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The Differences between the cloak mod and cloak slide holsters

The Cloak Mod Or Cloak Slide Holster: Which Should I Get?

If you're looking for an OWB holster but don't have a ShapeShift compatible firearm, you may have had a look at our Cloak Mod and Cloak Slide OWB holsters...and got hung up deciding which to get. That's okay; a good number of our customers have asked which is better. These can be used as either open carry holsters or concealed, so it ultimately comes to preference.

The Cloak Mod OWB Paddle Holster
Cloak Slide OWB Holster

Which IS better though?

It's more that one is going to be better for you. Each holster has strong points, but each definitely has a best purpose so it kind of depends on what you're looking to do with it. After all, a holster, like a gun, is merely a tool for a task. The best tool for the task depends on the nature of the task in question.

Some holsters are clearly concealed carry holsters and others are not. Some are somewhere in between. What about the Cloak Mod and Cloak Slide though? We'll go over that in depth, so you can make a better choice in OWB holster.

Cloak Slide OWB: Riding High And Tight

The Cloak Slide OWB holster is a high-riding belt slide OWB holster. Like the rest of Alien Gear's line, it's a hybrid holster with a leather backing platform (choose black or tan) and a durable plastic retention shell with our four-point mounting hardware system.

Like our other holsters with this mounting system, you can customize the retention by adjusting it to exactly how you like it. Clamp it down hard, or install the length of rubber washer you like for a slicker draw; it's all up to you.

Another good feature of the Slide is that the belt loops are also adjustable.

High riding and close to the body Cloak Slide holster
adjustable belt loops

You can leave them a bit loose for ease of adjustment or removal, or clamp them down tight so it doesn't move on the belt.

Not too much of the holster extends below the belt, as the bottom edge of the holster rides about level with the top of the pants pocket.

So, the Cloak Slide rides high and tight. What does that make it good for?

An OWB that rides high and tight is usually good for OWB concealment, though unlike many IWB holsters it takes a bit more than just a t-shirt in most cases to conceal though it may not require all that much. A lot of people can cover a Cloak Slide with a flannel overshirt or something to that effect.

Contrary to popular belief, flannel has never gone out of style and - mark our words - never will.

So, the beauty of the Cloak Slide is that it rides high enough to conceal if called upon, but is also great for open carry as well. That makes it a great go-to for when you might have to cover up but don't necessarily want to default to an IWB holster. Need to make a quick run to the store or for supplies? Throw on a light jacket or unbuttoned shirt and instant concealment. Remove concealing layer and carry openly once back home. That's where the Slide excels.

Cloak Mod OWB Offers More Modularity

The Cloak Mod Paddle holster is a bit more space-age, with a more advanced design than the Cloak Slide. The Cloak Mod is a modular holster design - foreshadowing the ShapeShift system - that allows the wearer to make a few key changes to suit their preferences. However, the Cloak Mod is not as versatile as the ShapeShift for a few key reasons which we'll get into shortly.

The Cloak Mod OWB Paddle Holster's layers
Cloak Mod OWB Paddle Holster

The Cloak Mod is made with several layers of material. There's a hard molded back plate, with several pairs of screw threads to give the user three choices of cant - straight drop or 15 degrees to the positive or negative. The middle layer is a spring steel flex plate, and a molded rubberized surface layer with a passive retention bump.

The shell is our universal shell, just like the Cloak Slide and Cloak Tuck lines, and is likewise fully customizable for retention.

The Cloak Mod does provide a bit more in terms of retention, though. When you insert a pistol into the Cloak Mod, there's a perceptible flex from the spring steel flex plate, which gives it a bit more hold.

The Cloak Mod's party piece, however, is the modularity. You can install the paddle attachment or deploy a belt slide attachment. We also have a special adapter allowing use of the Cloak Mod with our new Drop Leg Holster as well.

The versatile cloak mod paddle holster

Pretty versatile, right?

Thing about the Cloak Mod, though, is it's built for durability first and foremost. As a result, is found by some wearers to be a tad bulky. It CAN be concealed...but not as easily as the Cloak Slide or the ShapeShift Belt Slide OWB holster. (You'll need a jacket for all but the tiniest of pistols.) Really, the most obvious and certainly best use for the Cloak Mod is as an open carry holster.

As far as open carry holsters go, the Cloak Mod is fantastic. You can put on the paddle for easy on/easy off applications, switch to the belt slide for extended periods or even add it to a thigh rig. That's a lot you can do with just one holster, and there are a lot more guns that it's compatible with than the ShapeShift...at least for the time being. That said, it's not the best choice for OWB concealment.

Choosing Between The Cloak Mod And Cloak Slide

If you're considering a choice between the Cloak Mod and Cloak Slide, you really need to ask yourself what you're going to use it for. Each holster has it's place, for sure, and there are a good number of both Alien Gear employees and customers that have both holsters, and carry often with both holsters.

The Cloak Mod is one of the best OWB holsters for open carry of its type on the market. It's modular when it comes to attachments and gives you more versatility than many other OWB holsters on the market. However, it's an open carry holster through and through; you could cover it up, but with compact to full-size pistols...concealment will not be that easy.

The Cloak Slide on the other hand rides a little higher and tighter. Compact and full-size guns could be concealed a little more easily because of it. The Slide is also good for open carry, but is far more easy to use for OWB concealment when called upon, which makes it a little more of an all-arounder rather than a specialized tool for one job, which the Cloak Mod certainly is.

So, again, it depends on what you want it for. If you're looking for an OWB holster that can work in multiple roles, then the Cloak Slide is the better choice. If you want a durable OWB holster for open carry, the Cloak Mod will be far more to your liking.

Sam Hoober

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