Redesigned Bravo Concealment BCA 3.0 OWB Holster – Review

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- My go to holster to carry my Glock 19 during the colder months is an outside the waistband Kydex holster from Bravo Concealment.

I love the holster. It just works for me. It holds close to my body so I can conceal it very easy by just throwing on a baggy hoodie and letting it drop over my gun. Imagine my surprise when Bravo Concealment announced they were coming out with a brand new outside the waistband holster. I knew I wanted to try it out.

Bravo Concealment offered to provide me with one of their new BCA 3.0 OWB Holster so I could try it out. I couldn’t wait to take it for a test drive. So I decided to use the holster every day for a month to get an authentic feel for the holster. In the end I used it for almost every day for six weeks.

The first and most prominent difference between the BCA 2.0 and BCA 3.0 is the manufacturing and materials that Bravo Concealment chose to use with the new holster. Instead of using the Kydex process Bravo Concealment used injection molding.

Using injection molding offers several notable advantages over using Kydex. The biggest is cost savings for the company. The startup of injection molding is a lot higher due to making the molds and the cost of the equipment, but it does lower price over time.

This cost savings is due to the speed of the injection molding process and the cost savings of the materials used in manufacturing. The savings allows Bravo Concealment to offer a higher quality holster at a reasonable price point, but the cost savings for the company isn’t the only advantage of injection molding.

The polymer that Bravo Concealment uses in the process is superior to the Kydex material that they used for their BCA 2.0 OWB Holster. One example is that the polymer used in the injection molding process is more resistant to heat than that of Kydex. The heat of a hairdryer can affect Kydex.

One of the drawbacks of not using Kydex is that a lot of people use heat to adjust the retention of their holsters. Since the polymer that Bravo Concealment used for their BCA 3.0 OWB Holster is heat resistant, this method of adjusting retention doesn’t work.

Bravo Concealment decided to build adjustable retention directly into the holster by using a “screw and slot” system. There is a slot in the holster with a screw in the middle. By loosening the screw and sliding it down the user lessens the retention. At the loosest setting, the gun almost falls out of the holster.

By siding the screw towards the top of the slot, the retention on the BCA 3.0 OWB Holster increases. At the highest setting I can hardly get the gun out of the holster. Bravo Concealment added a plus sign at the top of the slot in the back holster and a minus sign at the bottom of the groove to remind the user how to add or take away retention.

Overall the retention adjustment of the BCA 3.0 OWB Holster is far superior of the way to adjust the retention on a lot of Kydex holsters. A bonus is that a user can change the retention of their holster for a specific reason and then quickly move it back to their standard setting.

The material that Bravo Concealment used for their BCA 3.0 OWB Holster is also more impact resistant than the Kydex of their BCA 2.0. The advantage of this increase of resistance to impact is fairly obvious. The user’s firearm is safer from damage in the BCA 3.0 OWB Holster than it would be in a Kydex holster. The holster itself also has a less chance of being damaged.

One thing I like about the BCA 3.0 OWB Holster is how it wears on the body. The holster contours to the body and it fits my body like a glove.

When I reviewed the Bravo Concealment BCA 2.0 OWB Holster, I used the standard belt loops. With the BCA 3.0 OWB Holster, I decided to change it up a bit and use the Bravo Concealment pancake-style belt loops. They made these loops of sturdy Nylon. These belt loops did hold the holster closer to my body than the standard belt loops. I didn’t think they would be worth the extra $16.50, but I think they are a must for most people who want to use this holster as an OWB concealed carry holster.

The user can also use IWB belt clips from Bravo Concealment to convert the BCA 3.0 OWB Holster to an inside the waistband holster. I didn’t have the clips to test this holster out inside my waistband, but I do plan on buying a set in the future for personal use.

Bravo Concealment rounded all the edges on the BCA 3.0 OWB Holster. This design means less sharp edges to poke the wearer of the holster. It makes the holster more comfortable to wear for the user especially if they are wearing a holster over an extended period.

Bravo Concealment designed the BCA 3.0 OWB Holster to have a small footprint. This footprint makes concealing my gun a synch. I think part of the ease of concealment is the contour of the holster, but it also has to do with the Bravo Concealment minimalist design.

The BCA 3.0 OWB Holster has a 10° cant. This degree of cant happens to be by preferred cant. Drawing my Glock from the holster was easy and smooth. I was able to get a positive grip on my gun and get it out and quickly on target. I loved the performance of the holster.

After about 500 draws, the BCA 3.0 OWB Holster didn’t lose retention. The 500th draw felt the same as the first. This consistency of the holster is great. You want to practice with the holster that you use in the real world. This philosophy is one I live by in my life for most things.

One thing that gets overlooked is by using injection molding is that Bravo Concealment can make the holster look better than a Kydex holster. Injection molding lets the company really make the design of their product their own. When a company uses Kydex, they mold the material around a “blue gun.” With injection molding polymer is injected directly into a mold.

Little details like the Bravo Concealment displaying their name on the holster or the type of gun listed on the holster pays off in style points. The modeling of the Glock slide lock on the holster is another detail that I love. You should never sacrifice function for fashion, but when you can get both then why not?

Overall the BCA 3.0 OWB Holster is a worthwhile upgrade over the BCA 2.0 OWB Holster. This holster will be my go to holster for the colder months for the foreseeable future. Bravo Concealment did an excellent job in the redesign of their flagship holster.

Readers can find more information on Bravo Concealment holsters at https://www.bravoconcealment.com.

About John Crump

John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.

The post Redesigned Bravo Concealment BCA 3.0 OWB Holster – Review appeared first on AmmoLand.com.