I’m considering one of these for a light battle belt for urban/.civ type situations.
I’m not sure how it would wear as a separate belt that you just throw on; anyone know?
As far as gear I figure:
[ol]
[li]G17 with light in DSG Arms Holster
[/li][li]2 Pistol Mags
[/li][li]2 AR mags
[/li][li]Maybe a dumb pouch or IFAK
[/li][/ol]
My thought is that I could wear a light jacket over it and be “concealed” at least from a distance.
I tried the whole full bore battle belt once before with a Blue Force Gear belt and didn’t like it.
I own an Arcteyx belt but would never consider it a battle belt, only an underlining belt. While it is comfortable, it is a pain in the ass for daily wear in terms of putting it on.
I don’t think it was ever intended to hang all the stuff you mentioned, and is not multi functional. It has a niche, but I don’t think it is as you envision it. It shines in use under a true battle belt, and not as a primary “hanger”.
I find it to be a pain in the ass to put on/off and a lot of my belt loops don’t seem to like it. Nice concept, but far more trouble that it is worth for everyday wear.
Here’s my question(s):
If I’m running Costa’s leg rig on the left and my Glock 21 on the right, would this belt be sufficient?
Is this thing good to go, or just tacti-cool?
I’ve got a couple arc’ products and I haven’t been disappointed yet, but this one looks a little suspect…
The rigger’s belt I was issued way-back-when worked great, but it’s getting retired since I left it in storage and the buckle rusted beyond repair
Arc’teryx has a lot of climbing equipment and unless I understood wrong, the belt is part of that. Its deigned for being used as an actual rigger’s belt and little more.
It fits the role of a work positioning harness. I wear one on shift, have used it for bailout drills and for anchoring in on my tower truck bucket. Works great for the intended purpose. Trying to use it as a battle belt is a no go in my opinion, to slim and not very ridged. Look at the jones tactical belt or volund gearworks atlas belt. Great EDC belts. If you need the added benefit of a rated belt look at the wilderness belt.
If you must run that much on a belt that will be threaded through your pant loops, then you really need something like the 5-stitch Wilderness belt. The 5-stitch is enough support for all that crap while remaining comfortable.
I’d be prone to going with the US Grunt Gear version of a CR Speed belt. I forget what they call it. I’ve used the CR Speed to hold a lot more crap than you’re talking about for 3 gun, and it holds the load well. Plus you don’t have to dick around getting all of the pouches on and off your belt, you just rip the velcro.
I’d got an Ares gear ranger belt that I’ll run a holster, subload and ar mag pouch on with reasonable comfort. I just received this arcteryx belt, but i ordered the wrong size so I’m waiting on a new one before i can say if it works for those purposes.
One thing I will say about the H150 is how freakin’ comfortable it is. The thinness and the low profile double buckle feels like I am not even wearing it. I can cinch it down pretty tight as well with a quick pull of the tail which I have cut off and shortened by the way (not recommended if using the belt as a fall restraint)
When running it with gear I have a small IFAK on the small of my back (has a negligible effect on the belt), 2x Pistol magazines and the holster is a modified 6004 to be a mid ride. With the pistol magazine pouches I have been using the loops found on the belt to keep them in place and from sliding around. While not originally the point of the loops they’ve been doing a decent job.
This is the farthest I would go with loading the belt. Once you start loading more magazines on it I could expect it to start drooping and having a hard time, especially with 2x M16 magazines that are fairly tall and are top heavy when in a pouch.
Got my correct sized belt in and tried it on tonight.
Just an emdom hippie pannel, a blade-tech holster with the heaviest gun I own (full rail TRP operator with light), and a single AR mag pouch.
The hippie panel has 4 1911 mags in it and a surefire echo knife.
Observations so far, comparing to my Ares Gear ranger belt:
The Arcteryx belt is noticeable more comfortable. Mostly because it’s flexible right at its edge, so it doesn’t dig in when I have it on very tight.
it’s not as rigid as the Ares belt, by a lot, so it’s more likely to twist and sag in small areas.
It’s wider than the ranger belt so some of my pants are now out as it’s just too much of a PITA to get through the belt loops.
I’ve got a large in the ranger belt and a large in this Arcteryx belt, and there’s ALOT more overlap on my large ranger belt. As a note I wear 32 pants regularly and 34 for IWB carry alot of times.
With either belt this gun is friggin heavy and if you’re running or moving quickly it’s going to bounce around on either belt, but the mag pouches stay static either way.
I’ve had a full molle belt already and while it didn’t work for me I don’t know that either of these belts are a suitable replacement for how much stuff you can still put on a molle belt for comparison.
I wouldn’t be able to IWB carry with this belt as it wouldn’t be big enough. I’d have to go to an x-large, something I’ve never been in my whole life so it strikes me as odd. I’m basically the optime of medium when it comes to Arcteryx products except this belt.
Here’s a couple pictures illustrating the sag from the hippie panel. The handgun doesn’t actually sag too bad.
The H150 is thinner, wider, and stiffer than expected, excels as a gun & more belt. The width really helps distribute weight and prevent fold. Standard belt loops may not be wide enough.
pistol/light substantial holster, 1 pistol mag, one m4 mag, med kit, aircraft lanyard, two baseballs. Perfect.
I wouldn’t consider one w/o war crap, or need to clip in, it’d look silly IMO.
