Tactical Tuesday presents: The Pistol Belt

[-Jason-]

I've found that a belt pad eliminates the need for annoying suspenders. And to cope with the movement of pouches, I double attach all of them with a zip tie when they are where I want them.

[DannusMaximus]

I've done it a number of times all day long, no big deal. Not to mention the thousands of Law Enforcement Officers do it everyday with a lot more stuff then I suggested. Radio, Cuffs, OC Spray, Tazer, Pistol, Spare Mags, Flashlight, Baton, etc. I can count the number of them I've seen with suspenders on one hand.

You know, I love suspenders for first line gear, but I wear a duty belt with M9, two spare magazines, 21" ASP baton, OC spray, cuffs, XTS-3000/5000 radio, Surefire, and a massive ring of keys, and it's really not that bad. If the belt is adjusted properly and wide enough, you really don't need suspenders until you get up above roughly 15-20 pounds on a belt.

My badass cop wife's reply when her department was considering allowing suspenders because some of the officers were complaining that their duty belts made their backs hurt:

"Well of course their backs hurt. My back would hurt too if I was carrying that big fucking gut around all day..."

[trixter]

Cant seem to read properly tonight. I read 'pistol bolt' and immediately thought of a bolt action pistol. They do exist, but most people dont like them.

[SwampRat]

I'll see your Tomb Raider, your Jill Valentine and I'll raise you a Milla Jovovich!

Now that's how you rock a pistol belt.

[EricinVirginia]

If you think about it... pistol belts on a hot chick = lingerie.

But to something another poster said... I've tried using the belt snaps sold by Ops Gear, Blackhawk, tactical.com, etc. and they slide around as much as gear does. You noted that you get them where you want them and then you zip tie them in place? How does that work exactly? I was looking at this while pondering how and where to put a LH drop leg holster on my belt... and it seems the zip ties would dig into your skin, crimp the belt, and ultimately slide around too. I know cops and other professions where belts are worn all the time have this figured out: how do you prevent things from sliding around.

Would you mind tossing up some pics? Also, this thread needs more pics. I'll get my holter settled tomorrow and put up a pic... and on thinking about, I've decided that this thread definitely benefits from the video game babes sporting the belts. Murph, it's too bad we couldn't do this with the footwear thread!

[Murph]

Belt keepers are made in different widths, just like belts are. Its easy to buy the wrong size, and they'll slide around very easy. (I was in a rush and mis-bought some the other day.) Same goes for how pouches and holsters and such attach. There's a good chance they were made for a bigger belt, or different style belt. Some companies fail to label what exactly their products were designed to work with.

[EricinVirginia]

Yeah, that's what I'm figuring Murph. So, my pistol belt has grommetted holes every 2 inches through it. I attached my drop leg and used zip ties to secure it. It worked. Unless I were naked, the zip ties don't dig in at all, provided you leave the sharp end outwards. I wish I had a picture to toss up, but I got a 22LR conversion kit for my Sig P226 and started playing with that instead.

[tanniynim]

I love these. I wear one almost every day when I'm not at work as it contains my EDC. They are easily adjustable and I've never been uncomfortable wearing it except possibly when it's completely full of items and I'm sitting in a car. I've worn it and danced in it all day and night with several pouches and a knife for Burning Man and similar events and it never let me down.

After that recent contest, I'm looking at getting a couple canteen pouches and using it for my GHB.

[Arkiser]

why would you use a pistol belt when you could use a thigh holster.

[wagdhead]

^^^^^

Seach-Fu will help your Double Tap-Fu grasshopper

[Murph]

why would you use a pistol belt when you could use a thigh holster.

Dude, did you read the post, or just look at the pictures?

I'd like to briefly mention drop-leg panels/holsters, aka sub-loads. Personally, I think they're more trouble than the extra "real estate" they provide. I do not advocate using them because they're bulky, twist around your leg, snag on everything, and just generally a nusience... to me. If you like them and use them, that's great. If you don't know if they're right for you, you'll only find out by testing. With that said, they do allow you to carry more... (...to slow you down.)

[Aikibiker]

why would you use a pistol belt when you could use a thigh holster.

For one very important reason. When I wear one correctly (i.e. as far up the thigh as possible) the straps tend to interfere with certain important parts of my anatomy. Wear one to far down and they bounce off my knees.

[Crimson Phoenix]

Only subload I'd use would be a gas mask carrier, and to make matters worse I have big thighs. Doesn't help the comfort issues.

