I Carry: Springfield Armory 1911 DS Prodigy Compact 3.5″ 9mm Pistol in a Henry Holsters Cipher Holster

Firearm: Springfield Armory 1911 DS Prodigy Compact (MSRP: $1,549)

One of the many new firearms Springfield Armory released for 2025 is the new 1911 DS Prodigy Compact, a shortened version of the company’s popular double-stack 1911 Prodigy. The Compact takes an inch and a half off the barrel and .4 inch off the grip, reducing capacity from 17 rounds in the full size to 15 rounds in the compact. Hey, that sounds familiar, doesn’t it? When you consider that Officer-size, single-stack, 9 mm 1911s have 8 or 9 rounds at the maximum in their magazines, that’s almost double the capacity in a handgun only a tiny bit wider. That’s an engineering feat in and of itself.

The Prodigy Compact has a 3.5-inch barrel, is 7 inches long overall, 5.1 inches tall and weighs 25.5 ounces. It’s pretty close in size to the Glock G19, a pistol that is generally considered to be a good mix of concealability and shootability. The Prodigy Compact is a few ounces heavier than the Glock, but that means it’s got less felt recoil, so that boils down to the individual whether the extra weight matters. If you consider the extra weight to be a negative, invest in a heavy duty gun belt and quality holster and it shouldn’t be an issue at all.

The Prodigy Compact has the Agency Optics System series of plates to mount optics if desired. This is a two-part system: The optic plate attaches to a cut on the back of the pistol’s slide, and then the optic attaches to the plate itself. This allows for a wide range of options, with six different plates available for RMR/RMSc/DeltaPoint Pro and other footprints. It is more involved than a direct mount – there are four screws total, and two of them are inaccessible under normal conditions. The upside is the system is extremely solid; once all screws are torqued to proper spec, the optic is going to stay in place.

With the shorter barrel and trimmed grip, the Prodigy Compact is easier to carry concealed than the full-size version. There’s only a two-round reduction in capacity, and the full-size magazines will obviously work in the Compact should you want those extra two rounds in your back-up magazine. With a smooth, single-action trigger, easy optics mounting and generally excellent ergonomics, there are plenty of reasons to consider the Springfield Armory Prodigy Compact for an everyday carry option.

Holster: Henry Holsters Cipher (MSRP: $108)

To highlight the improved carry potential of the Prodigy Compact, we’ve chosen the excellent Henry Holsters Cipher kydex holster. This taco-style holster is designed to be ambidextrous, with hardware that can be swapped for either right- or left-handed shooters. It is also tuckable thanks to the DCC Mod4 metal belt clips and is cut to accommodate mounted optics. Rounding out the Cipher’s features are an open muzzle for those who have threaded barrels, as well as a mid-height sweatguard.

The attentive eye will notice that we’re using a holster designed for a pistol with a 4.25-inch barrel rather than the 3.5-inch Prodigy in today’s kit. There are two reasons for this: First, the Prodigy Compact is quite new, and appropriately sized holsters are just starting to become available. Second, guns like 1911-style pistols and revolvers can often be top-heavy with shorter barrels, so having a slightly longer holster helps keep the rig anchored and prevents it from rotating along the belt line.

Accessory: Streamlight Macrostream USB light (MSRP: $101.12)

One of the most useful items you can have in your EDC kit is a solid handheld flashlight, which is why we’ve opted for the new Streamlight Macrostream USB light as the last piece in today’s kit. This is a simple to use, easy to carry light that runs on a USB-rechargeable battery, is IPX4-rated for water resistance and has a metal pocket clip that also can be clipped to the brim of a hat.

The Macrostream has two power levels, which are toggled by a press of the tailcap switch. The high setting offers 500 lumens with a 2-hour run time, while low setting is 50 lumens for 8 hours. The user can toggle between which setting comes on first (low or high); if you think you’ll be using the light to find your car in the dark, set it up for low power to come up first; if you’re using it to keep bad actors at distance, choose high to start. In either case, the 4.5-inch long, 2.2 ounce light is easy to carry, affordable and most of all, useful.