TexasCHLforum.com

RossA wrote:I remember years ago watching Gregg Garret as a dancer with Houston Ballet. Never dreamed I'd be seeing his holsters one day.

Oh my gosh! You let it slip!

Gregg, as (relatively) young as he still is, has had a storied past. If you ever get a chance to sit down and talk to him, he won't voluntarily discuss some of it, but try to pry it out of him. Particularly what he did during his time overseas. Ballet dancer to holster manufacturing icon sounds like like a huge stretch. But the man is a shooter, and perhaps better at that than his terpsichorean endeavors. And he's also simply a great guy; the customer service attitude in his company reflects that.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:

Skiprr wrote:Nah. I may have the year wrong. Rob Longenecker and Gregg Garrett used to contribute to the Forum; maybe they'll see this and straighten out my timeline.

You said "about 11 years ago," so that was an estimate. I checked the Tex. Secretary of State website and got the date of incorporation. That was two years earlier than WTR said Crossbreed was incorporated. Plus, as you noted, Gregg first operated under a different name.

Chas.

Well, mea culpa. I was off by almost two years. Sorry, folks; I'll check more diligently next time. I was going off personal memory only, which is not a wise thing to do unless in casual conversation.

From the Tucker Gunleather website (http://www.tuckergunleather.com/testimonials/):

"The Answer" lived up to it's name.

"Just thought I'd share my opinions on my newest holster, "The Answer" IWB from Tucker Gunleather. I've selected a Sig P228 as my carry gun because it just plain "does it" for me. My concern was the concealability as the Sig is a tad blocky. Well "The Answer" lived up to it's name, I've been wearing it all day and it is very very comfortable. The Sig has virtually melted away and I can't make the [darn] thing print. Speed-wise this has to be one of the fastest IWB holsters available anywhere. Anyway, great holster, I highly recommend Tucker Gunleather, and Rob is a pleasure to talk to."

Mike 1911Forum 01/24/2004

So I'll start over by saying that, sometime in 2003, Tucker, Rob Longenecker, and Gregg Garrett got together....

Nah. I may have the year wrong. Rob Longenecker and Gregg Garrett used to contribute to the Forum; maybe they'll see this and straighten out my timeline.

I'll add my support for Comp-Tac, as well. I have a couple of all-leather holsters I use for OWB for time to time, but all my IWB and competition holsters are Comp-Tac. My go-to IWB choice is is the MTAC (formerly, the Minotaur).

Some interesting history. There are a number of makers of hybrid leather-Kydex holsters that imply, if not outright state, the original idea was theirs. The true story is that it originated about 11 years ago in conversations among Tucker (Tucker Gunleather), Rob Longenecker (also of Tucker Gunleather), and Gregg Garrett (who founded a holster company in Houston that subsequently became Comp-Tac Victory Gear). Collectively, they came up with the notion of melding quality leather and molded Kydex to maximize on the strengths of each: leather was strong yet supple, molded itself slightly to the contours of the wearer, and was comfortable against the body; Kydex was rigid and never collapsed after the gun was removed, could be molded with great precision to individual firearms, could be tension-adjusted for retention, and afforded a stable, repeatable draw time after time.

The result was Tucker's "The Answer." Tucker made the leather, Garrett made all the Kydex components. There was a naming contest in the spring of 2006 for the wholly new hybrid that included some headscratchers like the "Tool Shed." Thankfully, though, "The Answer" won out.

Garrett rapidly expanded production at Comp-Tac as the demand for competition Kydex holsters grew. Today, more competitors in the IDPA Nationals use Comp-Tac than any other brand of holster.

Gregg came out with the Comp-Tac CTAC: not exactly what we think of today as a leather/Kydex hybrid, it was a Kydex holster that used leather cross-struts to attach the Kydex belt clips to the body of the holster, allowing flex and give for comfort that Kydex alone couldn't provide. Then he rethought "The Answer," did some tweaking, and the Minotaur was born.

So if you see any claims about some holster maker or another being the first to place a Kydex body on leather backing and coming up with the idea of the hybrid, now you know.