Raven Concealment Systems (RCS) has released the WML-compatible version of their OWB (Outside the WaistBand) Perun holster. It’s called the Perun LC (Light Compatible) and, as I’ll explain a little further on, it’s the perfect holster for anyone who has their arm bitten off by a shark.
Low light/no light training and…well, we can’t talk about it. @presscheckconsulting.
But wait. Before we get to discussin’ it in more detail (and it pains me that this disclaimer is necessary), let me clarify: the Perun LC will only work properly if there is a light attached to the weapon. It will also function best if used in conjunction with the appropriate breed of pistol…so if you drop something else in there, good luck to ya.
SPOTLIGHT on: the Perun LC Holster
📷Photo credits Jerry Sarkody, Rat Mountain Design (@jsarkody) unless otherwise indicated.
📷Cover photo credit F3 Tactical.
There have been a few expressions of surprise that RCS released a strong side OWB holster, which is understandable, describing strong side OWB carry as “old school.” Raven Concealment did play a dominant role in mainstreaming AIWB carry, albeit sometimes indirectly. But strong-side carry remains not just common, but predominant in most of the shooting public. It remains ubiquitous in most professional (agency) circles as well, where the sight of a someone in plain clothes might very well cause explosive apoplectic diarrhea in certain supervisory or rangemastery circles.
Some assembly required. Moonshine not included. 📷Jerry Sarkody, Rat Mountain Design (@jsarkody).
Light Compatible OWB – OG Carry
What’s New is Seldom New – What’s Old is Rarely Obsolete
Strong side OWB in a traditional location might be “old school,” but it works and lots of people use it. In addition to on-duty and uniformed use, strong side OWB remains the carry method of choice for thousands of armed citizens and off-duty armed professionals, and many of them (quite rightfully1) prefer an EDC weapon with a WML aboard. While the Perun holster was good, it was for guns running slick. The Perun LC is designed to meet the WML folks’ need. Right-hand carry, left-hand carry, strong-side or support-side, both-hand-for-dual-wielding-arms-akimbo-drawstroke carry, it can be configured to suit any strong side OWB preference (and will have a mechanism available for IWB conversion shortly).
The Perun LC was designed for the two most common OWB positions (blade of the hip at 3:00 or further back behind the blade of the hip, at either a 0° or 10 cant°). While it probably could be carried AIWB, you’d really have to work at it, and your friends would probably laugh at out you (um, there’s holsters for that you know2).
There are currently no plans to make it into a shoulder holster, however, or an SOB holster, nor is it suitable for use as an ankle rig. Unless your name is Steve Fisher, Zeke Stout, Hodor, or anything ending in Clegane.
Sorry not sorry.
📷Those last three photos credit, (@triplebravo)
The first Perun LC will support the SureFire X300U-B 3 light attached to the bigger Glock 9mm frames (G17, G19, and G34), as well as their .40 and .357 cousins. It is also compatible with KKM Precision and similarly comped pistols like the Roland Special, Gila Blaster, Stealth Special, and others. The next incarnations will be for Streamlight-equipped weapons.
⇒ Current, Glock + X300U
⇒ ⇒ Next, Glock + TLR1HL, then
⇒⇒⇒ Then, Glock 19M + TLR7
Beyond that? Probably the following in uncertain order:
⇒⇒⇒⇒ Sig P-320 Compact
⇒⇒⇒⇒ HK VP-9
⇒⇒⇒⇒ Ruger LC-9
⇒⇒⇒⇒ 1911 5” Government profile
⇒⇒⇒⇒ Springfield XDS
The 19X will fit these holsters, as it did the LC’s non-WML compatible predecessor. That’s because, as RCS tells us, the Perun was designed in close cooperation with Glock to achieve proper tolerances with all their new gen pistols. The next brands to be supported will be Smith & Wesson and SIG (not necessarily in that order).
📷The Photographer from the Village People (@jsarkody).
