Nebula Krakens | CZ

These grips are AMAZING. Vytal Manufacturing has not had the exposure that most brands have experienced and it is incredibly disappointing. They. KILL. IT. And they deserve better recognition. (TLDR Paragraphs 1-5-background, 6-Possible FAQ’s, 7-short review) 1. For some background, I work at a gun shop and our uniform is open carry. I bought a shadow 2 compact when they came out and I wanted to make that my work gun because why not? 2. While training with the Shadow 2 Compact, I found that my grip upon draw was inconsistent. I tried to just let the reps iron that issue out but it was never 100% resolved. 3. A while back, my boss recommended Vytal in a conversation because he bought a grip for his 320. The first thing that caught my eye was the diversity of designs. My boss and I just wanted to dress up some of our favorite pieces, but I was curious about the actual quality of the grips. 4. For those who don’t have much experience with handling a variety of different guns, the feel of the CZ Shadow 2 Compact is very similar to the rest of CZ’s products, especially in the double+single action department. It’s exactly as you would imagine a smaller Shadow 2 with slightly less aggressive front and back strap texture. 5. When I received my grips and base pads, it was evident that the pictures do not do the colors justice at all. For a show piece, wonderful! I imagine that their more subtle colors/patterns are just as subtle and purpose driven as the colorful grips are pretty. Beyond the aesthetics, the pure FUNCTIONALITY is probably the Kraken line’s biggest selling point. As mentioned in paragraph 2, I was never quite able to achieve a 100% consistently accurate presentation with this gun (at least not as good as my results with a Staccato P) I know… $1000 minimum price gap. But still. As soon as I slapped these grips on, that issue was almost completely addressed. The way that Vytal contours these grips… they fill out your mid palm to allow for more surface area contact for control, while tapering off at the mag-well to provide for maximum concealment. I have tried the P0-1 stock grips, SP0-1, all Shadows, and LOK grips and they all have minor contour differences that feel great. These Vytal grips seem perfect for my hands and have gotten a consistent amount of praise from the people that I’ve let handle them. My presentation is VASTLY more consistent and my gun is so sexy. 6. My initial concerns before buying: (X, concealment, Y, ergonomics, Z, added weight) X- some grips like the stock (S)P0-1 or LOK, flair at the mag-well. Although this is such a picky and seemingly inconsequential point, it matters when it comes to the subtleties of making this weapon truly invisible when properly carried. You’d think that the obvious solution would be to get rid of the contours, but the Shadow 2 grips seem too flat and thin to maximize the potential of the weapon platform. Vytal plam swells are not only incredibly concealable, but they fill the right part of the hand with the right amount of texture which seems to have a drastic impact on shooting performance. Y- As mentioned before, the palm swell is amazing. Beyond that, the texture is something worth bragging about. There are textures that are great in adverse conditions but end up tearing up your shirts/stomach, and there are grips that feel great to carry but are hard to get a hold of. Vytal seems to be the happy medium. The texture is innovative. The hexagonal pattern looks cool but also serves a purpose. The hexagons are separated by a shallow cut that provides a slight burr that catches your grip from all angles, regardless of moisture conditions. HOWEVER this burr only catches your palms if you want it to (how hard you squeeze). After carrying this thing appendix for a while, it doesn’t rub my skin raw or mess up my shirts like a polymer stipple job would. It doesn’t catch on things I don’t want it to and when it’s time to grab it and start shooting, the squeeze of my hand is enough to catch the grips and comfortably lock them in after the geometry of the palm swell orients my hands in a consistent and repeatable position. The machining is incredibly precise and the subtle concave cuts in the middle of the hexagons look amazing and contribute to the wizardry of the grips sliding off of fabric but locking into hands. They just feel natural. Z- The weight is a non-issue. When dealing with CZs or SIG AXG models, there are 2 choices: lightweight but beefy (aluminum/titanium) for aesthetics, or extra-beefy (solid copper or brass) for recoil reduction. I opted for the aesthetic choice but I feel pretty secure in my ability to manage recoil with a gun as smooth as this. Regardless, if you choose to opt for maximum recoil reduction and a performance increase, you can get the same texture in solid copper. If you chose to carry a gun the size of a CZ 75 Compact, P0-1, or S2C you already take weight into account. For carry, the aluminum grips feel great and provide ample control so I imagine that the copper grips would feel great for competition. 7. That being said, this product is amazing and 1000% WORTH IT! They feel and grip great, help fill my hands, and conceal just fine while not causing abrasions to my shirts or stomach. The base pads even help my empty mags drop more reliably while reloading. If you’re on the fence, just do it. Customer service is great and they will get you straight. Keep it up Vytal. I’m excited to see what else y’all come up with.

I got the swelled grips ,base pads, and mag release all are high quality and look great. Even better they fit my hand awesome. Only complaint is the factory screw for the grips doesn't match.

What an awesome set of grips! The craftsmanship is just incredible! Grip texture is actually much more than I expected. While the wait time is long, it is absolutely worth the wait and I I didn’t even really feel like I waited that long

Amazing color combination, my favorite grips. I also have the color case grips for my SP01, and cotton candy for the P01. I like the nebula grips so much, I just can't wait for a sale to get the same grips for the SP01!