[St.Jimmy]

I would go with the suspenders if i had to do anything, however, make sure that your load out is equal in wieght on both sides or the belt will shift a lot. I only have two M16 twenty round mag cases, what i think is a vintage WWII or Vietnam pistol mag case and two canteens. this works good for me when im hiking and i won't run out of water too quickly.

[wpick]

"Pistol belt" order for Apaches.

Hello

I was on yuotube the other day and came across this series about the Apaches and the Apache Wars in the 1800's There's an interesting comment made in this video about what the Apaches carried on their belts, especially what the youngsters had in case thew camp was attacked during the night.

http://www.youtube.com/user/7thUSCavalr ... CnfVvNt208

Walter

[bltjr1951]

@Crimson Phoenix & ranger sean:
The ALICE system, designed 1965, was designed to carry the entire fighting load of the soldier.

And before that was the M1956 canvas web gear. Which is what ALICE replaced with nylon.
Before M1956 was the WWII and WWI web gear: M1943, M1937, M1936, M1923, M1928, M1912 and M1910.

With the M1936 pistol belts, many wore them with holster, 45 mag pouch, carbine mag pouch, 1st aid pouch and canteen pouch with out suspenders. With bayonet or M3 knife added too.
Some even wore the cartridge belt with out suspenders.

Didn't any of you kids watch black & white WWII movies?? Or any Nam movies??

A good setup was the paratroopers web gear. Belt, pouches, canteens, bayonet, suspenders and musette bag.

I still use the M1956 gear with newer M1967 canteen pouches.

FM 21-15 1977
ALICE manual 1973
US Army Uniforms of WWII
The US Army in WWII
Uniforms, Weapons and Equipment of the WWII G.I.

[D-Train]

[SwampRat]

Wow, that is awesome.

[EchoMirage]

ever notice she never wears pants in most of her movies. theyre always some kind of skorts, or whatever these pants that arent pants/garter belt things are.

[EricinVirginia]

For the zip ties alone, I'm grateful for this thread. I've used zip ties to secure pouches to my BOB and other gear now and suddenly, without having stuff shifting around all the time, it's a much more enjoyable set up. Thank you Tactical Tuesday!

There are other threads about thigh rigs...
- They put odd weight on a specific part of the body... and they encourage you to load up.
- They interfere with movement more than a belt.
- They are a god send if you're wearing a pack or something that needs to ride on your waist.
- To summarize from a few who seem to actively carry and shoot, the thigh rig pistol draw is more awkward and slower than a pistol draw.
- Thigh rigs have a tacticool factor that offends a few peoples' sensibilities.

I like thigh rigs. I hike with one to get used to the weight, but I keep a water bottle in it for the dog. Weighs about as much as my 9mm. It doesn't interfere with my BOB's belt pad at all so I can drop the backpack and still retain whatever I've put on the thigh rig.

Basic good things for a thigh rig:
- E&E
- FAK
- Gas Mask
- Water
- Non-pointy things that will stab or hurt you when moving around low and fast.

[AKFTW]

I would think any quantity of water beyond a single bottle on a thigh rig would be a terrible idea. Water is quite heavy, and it would be sloshing around whenever you walked.

[EricinVirginia]

Oh yeah, it's awful. But since I can't wear an actual pistol while hiking around, it works. And it keeps it handy for the dog.

[KnightoftheRoc]

I would think any quantity of water beyond a single bottle on a thigh rig would be a terrible idea. Water is quite heavy, and it would be sloshing around whenever you walked.

Not currently using a thigh rig, but- I once threw a full 1qt canteen into a cargo pocket of a set of camo pants just before leaving on an impromptu hike. Beat the ever-loving CRAP out of me, and I was just WALKING! If I'd had to run anywhere, I might have caused myself a serious boo-boo. Lesson learned- anything on your leg needs to be lightweight as much as possible, and NOT able to flop around- at ALL. The three pounds of canteen and water was way too much to be loose like it was. I'm planning on getting a thigh rig platform in order to try it out, but having had myself beaten up with floppy stuff, I'll be keeping the above lessons in mind as I play around with it.

[Oni]

I currently wear a smoke green Eagle Industries padded belt with an M9, two spare mags, a dump pouch and a Tom Brown Jr knife in a scout sheath. It gets a bit uncomfortable but it gives great lower back support.