Crucial Concealment Covert OWB Holster Review

By Adam Scepaniak

A good holster is a crucial component of anyone’s everyday carry ensemble. Not coincidentally, the product I am reviewing today is the aptly-named Crucial Concealment Covert OWB holster.

When we leave the house every day for whatever that might await us, we pat ourselves down before we leave to ensure we always have the essentials: wallet, keys, phone, pistol and holster.

The reason why so many of us are continually testing, trying and tweaking new holsters is that we need them to be perfect for our needs. A poorly fitting holster — or one that doesn’t meet our criteria — may not only be bad, but also a potential liability that during a moment of duress could cost us our lives.

Previously, I reviewed the Covert Inside-the-Waistband (IWB) holster from Crucial Concealment for the Springfield Armory Hellcat, and now we are taking a look at their newest offering — the Covert Outside-the-Waistband (OWB) holster. Let’s dive in and take a look!

The Details

Whenever I get a new holster to test or for my personal inventory, I always ask myself: “How can I use this?” To put it more bluntly, I ask what are all the positions, angles and options I get for carry with that holster.

With the Kydex Crucial Concealment holster, you have a wide range of adjustment/carry options. You can set your holster to either a lower height, raised height, forward cant or reverse cant. I especially appreciated the ability to do a reverse cant because that gives you the potential for a cross-body draw which I like to utilize while shooting archery.

There are Phillips screws that come with the holster that are coated with a light film of Loc-Tite so that when you set it the way you want it, you don’t need to worry about the retention and security of the holster.

Hands-On

During this review period, the holster effectively retained and carried the Springfield Armory Hellcat for me. The Hellcat I tested with the Crucial Concealment Covert OWB holster was a standard FDE model. The holster does have enough room to accommodate an optic-equipped OSP model if you have one.

Most days of carry for me are at my workplace, which is a gun shop. It offered me a low-profile and comfortable means of carry in a firearms retail setting, and for long periods of time (10 to 12 hours straight a day). On my days off I would be carrying the Hellcat in the Covert OWB in some more adventurous endeavors, such as setting trail cameras and trips to the gun range.

The Covert OWB, while offering secure retention, has very minimal and unobtrusive dimensions. It’s not overly bulky like many other OWB holsters. While the Kydex material this holster is constructed of is rigid enough to retain good shape, it’s still pliable enough to bend to the contours of your hip and body without digging in uncomfortably. This was terrific because it never impeded my ability to move and be active on either the days I worked or had off. It was a true lifestyle holster I could run with.

In addition to all the adjustments offered, there is a retention adjustment Phillips screw near the center body of the holster with a rubber washer that allows you to adjust how tight or how loose the draw of your firearm is from the holster. I like this functionality and ease of adjustment because when I am doing some more active, outdoor tasks I would want to tighten up the holster as to ensure stronger retention, and in other scenarios lighten it up for an easier draw stroke.

Conclusion

So, what’s the bottom line? For this Crucial Concealment holster review, I had the Covert OWB for about 6 weeks. I was very happy with its performance. It compares very favorably to other Hellcat holsters for concealed carry.

The only issue I encountered was near the end of this six-week period when I noticed one Phillips screw had begun to walk its way out of position. I would attribute that to me not tightening down the screw enough on the front end.

Priced at an MSRP of $59.99, the Crucial Concealment Covert OWB offers you a great Hellcat holster for a very affordable price. Definitely check it out.

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Crucial Concealment Covert OWB

9^mm

Hellcat® 3″