The Pants-Optional Holster: PHLster Enigma

hello ladies and gentlemen i am chris baker from luckygunner.com today i want to do something i have never done before and that is devote an entire video to reviewing a single concealed carry setup holster selection is a highly individual process the ideal choice depends on the gun that you're trying to conceal the way you dress your body type your lifestyle and a ton of other factors normally i'm happy to suggest brands that i trust but i don't usually spend a whole lot of time talking about any one specific model no matter what holster i choose because it's ideal for my situation it's only going to be relevant for a very small percentage of my viewers i'm making an exception today for the filster enigma because it's incredibly unique it is not technically a holster they call it a concealment chassis it offers a completely different method of carrying a gun concealed at first glance the primary benefit is that it's a very effective way to carry when you're not wearing a belt with your pants but regardless of belt or no belt i have found it to be the carry rig that offers the best overall balance of those three all-important qualities that we're always looking for in a holster concealment comfort and accessibility okay so let's take a look at what we've got here the enigma is basically a face plate this big piece here with a built-in nylon belt the enigma does not actually come with the holster itself you take your existing holster and attach it to the faceplate it is compatible with almost any kydex appendix holster that has a wing attachment like this thing back here so if your holster has a dark wing or a mod wing or a raven wing or any of the concealment wings with two mounting holes that are 5 8 of an inch apart you can probably use that holster with the enigma this holster is a filster classic with a sig p365xl and a swamp fox sentinel optic right now i have got the dark wing attached the wing normally would press against your belt to help keep the the grip rotated inward in this case it is pressing instead against the face plate so you get that same effect without having to wear a separate belt on top of the holster the built-in nylon belt attaches to mounting holes on either side of the faceplate the different holes allow you to adjust the rotation and the cant of the holster on the faceplate there is no ride height adjustment on the faceplate you control that just by moving the whole belt higher or lower on your body unlike a belt holster the ride height of your gun is completely independent from the ride height of your pants the belt buckle is a fidlock magnetic buckle i had never seen one of these before because i'm pretty sure they're from the future it's a magnetic buckle that you can easily attach with one hand and that allows you to use your other hand to support the gun while you're putting the rig on finally this thing down here is the leg leash it basically performs a function similar to belt loops on your pants the leg leash goes around the top of your thigh and it helps keep the whole rig in place when you draw the gun normally the tension from the enigma's belt is going to keep everything in place alone but that tension might change a little when your body position changes so the leg leash acts as kind of a backup to help make sure the holster doesn't move with the gun when you're drawing it out of the holster before i dive any further into the pros and cons of the enigma i need to disclose a couple of things up front first filster did send me a complimentary enigma to review i have had one since the product launch back in late november and i've been using it nearly every day since then also i am on friendly terms with john hautman the owner of filster and his wife sarah who helped develop the enigma i like them i want them to succeed so i can't claim to be totally unbiased here but i can tell you that i am under no obligation to do a positive review if i had tried the enigma and hated it for whatever reason i probably would have just given them some feedback directly and skipped doing a review for the time being i'm only telling you guys about this thing because i like it and i think a lot of you might find it useful the filster enigma is a great option if you want to carry with sweatpants or gym shorts but relegating it to that role alone doesn't really do it justice when i first saw the enigma i thought it would be a really nice upgrade from a belly band and that in itself was exciting because every belly band type holster that i've ever tried has been a major disappointment in one way or another but the true benefit of the enigma is that it's versatile without requiring compromises and that's difficult to appreciate until you start using it on a daily basis most men i know who carry every day have some kind of setup that usually involves a compact or a subcompact pistol that they wear on a belt holster that's what they carry in their everyday casual or work clothes if they want to carry when they're in loungewear or formal wear or gym clothes or doing some kind of strenuous physical labor they usually have alternate carry solutions different types of holsters or maybe even a different gun altogether like a pocket pistol it's even more complicated for most of the women i know who carry regularly contemporary women's fashion often does not lend itself to wearing a load-bearing belt women also tend to have more variety in what they wear than men do their carry