As with any release like this, financial and manufacturing capacity realities dictate what guns get which holsters, and when. If more people carried Raging Judge .454s4 than carried Glocks, Smiths, or SIGs, it would be them what got their holsters first.
Ambi and Injection Molding
Why Crank Them Out This Way?
The Perun LC is ambidextrous in the sense that it, like Pussy Galore and Sterling Archer, will go both ways, but there’s a little work involved. It takes a couple of steps to get there, unless you’re looking to go crossdraw (weird, but who are we to judge?), but it only takes a few minutes to switch the belt tackle around.
There are a couple of good reasons for a manufacturer to make a holster ambidextrous. The first is a simple matter of manufacturing and sales efficiency. It’s easier (and less expensive) to make belt loop tooling than it is a whole ‘nuther batch of separate holster bodies, and easier as well for retailers and government clients. The store doesn’t have to guess how many lefties vs. righties he has to carry on the shelves, and government procurement folks don’t have to worry about the ratio of left to right handed shooters they have to equip.
The second reason involves the afore-mentioned dude who gets his arm chomped off by a shark in a bad mood.5
With a Perun LC, he can switch the holster around to carry his gun on the support side. He’s got enough to worry about, with all those stitches and some fucking shark shitting his Sacred Order of St. Dumas signet rink out there in the water.6 He shouldn’t have to buy another holster.
📷Jerry Sarkody, Rat Mountain Design (@jsarkody).
The same advantage applies to any other injury affecting a shooter’s strong side. As Ser Michael Goerlich, Co-Founder/Owner of Raven Concealment (and hedge knight sworn to House Morningwood) explains,
“We have had numerous instances where customers wanted to borrow, trade, or just buy a new holster because of an injury, often something encountered on duty. A torn rotator cuff surgery is very common in LEOs. Maybe you break your collarbone going over a fence running some asshole down. Injuries like this can keep you out of commission for anywhere from four to fourteen weeks. Do you want to go unarmed that whole time, or do you want to transition to support side carry without having to spend the money on a second holster?”
That’s something I’d never thought of. I’ve been jammed up as a one-hander before (ulnar nerve transposition), but as I maintained use of my dominant hand I never gave it a second thought.
The injection molding process, we’re told, was prompted by a desire for superior manufacturing processes and the ability to use superior materials in a more efficient way. RCS spent the last couple of years bring CAD design and injection mold making capabilities in-house, which give them the ability to produce better, more innovative products than can be created by bending flat sheets of thermoformed polymer. This is why RCS has transitioned all holsters but the Morrigan to the new material, and it’ll be shifted over soon.
There’s nothing wrong with a Boltaron or Kydex holster (those are the Coke/Pepsi comparison of the holster world). Many of us use them daily. I’m wearing a Boltaron holster as I type this. However, the new material RCS is using provides a number of advantages, including a much broader temperature range in which they’ll remain functional. A traditional thermaform sheet polymer holster becomes pliable as you approach 200° or higher, effectively melting the rig. If you leave your Kydex holster in your truck in the desert, you run the risk of fucking it up. That might not be an issue to some of us, but if you’re a someone like a Texas rancher, a Border Patrolman, or a couple of OGA dudes swanning across the Tassalit Cercle7, it could be an issue. Any number of people in places like Alaska or upstate New York could potentially suffer similar issues, just to the other extreme.
When is the last time you sought professional instruction?
In addition to greater strength, RCS advises their material provides much greater resistance to solvents and impact. I haven’t had the chance to test either of those claims, but honestly, I’m not likely to. It might be interesting for someone to do an El Pozolero on a range of holsters from different manufacturers, but my wife gets pissed when I get out my turkey fryer. I can only imagine her reaction if I set up barrels of acid in the garage.
Ambi and Body Shields
Two-Sided, and Intentional
A common misconception about the Perun and Perun LC, as evidenced in comments, concerns and the occasional moronic declamation on social media, arises from the holsters’ body shields. Many folks believe they’re there as part of the ambidextrous configuration. Some bemoan a perceived necessity to modify the holster and remove one shield or the other (or both).
