What happened to Hell-Bent?
The slow decline and quiet disappearance of Hell-Bent Holsters—and what the founder is doing now.
Hell-Bent Holsters made a name for itself in the 2010s with tough, American-made holsters and wallets – especially their Hell-Bent 3.0 wallet which i've perviously reviewed. Founded by Glade Smith in Texas, the small family-run company built its reputation on hand-crafted quality and a “hell-bent” determination to make rugged gear. Their patented wallets featured a unique fan-out design that let users quickly thumb through cards, all encased in billet aluminum with RFID-blocking protection. For a while, Hell-Bent’s products were beloved in the EDC community for their durability and cool factor. However, if you’ve recently tried to find Hell-Bent Holsters or buy one of their wallets, you may have noticed something is off. The company seems to have gone dark. Let’s dig into the clues and piece together the story of what might have happened to Hell-Bent Holsters.
I first reviewed the Hell-Bent 3.0 Wallet back in 2020 and in that review i had nothing but great things to say about the wallet. Fast forward to today and i was looking to see if the brand had done anything else since my initial review. It wasn’t long before i realised that the brand had essentially disapeared and with that, i set out on an online journey to discover what had happened to this once highly rated brand.
A Move from Texas to Kentucky + New Ownership?
For years, Hell-Bent Holsters was based in the Texas hill country. Sometime around 2018–2019, it appears the company changed hands and relocated. By the early 2020s, Hell-Bent’s operations had moved toKentucky, with a business listing showing a Kentucky address.
Long-time fans on social media even mentioned that “this company was sold roughly 5 years ago,” suggesting the original founder (Glade) sold Hell-Bent around 2019 and new owners took over in Kentucky. One Yelp reviewer noted that Hell-Bent “used to be a good buy” but that “something changed after they moved to KY” - implying the transition might have affected product quality or customer service.
It makes sense: a new family might have been running Hell-Bent out of Kentucky, trying to continue the brand’s legacy. In fact, the business was described as a “family-owned small business based in Mayfield, KY” focusing on “rad card holder wallets and custom kydex gun holsters,” per an online business directory. Early on, things may have seemed fine – the new Hell-Bent, Inc. kept selling the signature wallets (now branded as 3.0 wallets) and posting on social media. But storm clouds were brewing.
Signs of Trouble: Orders and Communication Breakdown
By late 2023, cracks in Hell-Bent’s operations were showing. Customers began reporting serious fulfillment and communication issues. Multiple reviews from fall 2023 describe a nightmare experience for buyers. For example, one customer wrote in November 2023: “Absolutely the worst customer service… Made an online order months ago, still no product. I really feel this place is a scam company, buyer beware!” .
Another frustrated customer in December 2023 echoed: “Absolute scam of a company. Waited 6 months for an order while they either refused to respond or came back with a ‘we’re a small family business’ [excuse]. Email order says 3 weeks, [still nothing]”. These are pretty harsh words from folks who loved Hell-Bent’s products in the past.
What do these complaints tell us? Essentially, by late 2023 Hell-Bent was taking orders (even charging customers) but not delivering the goods in a reasonable time, if at all. Attempts to contact the company for updates were met with silence or generic excuses which can be seen by their reviews on Mapquest.com.
This is a huge red flag that something was going very wrong behind the scenes. Perhaps the new Kentucky-based team was overwhelmed, or supply chain and production issues hit them hard. Some buyers feared the business had become a “scam” – whether intentional or not, because money was taken but products weren’t shipped.
Social Media Silence and a Vanishing Act
Up through 2023, Hell-Bent maintained a presence on social media – posting product photos, promotions, and engaging with the EDC community. But the posts became infrequent, and after January 2024, they stopped entirely. The last Facebook update from Hell-Bent, Inc. came on January 28, 2024, and it was a teaser: “Something New is Coming Soon!”. They even ran a pre-order for a new Titanium 3.0 Wallet around that time, telling fans the pre-order would close on January 19, 2024. That seemed like an exciting development, perhaps a new product launch was imminent.
Unfortunately, after that January 2024 tease, radio silence. No new products ever officially dropped (at least none that customers have seen), and the company’s Facebook and Instagram went quiet. If you try to visit Hell-Bent’s official website now, you’ll likely find it offline or non-functional. In fact, one Reddit user who had ordered a wallet in September noted by early 2024 that “their website is down and social media too. Kya hua?”, basically asking “what happened?” It seems Hell-Bent’s online storefront quietly vanished, leaving would-be customers in the dark.
“They’ve Disappeared” and the GladeMade Connection
In the absence of official word, the EDC and wallet enthusiast community has been trading info to solve the mystery. On Reddit’s r/wallets forum, someone bluntly asked “What happened to Hell-Bent Holsters?” and the replies painted a pretty clear picture. One commenter responded that “They appear to have disappeared”, and pointed to GladeMade on Instagram – explaining that Glade Smith (the original Hell-Bent founder) is now making wallets on his own.
Essentially, Glade Smith left Hell-Bent when it was sold, and has since started a new venture crafting wallets (perhaps under the brand “Glade Made”). This implies that the heart and soul behind the original Hell-Bent products moved on, and the new owners weren’t able to keep things up.
Even on YouTube, in an EDC gear video, a top comment from early 2024 lamented: “I just found out Hell-Bent Holsters went out of business several months ago. What a shame - I really liked their products.” This seems to sum up the general consensus: Hell-Bent is out of business, and those who loved their wallets are disappointed to see them go.
But nevertheless, Hell-Bent lives on through the original Owner who goes by GladeMade on Instagram. You only have to have a quick browse through GladeMade’s posts to see that the resemvleance between the offerings there and that was offered by GladeMade. In term’s of wallets, you can clearly see what was known as the Hell-Bent 3.0 Wallet is still available and can be purchased directly through GladeMade themselves.
The now defunct Hell-Bent website as it was on the 1st of May 2021.
Verdict: GladeMade is set to Return (UPDATE)
In August 2025, Glade Smith himself got in touch with me after seeing the article I had written on Hellbent. It was a heartfelt email and it seems Glade has struggled over the past few years with a variety of life stuff which i wouldn’t want to disclose in this article.
That being said, what i can say is Glade comes across as a very nice guy, and it seems this article in itself has helped his old customers find him again, and given confidence in news customers that the situation hell-bent found itself in wasn’t due to Glade himself but unforseem circumstances outside of his control.
Right now as of the summer of 2025, Glade has let me know that he’s working hard on developing a new website and currently hand producing each and every wallet and currently furfilling orders directly through his personal Instagram and Facebook.
Glade also let me know that he’s working on some some new varitions of his wallet (which i won’t spoil here), so give him a follow and stay tuned for that announcement. We wish Glade the best of luck with getting his new venture off the ground and hope we can give his new wallet, GladeMade Wallet a proper review in the future.