 One of the goals of Alien Gear's inception was to address the weaknesses of typical holster design.Whereas the typical hybrid holster with a leather backer would employ an 8-ounce leather, Alien Gear uses a 12-ounce leather backer.Instead of using a thin shell made of thermoplastic acrylic polyvinyl chloride such as Kydex, a thicker shell was devised for greater durability.