USPSA and IDPA shoot I attended from July through December 2018 as well as for dry-fire and live practice. I wore it all day before and after the competitions and practice sessions. I found this holster comfortable, with good retention, and secure. To my surprise, I have not scratched up the Highlander pattern.

The opening on many holsters are usually slightly flared for easier holstering, this one is not.

Lenwood is located in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and all their products are made there too. They can be found at https://www.lenwood.com/