war belt

You might be wondering, “Why do I need a war/battle/assaulter/gear/two piece/MOLLE belt? I already own a gun belt/dress belt.”

The first problem with trying to use a regular pants belt or even a heavier “gun” belt, which are sold with weight bearing in mind, is that, as you may have already noticed, the belt has to be threaded through pants loops, and each time this is done, gear on the belt has to be removed, and then placed back onto the belt once the correct section of the belt has been threaded. This is time consuming, and the second problem is that because there’s nothing really holding items onto the belt, any pouches or holsters you add can freely slide around, meaning something else will be where the IFAK you thought you placed at the small of your back is when you go to reach for it.

The third major problem is weight- simply put, the capability of commercial belts to handle any serious weight is dubious. They can flex, putting the integrity of the belt into question, or will sag, which is uncomfortable, and could lead to dropping your pants around your ankles entirely. My personal belt loadout is a 3.5 lb pistol, two rifle magazines, two pistol magazines, and an IFAK pouch. The total weight of this set up is around nine pounds.

The upsides of a MOLLE belt are enormous. Because any weight you add is on your waist and hips, your shoulders and back will quickly appreciate the reduced load (less weight means less cutting of backpack/plate carrier straps on your shoulders during a hike). For quick response, current designs are all two-piece, meaning they have a separate “inner” belt with a velcro outer portion, and the “outer belt” has velcro on the inside to hold to the inner belt. Speaking from personal experience, you can just wear the inner belt during your day to day life (as it gets threaded through belt loops, same as a regular dress belt) and, if you quickly need access to your gear, simply drop the outer belt, with gear attached via MOLLE, onto the velcro, and click the cobra buckle together.

If that’s too autistic for you, you can simply set aside a pair of pants, such as your favorite 5.11s, with the inner belt threaded most of the way through, and quickly jump into them when the need arises, grabbing the outer belt and dropping it on, which is a process that takes just a couple of seconds. The downside is that any partners of yours will be permanently conditioned to associate the ripping of velcro with freaky times.

Finally, the use of a gear belt simply makes training easier. If your holsters and mag pouches aren’t sliding around on their own as a slick belt might allow, then grabbing magazines or your sidearm becomes muscle memory. With enough repetitions everything becomes second nature. This is why I recommend a belt before any other piece of load bearing gear, even before a plate carrier. You can take it to your pistol class, and figure out what works and what doesn’t before you drop big money on a plate carrier or chest rig.

OK enough, time for some shilling.

If you have a tight budget, and/or have fond memories of the early GWOT era/2006, let me recommend the Advanced Warfighting Solutions LABS. It is a little older of a design, which I'll get into, but the basic belt itself costs $60, and you can walk away with something really great for around $100 shipped or even less if you're smart. It acts as a load bearing belt the same as every other one right now, with the primary issue being that the PALS webbing is not sewn into the outer belt as every other belt on the market. Instead, the user either has to find pouches with a "belt mount" option, or use MOLLE "panels" AWS sells to weave molle into and attach to the belt. Mr guns and gear has a review that explains this quite well. You will want at least a few panels- though if you know beforehand what gear you want, you may need just one or two, or even none at all, though this would require careful selection of items.

As for option for the LABS belt, I personally would get the full belt upgrade (EG the buckle, D-cord and O-ring) five panels, a glove hook, and nothing else. AWS makes fine products, but you can do better with other gear like Esstac or HSGI pouches. The total cost should be $120 shipped, but could be as little as $80 if you are smart about seeking out only belt mounted pouches and don’t buy panels.
If you don't want that hassle, Raptor Tactical, First Spear, Eagle, HSGI and Ronin all make their own belt which have sewn in PALS web for $120-180. The same should go for all the other belts- get the D ring and cord option if possible, and a glove hook. ITW makes the glove hooks, BTW.

There is absolutely no reason to purchase a Condor or, even worse, a no-name design from Amazon or Wish. The prices can be alluring but even the marketing photos for these products feature some appalling stitching work which could be a failure point when shit gets real. To sum it up: belts made in a sweatshop somewhere in China should be avoided, as they should be for any serious tactical gear.

Some last minute recommendations and things you ought to know: first of all, if the belt is sagging, you either are using non-MOLLE gear or you haven’t tightened the belt to remove the slack. The inner belt should be quite tight, though not so tight it’s uncomfortable, and the outer belt should be tight enough that you can just close the cobra buckle with a little effort.

Seriously consider keeping the 5-7 o clock portions (the back) of the belt clean (no gear attached) if you plan to sit down or sit in a vehicle while wearing this. Some pouches are designed to fit here, but others will jab you like a mother fucker if you try to sit down in a car seat. DEFINITELY do NOT put a pistol at the small of your back.

Put some thought into what you will use before you do so. I personally have an HSGI double pistol magazine pouch at my 10 o clock position, a pair of HSGI taco rifle mag pouches at my 9 and 8 o clock, an IFAK pouch at my 4 o clock, and pistol holster at the 3. This is completely comfortable to sit down in and takes an enormous load off a plate carrier or pack. I’ll be the first to say HSGI is quite expensive, so if you want an alternative mag pouch (and you should) Esstac and AWS make some great magazine pouches. AWS even makes a mag pouch that is very similar to the Taco, with optional bungee cord for additional retention, called the Uni-Mag, for $18 and $23 a pop for pistol and rifle mags. Due to some great fuck up, however, it isn’t available to order directly from AWS’s current website, so you need to call them to ask to order (make sure to mention which camo pattern you want- they’re available in black, coyote, and multicam).

Best of luck!