As RCS explains it, this is a complete misapprehension. They tell us dual shields were intentionally part of the design from the beginning, in no small part due to lessons learned from their legacy Phantom series and feedback from end users who wear guns all day every day in a low profile manner. Those shields would have been there even if they’d built two separate carry models of Perun.
First and foremost they are there to protect the cover garment from wear induced by the weapon (such as that caused by slide serrations). They’re also there to reduce the likelihood of cover garments or other “daily carry FOD” from slipping into the mouth of the holster. This makes reholstering safer. An added advantage is a mitigation of printing, though this will depend on the person, the garment, and the gun.
📷Jerry Sarkody, Rat Mountain Design (@jsarkody).
The decision to include a body shield on each side was in direct response to issues encountered during tens of thousands of drawstrokes and reholsters, by shooters of many backgrounds, with a wide array of body styles and builds, wearing an enormous variety of cover garments, across the gamut of training and real-world conditions.
That doesn’t mean you have to like it. It doesn’t mean you have to keep it. But that’s why it’s there.
It won’t slow your drawstroke, and who cares if it slows you down just a little bit when you reholster? The odds that you’ll need to put it away really fast for some reason are infinitesimal, whereas the odds that your cover garment catches on the weapon as you drag iron are very good. The shields are meant to counter that by minimizing contact between the cover garment (particularly a front-opened jacket). Plus, their presence will help prevent your muzzle from drifting inboard as you put the weapon away. Maybe that’s not something you’re worried about, but for some folks it’s a definite value-add, especially those who have difficulty holstering without focusing on that task.
📷Photo credit Snake Plissken NYPD version.
Note that I’m aware of the common reholstering arguments, and we can debate those another time. I keep eyes on, “looking” the gun in, if I’m able to do so under the circumstances…more often when carrying concealed than if it’s pushed out away from my body by something like a duty rig. As with WMLs and other tactical/practical discussions, we’ll hit that in a follow-on.
Goerlich explains further,
“Slide serrations, rear sights, red-dot sights, extended ambi controls, mag well funnels, extended magazine baseplates, etc. are all potential snag points for a cover garment. The likelihood of any of them snagging can be affected by garment length, garment material, open-front versus closed-front, body type, and how loose or snug the garment is. By utilizing the outer body-shield design, we are able to create an approximately .08″ stand-off for the cover garment from the side of the slide, which often will impact how the garment drapes near the rear-sight area, even though the rear sight is not covered by the body shield.”
📷Jerry Sarkody, Rat Mountain Design (@jsarkody).
📷Jerry Sarkody, Rat Mountain Design (@jsarkody).
Necessary Links for Capitalism to Occur
No Googling Necessary
The Perun and Perun LC are the mongrel stepchildren of the Eidolon and Phantom, combining (Raven Concealment avers) the best features of each.8
Buy a Perun LC if you want one. Or don’t. If you’re tending towards the former choice, this first holster is on the Perun OWB Holster Glock with Surefire X300U (or, to use the unhandy acronym, POWBHGWSX300U) page. You can find all the Peruns here, on the eponymously named Perun Strongside OWB page.
If you just really miss the Phantoms, and want one of those, there are a few left in stock here.9
There are a lot of interesting questions that will almost certainly come up as the pros and cons of this holster are discussed. Handgun WMLs for everyday use, yes or no? Flashlights and task lights? Appendix or strong side carry? Looking the gun back into the holster. Feel free to weigh in. We’ll be discussing much of this in the coming weeks, here and on social media.
📷 (@firelancemedia)
I have a Perun LC here at the house. I’ll get it assembled and see how I like it, then report back.
Probably.