methods seem to vary a lot more from day to day not just when they're doing certain activities so in either case for both men and women the gun and the holster are dictated by the wardrobe and the activity you're going to be doing so we end up with belly bands and fanny packs and ankle rigs and pocket holsters and a different carry method for every occasion and a different gun for every occasion on top of the hassle and the expense of all that gear this requires some additional sacrifices if you carry different guns in different locations on your body you have to now practice with each of those that means less time practicing with your primary carry up it means remembering uh what and where you're carrying that day which is not a given if you're thrown into a stressful situation and for most of us drawing from any carry rig other than a belt holster is slower and less consistent the gun is just not as accessible with a lot of these holster alternatives the gun is also going to be less concealable or less comfortable or both that often means we switch to a smaller gun to help mitigate those effects that leads to further compromises because pocket pistols are generally harder to access and shoot well compared to full size or compact or even a subcompact pistol an alternate way to approach this problem is to pick a gun and a holster that you like and then dress around the gun is the phrase you might hear people use instead of wearing the clothes that you'd actually want to wear you only wear things that are compatible with your carry setup now inevitably this means you end up having to skip certain activities or going certain places because you can't wear your gun clothes or you wear those clothes anyway but you stick out like a sore thumb because it's not appropriate for the occasion or you dress appropriately for the occasion but you leave your gun behind what the enigma brings to the table is the potential to help you separate the holster and gun decision from the wardrobe and activity decision you still might run into some of those issues but the enigma helps minimize them you can wear it with pants with or without a belt you can have your shirt tucked in or untucked it'll work with baggy pants or yoga pants or no pants at all or a skirt or a kilt or basically any clothing that allows access to your waistband now all of the same could be said of the various belly band style holsters on the market but unlike a belly band the enigma also gives you the same level of concealment comfort accessibility and retention that you would have with a traditional belt holster now as i mentioned back in the beginning it's difficult to appreciate all this without actually experimenting with the enigma yourself but i want to show you guys a quick comparison that i think might help illustrate some of the strengths of the enigma so i'm out here wearing athletic pants with an elastic waistband and i've got this really lightweight t-shirt this shirt is far from ideal for concealing a handgun normally you want thicker materials dark colors and patterns to help conceal a lot better than something like this so this shirt will really accentuate any printing issues and right now you can see i'm printing quite a bit you can see a good outline of the top of the gun right here even if i kind of sit up and don't stick my hips out if you go at this angle you can see it right here pretty easily this is the sig p365 xl again and i'm wearing it with a can can concealment sport belt now this is one of the better belly band or elastic style holsters i've tried but it's not doing a very good job of keeping this gun concealed and that's because the top half of the gun wants to tilt away from my body because the sport belt is only putting pressure on the bottom half of the gun if i want it to conceal better i can move it down toward my waistband but that kind of compromises my draw stroke and it still doesn't really conceal all that well it's also not especially comfortable because again all that tension is on the front half of the gun it doesn't distribute the load very well so i'm feeling a lot of pressure from the front corner of the slide pressing into the top of my thigh because that's where all the force is concentrated now these problems are actually not unique to belly bands you might run into the same kinds of issues if you try to carry in the appendix position with a belt holster that's not properly designed for appendix carry but another problem here that is more specific to belly bands is the lack of retention the sport belt comes with a tiny little magnet that's sewn inside the gun pocket and that's supposed to help keep the gun in place but as far as i can tell it really doesn't do anything if i move around much with this thing on or especially if i were to start running the gun gradually wiggles its way out the top of the holster now this particular model of the sport belt does a little better with smaller guns but i've done lots of running with this belt and a j frame revolver and i always have to stop and readjust it and get it back into that pocket after every mile or two because it wants to just work its way out okay now let's look at the same gun and the same outfit with the enigma now i wouldn't say the gun is totally invisible because again this shirt is not a great concealment garment you can see a little bit from the top of the optic here sometimes but there is a lot less printing than there was with the sport belt the grip and the