There are two types of people in this world, those that appreciate a good holster and those that do not.

A good holster is the difference between a clean smooth draw and quite simply, not being able to “get your gun up”. It’s not something you really want to take a chance on, even in airsoft. And that’s why I’ll happily spend what it takes to make sure that my pistol is always able to do what I ask of it. Anyone who says otherwise, needs educating in the art of gunslinging.

It wasn’t always this way though, I’ve owned my fair share of poor holsters and more recently, a couple of very good ones. From Safariland and Blackhawk!, To homemade Kydex and wait for it… Viper. Each had their merits and most lumbered with their downsides too… Its a tough job to find a holster that’s a perfect match for your pistol and your personal requirements, sometimes you have to focus on the most important element of what you want out of your holster, whether it’s speed, retention or profile.

So how does this bring us to why I’ve bought a T.Rex Arms Ragnarok kydex holster? Well the answer isn’t particularly simple, but I’ll give you the short version. I was recently scouring the internet for more of the Ace 1 Arms SAA PMags for my MWS. Whilst adding to my cart on Boom Arms, I decided to look for threaded barrels and RMR cut slides to maybe make the whole package worth the stupidity high postage charge.

I settled on the ridiculously priced Nova FI RMR slide and a few other bits to make my “Roland(ish) special, pretty much the only option for an RMR cut slide for the Marui Glock 19. I have a bit of a love affair with pistols and the Roland Special is something I’ve wanted to build ever since I saw it being discussed in “the Church”. However, the physical size of a Roland Special build makes holstering it a bit of a challenge.

So, knowing a “comped” Glock 19 probably wouldn’t fit in my current Safariland 6354DO or my several kydex holsters, the only option left was to look at getting another holster. The easy answer would have been to grab another kydex piece from either Ryan at Backcountry Kydex or HW Holsters, but with both companies having been reviewed in the past and (with all due respect) not being the global brand that T.Rex Arms is, I figured it was as good a time as any to grab one of the Botkin boy’s holsters to see if they live up to the reputation they’ve got.

I purchased mine from www.tactical-kit.co.uk (TK) as they’re the sole UK importer and retailer, I’m sure you could buy directly from the US but TK do tend to keep their items in stock (alongside the nylon T.Rex Arms products).

The Ragnarok is arguably T.Rex Arm’s flagship holster, certainly its the first option on their website which usually points to it being a best seller. They do make a couple of other holsters for IWB (Inside waistband carry) but the Ragnarok is their only externally worn holster.

There are three different types of T.Rex Arms Ragnarok, each suited towards a different weapon style. The Standard and Light compatible versions which are both available to fit a small range of handguns and finally, the RagnarokSD, which is designed in two different models to accommodate a small number of handguns. It’s also only designed to work with pistols fitted with a SureFire X300U/V weaponlight, with the retention coming from the light itself.

So, I’m sure there’s a few of you who want to ask the obvious question “why is the T.Rex range of holsters designed to fit only a handful of weapons?” Well, T.Rex Arms make holsters predominantly for Glock style pistols. The reason for this is simple, Glock according to at least one reliable source has a market share of 65% of the US handgun market. Covering this massive section of the market is just solid business sense, but there’s also another reason…

The guys at T.Rex Arms are avid shooters. Whilst some of the pistols they make holsters for might seem a little unusual, its usually because one of the guys at T.Rex Arms has either got one of the pistols themselves (Browning Hi-Power, FNX-45, HK VP9 etc) or there’s enough demand to warrant making a holster for it (CZ75, SIG P226/P320, S&W M&P9 etc).

There’s something else you should know about T.Rex Arms, they’re one of only a handful of businesses within the firearms community that not only acknowledge but also appreciate the global airsoft community. After seeing @liku_tactical hone his skills with gas powered airsoft replicas in his native Japan, the guys at T.Rex Arms organised for the Japanese Airsofter to visit the US and get his hands on a real firearm for the first time. If you’re the only person in the world to have not yet seen this video, its below… And well worth a watch.

