Cut down the sweat guard? Bladetech IWB Nano

[dustyvarmint]

I've been contemplating cutting down this sweatguard for awhile, but with a class coming up it seems the perfect time. It inteferes with the initial grip right where the pencil points. That interference is not exactly comfortable, either, when trying to form a grip. I would like some opinions, though, before I make a stupid mistake.

Should I cut it at all? Should I just cut it down a little? Or should I cut it all the way down similar to the bottom example?

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/11863488_10206110140925913_1640405964051957315_n.j pg?oh=e0b348c9d06d2f66aaaabce3788af29e&oe=563DCC61

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/11890945_10206110141005915_726638608071169888_n.jp g?oh=3f522261d10f4dfd1c61a9d1e5d7232e&oe=5648158A

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11902437_10206110152326198_174042091358277954_n.jp g?oh=0b2c7ce2905e5ccf8ab4c047b0ae147e&oe=56767EB5

happy shooting, Jerry

[miller_man]

Yes, I did - couldn't take the sweat guard blocking my thumb/web of hand from contacting the pistol. I just cut enough back to have the kydex below/behind the frame of the gun. I just took a little off carefully with a razor knife and then sanded it smooth. I have used holsters without and much prefer a sweat shield.

I say go for it.

[Byron]

Should I cut it at all?
I would absolutely trim it before your class. Cuts/blisters on your hand will make for a really unpleasant day/weekend as the hours wear on.

As for how much to cut off, I'd say it's really personal. If it were me, I'd remove all the kydex that covers the polymer frame and see how that felt. If that still wasn't good enough, I wouldn't hesitate to remove more. Funny enough, a Blade-Tech is the only holster I've ever cut the sweat guard off of. The final result was even smaller than your lower example and I never regretted it.

Definitely make sure to clean up the edge on any alterations you make. It would suck to remove one hotspot just to create another.

[1slow]

Cut as little as will serve your grip, try it and cut more as needed. It is hard to put material back on. This is very hand/body size/shape dependent.
I like a full sweat guard, keeps undershirt more out of my way re-holstering and keeps sweat more away from the pistol.

[EricM]

Yeah it's a total no-go out of the box. I've never cared much for sweat guards myself, here's what I did to mine... (lefty)

http://icedesigns.com/echo0603/pf/081415/sg.jpg

[Paul]

Very little at a time, you can always trim off a little more later. I got mad at one of my old Bladetech IWB and cut the whole sweat guard off. It sure made drawing easier, that sweat guard also did a good job keeping that spare tire that I'm currently packing comfortably out of the way.

There's a middle ground in there somewhere.

[JTQ]

The more holsters I own, the more anti-sweat shield I become. However, I'm a 1911 shooter and need to find my way to a thumb safety. Short shields, that end at the back of the slide are fine, I can just put my thumb on the top of the shield, push off with my thumb during the draw and my thumb will naturally fall to the thumb safety. Tall shields that come up to cover a grip safety are too tall to do that and make it very difficult to get to the thumb safety. If I were shooting something that didn't require me to find a thumb safety, such as a Glock, I probably wouldn't care one way or the other on the sweat shield. In addition, most makers don't put that tall of a sweat shield on Glock holsters anyway.

[dustyvarmint]

The first go round, Hard to put in words how much better it is even at this point. No more pain when forming the grip/drawing.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/11214245_10206122146586047_3709715474971458093_n.j pg?oh=c6ec7eb32aeb9435d2dd84e8513d776b&oe=567E4C3B

[Rosco Benson]

One of the many things I like about JM Custom Kydex is being able to specify the sweatguard's height.

Rosco

[HopetonBrown]

I like a full sweat guard. I see it more as a shirt guard; keeps my shirt out of the holster.

[dustyvarmint]

I've carried this since mid-August when I cut it down and used it for a class last weekend - it has worked very well in its new configuration.

thanks for all the advice and happy shooting, Jerry