back of the slide are no longer trying to lean away from my body they're being tucked in toward my body which conceals it better the same design features that make this holster work with belt clips are still working when it's mounted to the enigma there is a wedge molded into the bottom to tilt the grip inward along the horizontal axis the dark wing attachment pressing against the face plate keeps the butt of the grip tucked in along the other axis now accessibility is actually slightly better with this setup than it is with a belt holster in some cases that was kind of a surprise for me it's not so much that i have a faster draw stroke with the enigma but if i'm not wearing a belt it's a little easier to be more consistent with my draw stroke sometimes when i'm trying to get that initial grip on the gun in the holster my hand might come in at an odd angle and some of my fingers will catch on the gun belt i'll have to readjust before i can draw and that cost me a little bit of time not having that belt in the way can uh negate that problem and a soft elastic waistband is a lot easier to work around if it does kind of get in the way and it's easier to push out of the way than a stiff belt is retention with the enigma is much better than it is with the sport belt the gun is locked securely into the kydex shell so it's not going anywhere when i run or do backflips at the dance club if i adjust the belt and the leg leash properly the whole rig stays put when i'm moving around as well so it's not just the gun moving in the holster it's the whole rig that stays put as well i've been on multiple runs and hikes with this setup it has been far more comfortable than a belly band or belt holster with a solid gun belt that's because the enigma does not allow the gun to move or flop around the way most other carry options do before now i had never had much luck trying to run for any length of time with a gun this large and heavy now this is only a sub compact pistol but it weighs 26 ounces loaded which is roughly twice the weight of a j frame or an lcp but running with this gun in the enigma has been for me far more comfortable than running with a pocket gun in holsters that only use fabric and elastic for retention like the sport belt or a smart carry now i also want to be careful not to oversell it i still notice the gun is there when it's in the enigma it does feel like it's in the way from time to time just like any gun would if i was going to be doing something active for several hours at a time or if i otherwise just wanted a rig that was as comfortable as possible i would probably go with the ultimate combo which for me would be something like a j frame with the filster city special holster in an enigma i did try that setup for a few days and it was about as easy to ignore as i think a carry rig can be so the enigma is great for doing stuff outside and for beltless carry but how does it compare to a belt holster when i am wearing casual everyday clothes and i do have a belt it turns out for me at least it's a pretty good everyday carry rig overall with the enigma the gun actually conceals a little better than using the same holster with belt clips i wouldn't say it's a dramatic difference but at least for me i have been able to noticeably reduce the amount of printing that i'm getting through a t-shirt especially when i start moving around part of that is because the enigma holds the gun just slightly closer to the body but more importantly i have more flexibility in terms of fine-tuning the placement of the holster to maximize concealment if i need to nudge the gun just slightly to the left or to the right i don't have to worry about whether there is a belt loop in the way of a holster clip i can change the ride height of the gun up or down independently of where i have the waistband of my pants if i want to move the grip up just a little bit to get a cleaner draw stroke i can do that without also having to change where the holster is positioned on the belt the amount of control you have over these fine adjustments is just a lot higher than it is with most traditional belt holsters of course a lot of that stuff is very subjective that is just what i have found based on using the enigma for the last few months comfort is another thing that is really subjective but i will share my experience with that so far just like anything new it takes some getting used to at first i would have said that it's certainly a lot more comfortable than it looks uh at this point though a few months later and having tried it with at least three different guns i'd have to say that a holster with the enigma is at least as comfortable as the same holster with belt clips and most of the time it's more comfortable the face plate looks like it might kind of poke or pinch but it actually never contacts my body at all so that's not really an issue and again you can fine tune where it's positioned not just for concealment but also to find the most comfortable spot on your body the leg leash is also not nearly as uncomfortable as you might think from the way it looks uh it doesn't have to be real tight around your thigh and you don't have to wear it super high up on your thigh in fact it works better if it's not super tight for the first couple of weeks i use the enigma i was kind of always aware just faintly that the leg leash was there but after a while like most things i stopped noticing it completely for the buckle they've got a little piece of webbing that