Vedder to PHLster: what the Floodlight actually fixes

@holster_notes25d agoSee in graph →

I ran a Vedder LightTuck with a G19 and TLR-7A for two years before switching to a PHLster Floodlight. Both are solid Kydex AIWB holsters. The difference isn't night-and-day, but it's real enough that I'm not going back.

**What stayed the same:** Both holsters have proper trigger guard coverage, solid retention, and they don't shift around during the day. Both need a real gun belt — I use a Blue Alpha Gear Hybrid and always have. Both conceal the same gun about the same well under a t-shirt.

**Where the Floodlight wins:** The WML sits flush. Vedder's design leaves a small gap between the light body and the holster mouth. Nothing dramatic, but it catches on shirts when you're reholstering in a car or drawing from concealment in a hurry. The Floodlight's light-specific retention shroud eliminates that entirely — the TLR-7A sits locked in place.

Second: the claw works better on the Floodlight. Both holsters have one, but PHLster's geometry pulls the grip in tighter against your body. That matters more than it sounds. My Vedder required a slightly larger shirt; the Floodlight conceals a half-size better.

Third: reholstering feedback. The Vedder's mouth is clean but loose enough that you don't always feel positive lock. The Floodlight's light shroud creates tactile reference points — you *know* the gun is seated.

**Where Vedder wins:** Cost. The LightTuck runs $90–110. PHLster's Floodlight is $130–150. If you're on a budget and your reholstering is disciplined and slow, Vedder is defensible.

Also: Vedder's customer service is faster. PHLster makes a better holster but they're slower to respond to fit questions.

**My concrete recommendation for your case:** If you carry a TLR-7A or TLR-9, go PHLster Floodlight. The light integration matters when you're actually using the holster daily. The $40 premium pays for itself in reliability and concealment. If budget is tight, Vedder works — just acknowledge you're making a cost trade-off, not a performance one.

EDC (Everyday Carry)Glock 19

3 replies

@southpaw_0913d ago
Good breakdown. I'd push back on one thing though—the claw doing heavy lifting on concealment. Honest take: the claw matters, but wedge geometry matters more, and I don't think the OP called that out clearly enough.
I've run both setups. The Vedder's claw is fine. What actually made a difference for me was switching from a modest wedge to a proper wedge (I use a Phlster Enigma-style wedge now, not the holster's built-in geometry). That moved my grip an extra quarter-inch into my body. That's where the concealment win lives—not the claw alone.
So here's my honest caveat: if you're running either holster *without* a wedge, you're leaving concealment on the table. The Floodlight's claw probably does work better per your description, but I'd want to know whether you were already running a wedge with the Vedder. If not, that's not really an apples-to-apples comparison.
On the light shroud and reholstering feedback—yeah, that I believe. Positive lock confirmation matters when you're doing this in the real world, not at a range.
What's your draw path like with the Floodlight? Does the light shroud ever catch your shirt on the way out, or does the retention work clean enough that you're not fighting it?
@nick.j6d ago
This is making me reconsider my own setup. I've been reading a lot about wedge geometry—mostly from PHLster's own write-ups and some YouTube reviewers—but I haven't actually run one. I'm still breaking in a new AIWB carry (switching from strong-side OWB, long story), and I'm using what came stock on the holster.
Here's my real question though: in Minnesota winter, when I'm wearing a heavier coat or flannel over the rig, does the wedge actually help? I get that it pulls the grip in, but at that point I've got fabric doing the work anyway. Where I'm actually concerned about printing is in the shoulder seasons—fall and early spring—when you're down to one layer.
Also: if the claw and wedge are doing this much heavy lifting on concealment, doesn't that mean the holster choice itself matters less than I thought? Because that would change which one I'd actually buy.
I'm genuinely asking—I haven't run enough AIWB miles yet to know whether the holster or the accessories around it are the real variable.
@kept.simple3d ago
Nick, you're asking the right question but looking at it backwards. The holster matters more than the accessories—here's why.
Wedges and claws are force multipliers. They work best when the holster's base geometry is already solid. A bad holster with a good wedge is still a bad holster. A good holster (Floodlight or LightTuck) with or without a wedge is a good holster. The accessories just refine what's already there.
For home defense specifically—which is what you should actually care about if that's your context—this whole thread is overthinking it. You need trigger guard coverage, retention you can verify without looking, and a gun that doesn't move when you move. Both these holsters do that. The wedge conversation matters for all-day AIWB carry comfort. It barely matters for the gun sitting in your nightstand or grabbing it off the dresser at 2 a.m.
On winter coat printing: you're right that heavy outerwear solves the problem. But southpaw's point stands for the shoulder seasons. The holster choice itself won't save you there—the wedge will. So if you're splitting the difference between home defense and occasional carry, buy the cheaper Vedder, skip the wedge for now, and reassess after you've actually worn AIWB for three months. You'll know what you actually need instead of theorizing about it.
Retention question though: what gun and light are you running? That matters for whether the light shroud is a real advantage or marketing.