Galco Armortek IDPA approved ???

[MarkTX]

Can someone tell me if this holster is IDPA approved, it does come with a paddle or standard belt attachment if that matters, thanks...

http://www.usgalco.com/Marketing/ArmortekPaddle.htm

[9x45]

there is no longer an approved list in the rule book, just how the holsters should be. at the local level it doens't matter, but to be sure, email IDPA.com
Paddle holsters are harder to get undone then belt holsters. BladeTech makes a very nice one for about $20 and it is approved.

[Glock_172630]

That style of Galco Paddle (not the holster itself, the actual design of the PADDLE) was a recent topic of discussion among the staff of my IDPA group. When secured on the belt, it does let a sliver of light show through the belt tunnel area. In a local match it would likely not be a problem, but at a sanctioned match, a strict S.O. may consider my "sliver" of daylight to be "excessive daylight". Ultimately it would be the MD's call, but MD's usually back up the SO's.

Personally, I have a holster with that paddle design, and I would consider it legal. Just my .02.

[HighVelocity]

Being an SO and occasionally an MD, I have seen people with this holster and I would not call it a "sliver" of light. It's more like a BEACON. A huge amount of light passes between the holster and belt in the examples I've seen and in my opinion it is NOT IDPA legal per the rulebook.

As stated above though, for local matches, I'd let it go.

[Naptown34]

Looks like too much offset. I'd say no to it.

Cheers,
G

IDPA SO

[MarkTX]

I wanted to revisit this thread just for information for others who may ask...

I just got the following holster from BladeTech: http://www.blade-tech.com/Injection-Molded-Belt-Holster-pr-815.html

I specifically purchased it because on the order page it says its IDPA approved. I comes with the standard belt loop attachment, not the paddle attachment. But here's the kicker, it is in every mold, ridge, groove, shape, etc completely identical to the Galco Armortek holster.

I'm posting this so others will know that you are getting the same holster in every way when buy the ArmorTek model with belt loop attachment. So as long as you go with the belt loop rather than the paddle you should be fine. IOW, if the BladeTech belt loop is fine so is the ArmorTek, because they are identical holsters except in the name imprinted on the side. And I suspect if you purchased the paddle attachment for this BladeTech holster I just got, it would be identical to the ArmorTek paddle seen in my OP here.