sits behind it so the buckle itself doesn't ever contact your skin and that works really well i've never noticed it at all if you think this seems a little too bulky and you'd rather have something smaller filster does have a lower profile buckle alternative that you can buy it's not as cool or as easy to close as the fidlock buckle but it takes up less space that just leaves the nylon belt itself now just like with a normal belt if you want the gun to conceal better if you want to bring it closer to your body you have to tighten the belt if you get that nylon belt nice and snug it definitely will help conceal the gun but it's not necessarily comfortable you have to kind of find a balance there for me that hasn't really been much of a problem so far because i always wear a really tight fitting undershirt in the fall and winter months and that provides a nice cushion for the belt without getting in the way of drawing the gun but i have worn it a few times against my bare skin and that the belt can get a little irritating after a while i'm definitely not the only person to have had this issue there is a whole mod community forming around the enigma and people are coming up with different diy mods you can try that will among other things provide some built-in padding for that belt i believe filster is looking into possibly offering something like that as an additional thing you can buy from their store in the future for now you might have to get a little creative if you want some cushion or padding for that belt aside from that though i honestly don't have any significant complaints about the enigma that said there are a few other issues you should probably know about before you decide to try one first the enigma only works with appendix inside the waistband style holsters there is not a three o'clock or behind the hip style version of the enigma filster has as far as i know always been focused on aiwb style products they have a very deep understanding of appendix carry and what's required to make it work the enigma was under development for something like two years or more if filster was to ever make a behind the hip version i guess they basically have to start from scratch and i don't think they've said never but i would be surprised if we saw something like that from them any time soon second the enigma is a little more involved to put on and take off relative to a typical belt holster it's difficult to do sitting down it's almost impossible to put on without pulling your pants down to your knees at least taking it off is a little easier but you're not going to be able to do it without at least drawing some attention to yourself so for example if you're going somewhere and you're gonna need to take your gun off and leave it in the car the enigma is not really ideal from that you can do it it's just it takes a little effort finally the initial setup for your enigma might require some work what they ship you is basically a hardware kit and you have to assemble it with your existing holster or you can buy a holster from them at the same time you buy the enigma now i wouldn't say it's difficult to put together but it does take some time and attention you'll have to experiment with the different adjustments the different adjustment holes here and the face plate and the angle of the belt and all that it might take a few days and some trial and error to get it just how you want it fortunately you don't have to figure all that out by yourself john and sarah have put together some excellent tutorial videos on how to set up your enigma that is not a compliment i give lightly their videos are clear and concise and very polished they will walk you step by step through the process you can find those on their youtube channel philly edc i followed those videos and did not have any trouble getting the enigma set up with the filster p365 holster some other holsters might require a few extra steps so if you still have issues there is a very active and well-moderated group on facebook called the filster concealment workshop that's where you can get help from filster and from other customers who have gone through the same process you are you can also see the various modifications people are trying with their enigmas there are men and women of all shapes and sizes with all different styles of clothing and they're showing how they've made their enigma work with their favorite holsters people have also found ways to attach spare magazine carriers and knives and tourniquets and other accessories it's a great place to get ideas if you join please please be polite and open-minded and don't make me regret sharing it here once again the filster enigma is not for everybody nothing is in the concealed carry world for some of you it might be a good solution to one very specific problem that you've been struggling with in your carry setups for others it might completely replace all of your carry gear and you won't buy another holster ever again in any case you can't really go wrong at this point because every new batch of these things is selling out in no time so you can always find a buyer for a used enigma if you decide it's not your thing the price is 84.99 if you try one out be sure to let me know how it goes in the comments

Channel: Lucky Gunner Ammo

Views: 120,759

Rating: 4.9225063 out of 5

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Id: QxG3aW2cS88

Length: 23min 32sec (1412 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 15 2021