Gear Review: Safariland Schema IWB Holster

When the new Safariland Schema holster arrived at TTAG HQ it definitely caught our eye. Skeletonized and minimalist, it was unlike other holsters. Luckily, the sample that had arrived for testing was designed for a SIG SAUER P365XL, which meant I was the easy choice for putting it through its paces.

Though I wasn’t a fan for the longest time, I’ve been almost exclusively carrying in the appendix position (AIWB) since early spring. Adding almost nothing to the footprint of the firearm makes the Schema a great candidate for appendix carry.

Minimalist though it is, the Schema still offers adjustability and is well suited to most any sort of IWB carry. Its hooked belt clip is highly adjustable for both height and cant, rotating to effectively any angle you might like plus moving up and down about half an inch.

A removable wing next to the belt clip helps to rotate the pistol’s grip in towards your body, reducing printing and aiding in concealment.

Next to the extremely skeletonized design, the other standout unique feature on the Schema, also visible in the photo above, is the barrel post. This rod indexes loosely into the barrel of your carry gun. It keeps the business end of the pistol securely in place, without requiring the holster to wrap entirely around the slide and add width to the package.

On the left side, however, there’s a little more holster on top of the slide to protect you from the gun and it from you.

I’ve always said that, for IWB carry, I want my holster to add as little width to the firearm as possible. I’ve chosen a slim gun to make concealed carrying easier and more comfortable, and I don’t want a holster doubling the width of what I’m putting inside my waistband.

Clearly, the Safariland Schema excels here. Outside of a couple holsters that cover literally nothing more than the trigger guard, or those things that are nothing more than a pocket clip that attaches on the frame or slide, this bad boy adds less to the thickness or overall footprint of the gun than perhaps any other holster I’ve used.

At the same time, it flares out to cover the magazine release and slide stop, creating a slightly enlarged mouth that makes it easy to holster the pistol one-handed. It’s stiff, too, so the holster will stay open inside of your belt even when empty.

After carrying my optics-equipped P365XL in the Schema for about six weeks now I have less to say than you might think. It does exactly what it’s supposed to and it does it well. There’s very little for me to nitpick.

The Schema fits my SIG perfectly and offers precisely the right amount of retention on the trigger guard. It’s easy to holster the pistol and it’s smooth to draw it. I adjusted the belt clip around and found the ideal height and angle for my gun in my clothes in my AIWB position.

Concealment is great and comfort is solid. Fit and finish are very good.

If you own a sub-compact Glock, Shadow Systems, SIG, Springfield, or Taurus pistol and you carry right-handed, there may already be a Safariland Schema for it and I recommend it without hesitation. It’s everything you need and nothing you don’t.

MSRP: $39.99

Ratings (out of five stars):

Overall * * * *
The Schema is a fantastic holster. Cool, too, and it’s cool in a functional way, which is hard to do. It’s shy of 5 stars for me mainly because I’d like adjustable retention on it. While I found the retention to be spot-on, I know some people like a little more. Also, it isn’t available for very many firearm models and it’s only available in right-hand flavor (I assume the pistol compatibility list will grow if the holster sells well). For my purposes, though, it checks all the boxes and is now my go-to AIWB holster for my P365XL.