• Perun LC holster Glock w/ X300-U-B: https://bit.ly/2KTnoMq
• Perun holsters: https://bit.ly/2K41dlw
• Raven Concealment Systems on Facebook: https://bit.ly/2G55m63
• Raven Concealment Systems on Instagram (@ravenconcealment): https://bit.ly/2rA2J7d
• Raven Concealment Systems home page and store: http://rcsgear.com/
• Some hashtags we’ve seen so far: #perunLC, #perun, #perunholster
• RCS holsters available on Amazon Prime: https://amzn.to/2KRbWkr
• RCS holsters on Brownells: http://bit.ly/2qPSTOQ
• RCS holsters available at US Elite Gear: https://bit.ly/2rzDAt7
1 This is a topic we will be discussing in greater detail soon.
2 That’s kinda the whole point of the Eidolon, Morrigan, etc.
3 This holster will work with the X300-U-A lights, but because of the different in bezels retention will suffer. The overall form factor of a holster like this is dictated the bezel of the light. Thus they do not recommend X-200 series lights.
4 The Raging Judge Magnum is a revolver chambered in .454 Casull. While utterly apropos for the EDC purposes of people like Mike Harrigan and Matt Sykes, is not such a great choice as a daily carry defensive gun off the big screen. Not that we’re judging or anything.
5 Personally, we think it’s likely this might be some particularly choleric specimen of choleric Carcharhinus leucas (the Bull Shark, like the ones who took off Mike Shutello’s head in Deep Blue Sea 2), but really it could be virtually any species.
6 Probably off Matawan Creek estuary — it’s happened before.
7The Tessalit Cercle is a region of Mali, in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains close to Algeria. It’s hot as fuck pretty much all the time, and it’s been taking a beating not just due to the Tuareg Rebellion, but also because of assorted savages like Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the Signed-in-Blood Battalion, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, and various other depraved regional assholes. Over 150 UN Peacekeepers from MINUSMA (UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali) have been killed there in the last few years, as well as a number of French soldiers conducting counter-terror missions there. We bring this up only because the Perun, like many RCS products, is in use by a variety of armed professionals in unpleasant OCONUS locations.
8 The Perun was designed so that it will ride just as closely as the Phantom. There are some who, due to the difference in holster body shape, perceive that the Phantom rides closer. From a geometry and design perspective, however, the Perun was designed to pull the gun as close or closer to the body as a Phantom on nearly any physique. The contentious double body shields are from the Eidolon, as is the holster’s overall profile.
9Actually, there really are some Phantoms for sale at Brownells, here (and they’re on clearance).
📷(@triplebravo)
Find your next RDS or LPVO – and do it with our link, eh?
⚠️Some hyperlinks in this article may contain affiliate links. If you use them to make a purchase, we will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Really like this holster the only problem is it is leaving out to many gun manufacturers and models while if you have any Glock it’s a great choice but if your carrying a Sig p365 Walther M&P non shield or many other guns made by other manufacturers so far your completely out of luck at this time for this holster to really takeoff it will need at least 150 guns added to the purchase list if they are easier to produce and faster to make l don’t understand the delay I’d order at least three for my carry guns but no Sig p365 no Walther p99c Ruger SR9c so as of now other companies have served me instead it’s a shame because l really like the holster maybe Raven will step up and produce more models until then it is what it is
I’ve been trying to figure out what the heck Raven is doing. I really can’t believe that they killed off the Phantom. But clearly they’re going after the contractor/agency markets with the Perun and targeting Glocks since that is probably the most popular gun in that market. That makes sense. And it does appear that they are SLOWLY expanding the Perun to other models. For example, now Raven has a Perun model for the Sig P320. But they’ve also got one for the Shield and the Ruger…which I’m just scratching my head over. I know the Shield is super popular as a CCW gun but who the heck carries a Shield OWB when you can just as easily carry a 4 inch or 4.25 inch full size M&P? And a holster for the Ruger before they make a holster for M&P’s? Who the hell is carrying all these Rugers OWB? I just don’t get it.