So, the Ragnarok. What is it and why would you want one? Well, its a kydex holster that‘s made in the single piece, taco style with its retention being adjustable along its “open” side. The Kydex used is the thicker and less often seen 0.125” (3.2mm) which is available in black, wolverine brown, ranger green and also printed Multicam/Multicam Black. I decided upon the black because I’m hoping to keep this as a low profile option, it was also at the time, the only colour in stock which obviously makes the decision easier.

The Ragnarok is a passive retention holster, this means that its only form of pistol retention is the friction from the kydex holding it in. There is no additional mechanical element such as Safariland’s ALS system, Blackhawk’s Serpa system or a hood as with Safariland’s 6004 and BladeTech’s WRS Hood System. The passive retention on the model I have uses the SureFire X300’s bezel to lock the pistol in place, this is adjusted via the two bolts on the open end.

The cut of the Ragnarok is pretty slick, as you’d expect from such a well renowned holster it’s also got all the basics covered… Literally. The trigger guard portion is completely covered by the holster. Unlike some other less well made holsters where you can still sneak in a finger or two under the kydex, on the Ragnarok it’s fully sealed. The bottom of the holster however is completely open, meaning that you could fit in pistols with longer slides (such as the Glock 34) or pistols with threaded barrels or full sized compensators.

The inner side has a small but effective sweat guard, its set a little away from the pistol which makes for a slight ramp into the main body of the holster, making it easier to re-index your pistol and gives you a little bit of material to tuck your shirt behind. The inner edge of the sweat guard is also stamped with a signature T Rex, a nice touch and surprisingly the only branding on the entire holster.

I can’t deny that it’s a good looking holster, it’s also finished incredibly well for something that’s mass produced. The cut Kydex is sanded down to eliminate any sharp edges, I’d guess that this is done by hand as it’s not a simple job to program a machine to do.

I chose the belt loop option for mounting, again this was due to wanting something I could utilise in a low profile setting, but also because I have a couple of spare Safariland QLS mounting plates in my box of tricks so If i want to, I’m able to interface this on my shooters belt later on down the line.

The belt loops are angled inwards to the centre of the holster, this helps with the ergonomics of the holster and also allows you to more easily access the mounting hardware. The loops and hardware feel pretty tough, I’d suggest making sure there’s a dab of thread-lock compound on yours before using it in anger, but aside from that its good to go.

As mentioned a moment ago, I’m looking to use this with the belt loops I ordered as my preferred mounting option. The holster does have a predrilled selection of holes though that’s means that you should be able to fit this to a number of mounting solutions. I’ll either use a Safariland QLS or directly mount it to one of HW Holsters own design offset mounts, but looking at the hole spacing it should also work with RTI Hangers, Blackhawk! Serpa mounts, BladeTech mounts and a number of other mounting options.

In use, I’ve found the holster to be incredibly robust. Drawing is smooth, much smoother than I’d actually thought it would be, but balanced with enough retention to keep your pistol secured against anything I’m likely to encounter. It makes for a very fast transition speed, something that’s obviously high on the T.Rex Arms list of priorities. That being said, this is not what I’d consider a good duty or patrol holster. Without active retention or a hood, I certainly wouldn’t use this outside a CQB or FIBUA environment.

However, for its intended use I’d say it’s a good option. Whilst I’m not going to say its the absolute best kydex holster in the world, I cant find anything substantial to put as a negative. I know of only a handful of kydex businesses that can produce a holster to the same quality, and maybe only one that excels it. However, all of these businesses have one thing in common… They generally build to order.

T.Rex Arms might just be one of the only kydex manufacturers that offers a relatively cheap, off the shelf kydex holster that’s available almost everywhere its wanted. Sure, there’s always your mate around the corner who can bend a bit of kydex. But I’m pretty sure that maybe only a third of those (at most) could consistently manufacture a holster as good as the Ragnarok, certainly not for the same price.

So, can I recommend it? Well, I’m not going to lie… I’m still a fan of my local Kydex manufacturers and the range of options they cater for, but if you’re looking for a no-nonsense and well made passive retention holster for a Glock (or one of the few other models they build for), then I don’t think you could go wrong with the T.Rex Arms Ragnarok.