Clinger Atom and Stingray Holsters ReviewAs a writer, a lot of handguns run through my hands for review. Some of those, I actually like enough to slip into my waistband to test as a concealed carry firearm. The problem is that typically a quality holster to slide a test gun into can run $80-$100 pretty easy and… well, you know that seems stupid to drop that cash for a gun I may just send back to a manufacturer. I stumbled onto Clinger holsters simply because I needed an inexpensive holster option that didn’t suck. The reality is that the Stingray and Atom holster I have started using are awesome holsters at any price, but for my use, the price is right.
All the Clinger holsters feature adjustable retention, high grade Kydex, compact designs, and rust-free hard anodized hardware. Clinger holsters are not just low grade holsters slapped together with high grade components; instead the holsters are made by a highly trained staff. Now having a couple of these holsters, I can say the quality is pretty freaky great for a $90 holster and stunning for the actual sub-$40 price. In fact, Clinger Holsters backs up that quality claim with a no questions asked “Bumper-To-Bumper Lifetime Warranty”. Based on what I have experienced with the Atom and Stingray holsters, I want to keep buying them. As of this article I had just purchased two more of these holsters.
Stingray Holster - Between the two holsters I like the Stingray holster the best. It is fast, tight and easy holster design that slips into the pants easy, is highly concealable with a shirt pulled over it, and can be pulled out quick at the and of the day or accommodating gun-free zones. The holster itself is extremely well designed fast drawing and due to the clip placement very concealable. The broad clip placement delivers good belt support, pulls in the grip of the gun, and keeps the grip well tucked in. The full sweat guard makes the holster very comfortable and prevents hammers, safeties, slots on slides, and sights from digging into your side. Clinger has worked around the limitations of a single clip holster with the large belt clip to provide support , but as with any single clip holster design it still does not distribute the weight like my Crossbreed Supertuck Deluxe’s two broadly spaced clips at 3 and 5-o’clock. The one big 1.25” clip does do a pretty great job to deliver comfortable all-day carry.
Clinger offers the Stinger for pretty much every popular gun model on the market with left or right hand configurations with 15, 30, 0, and low ride cant options. Overall this is a great holster design I will end up buying for a lot of pistols. For the record, I like the low-ride cant format best, but then again I really like a very low ride carry.
Atom Holster - The Clinger Atom holster is the deep concealment model from the company and allows a shirt to be tucked in over the holster. This is a similar tuckable concept to the Crossbreed Supertuck Deluxe and copy Galco King Tuck designs, but the Atom has only one J Hook clip. There is a unique J hook which provides a gap for a shirt to be tucked in over the holster. I have this Clinger Atom holster for my Walther PPS and Glock 42. For deep concealment the simple Atom design can make a small single stack disappear. The Stingray is not tuckable, so this is where a trade-off decision has to be made of what your carry intents.
One of the problems I have with this holster is that the hook that enables the tuckable design adds easily ¼-inch to the width of the overall mounted gun and holster inside the pants. If I was rarely going to carry a gun “tucked” I would buy the Stingray. For the $29.99 price it would be hard to not go ahead and add the Atom to the shopping cart as well as the Stingray for a high level of flexibility and comfort which leads me to the next point. The Atom is not as comfortable as the Stingray due to a partial sweat guard that allows the slide and sights to dig into your side but it is more concealable. The low profile sweat guard aids in concealment, but there is a trade off. My advice is to buy both since each holster serves a unique purpose and flexibility for carry and are combined still less expensive than most holsters.
FINAL THOUGHTSThe quality is high and the design is clean and simple on both the Stingray and Atom holsters. I have had a lot of holsters over the years and I can say these are great holsters for the price. If you are looking for some great holster options, I can easily recommend the Clinger Holsters since I am still buying them, and buying them...
SPECS
Stingray Holster $39.99
Atom Holster $29.99
SOURCES
Clinger Holsters - https://clingerholsters.com