How I keep battle belt from riding up

[threeheadeddog]

I figured I would post this in case anyone was interested.

I took some .125 kydex and cut it into strips just narrow enough to fit through the suspender attachments on my VTAC belt. I then heated them with a heat gun and pinched the kydex hard to get it to stay on the VTAC suspender buckle(basically like on the old kydex taco pouches). I then made some j-type hooks out of the remaining length of kydex.
It is easy to put on. I just hook the 11 and 1 o-clock hooks around my pants belt before I buckle the VTAC then reach behind and loop the 5 and 7 o-clock kydex hooks around pants belt.

I am thin and my VTAC was constantly trying to ride up because of my shape. Now I dont have this problem. It seems alright but I have only taken it out a few times for some very mild use. I honestly dont see it ever unhooking because the VTAC is basically always under upward tension due to my shape. I dont know about longevity but it was worth a try.

I dont know how to post pics but it was pretty simple.

[nobody knows]

That sounds like a pretty good idea actually. Post back after running it hard for awhile as I am interested in It's long term usefulness. Thanks

[Smash]

How free is the belt to "spin" around your body?

One of the advantages of a battle belt as opposed to running everything on your plate carrier is to spin the belt 180(or as far as necessary to reach items from one side or the other.

Example: You have your IFAK/Tourniquet on your strong side but your strong side hand just got shot off, blown off etc... can you effectively move the belt to reach this first aid kit with your support hand?

[threeheadeddog]

The belt is not free to spin, but it is due to the tightness I made the loops. I am sure that if you wanted some movement in the belt you could just make the loop with more slack for the belt. That would still only give you the room to rotate the belt whatever range you have between pants belt loops though.

FWIW I have long monkey arms and I can reacy pretty much everything with both hands.

I am also new to the whole battle belt thing so I had never really though of moving the belt(just placing things generally in places both hands can reach). That makes sense and I will have to be concious of when that could be an advantage.

[Smash]

It's what works for you. Your design was interesting and I was asking the question both for myself and for other users who might try out your setup.

As stated, some people don't think about rotating the belt. To some it isn't a necessity but something that should be considered. Each user can take your thoughts and apply it in a way that works for them. Best of luck.

[Eric D.]

You're wearing your belt low more on your hips? That's the way I see a lot of guys running belts. I like to wear mine higher up on my waist where I can snug it up and all the load is placed on my hips. Given the design of most belts, that's what is comfortable and makes the most sense to me.

[Pax]

Hellyeah. Tactical wedgie.

[threeheadeddog]

I dont see where how high the belt is worn has anything do do with the added hooks since you can make them however long you want.

What I dont like is my belt riding up higher to the point that I cant draw my pistol comfortably(long arms) or shifting up during the draw. This was an attempt to keep it in place, wherever that place may be.

[Smash]

Being 5'8 and broad I try to keep my belt low as well. If the belt is too high the magazine in the speed reload pouch on the support side of the belt will imbed itself right under my left side SAPI(the SAPI will literally sit right on top of it) whichs limits movement and makes drawing from it more difficult. It took me a lot of hours in kit to get everything set up right once I decided to go with the belt setup.

[keeganxt]

I'm glad someone finally asked this so I didn't have to... I started putting a belt together several weeks ago and kind of put it on the back burner.

I had the same trouble with my belt lifting up with my pistol as I was drawing, most of the time to where I couldn't even get it out. There's simply not enough weight on the belt to keep it in place and I didn't want to have to run an inner belt with velcro.

I'm not sure this solution is right for me but I am curious as to what others might be doing to remedy this problem. Maybe using 2-3 velcro cable ties and securing the outer belt to my inner belt... I'm open to anything...

[Voodoo_Man]

You can do something similar with long malice clips. Sort of like "belt keepers" for a battle belt.

I tested the idea out on my ATS warbelt and a standard belt, worked well with 4 clips.

[orionz06]

The US Grunt Gear belts are designed to work with an inner velcro belt and are ROCK solid once attached.

[JSantoro]

If you use practically any warbelt/sleeve that's lined with cloth mesh or even the loose-woven cloth of an ATS belt, hook velcro mates nicely to that stuff. At one point, I'd replace whatever trouser belt I was wearing with a 1.75" belt of thin nylon (think Spec-Ops Better BDU Belt, or similar) that had 4" pieces of hook velcro Shoe Goo'ed at 3/6/9 o'clock...later sewn.

Now, I just use one of these: http://www.jonestactical.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24:inner-belt-1-12q-webbing150ib-01&catid=2&Itemid=28

Asked Rich to use hook instead of loop on the outer portion. Keep it in the dump pouch so that I always have it with the 1st-line belt, run the inner belt through two opposing loops on the tousers, over whatever belt I have on at the time, close it. Wherever I settle the 1st-line is where it stays. Now, hook mates best with loop, of course, but I've found that how it secures to the mesh liner of my SOC-C to be a nice blend of NOT having the thing ride up when I go to kneeling/prone and get up, yet still have the ability to adjust how the warbelt sits without having to take it off.

Some might not like how the layers stack up. The thinner 3/6/9 belt I initially used was more comfortable, overall, but now I don't have to take anything off just to put something back on. Details...

Works nicely over winter clothing, too. If wearing a slick outer wind/water-proof shell that covers your trouser belt-line...no worries. Whip the inner belt around your shell, secure the 1st-line. There's still some slip, since the inner belt isn't in loops and the surface it's up against is slick, but it's WAY better than the without the inner belt.

RE: spinning the belt, I now keep my med stuff in a cross-marked fag-bag. I can spin THAT in either direction if I need to, wear it if just working off my trouser belt, wear it on its own. It goes with me regardless of how I'm kitting myself on any given day, though I recognize the validity of folks not wanting to separate such things.

http://www.csmgear.com/cgi-bin/imcart/display.cgi?item_id=fannypak&cat=2&page=1&search=&since=&status=&title=

The rest of the stuff on the warbelt, except the dumper, can be reached with either arm, though that gets tricky in the bulk of extra layers (clothes, armor).

Practically endless possibilities....

[Battle*Hound]

The US Grunt Gear belts are designed to work with an inner velcro belt and are ROCK solid once attached.

The only issue is the 10 to 12 week wait.:eek:

[Turnkey11]

I gave up on the "battle belt" and stick with what I use everyday, duty belt with keepers. If someone made a 2.25" duty belt that you could weave molle gear into, Id buy it.

[Wicked]

Those USGG belts stay put. Period. I have found no reason to rotate the belt around my body, I don't want it moving. Their system works for me.

Pretty much all the USGG stuff is worth the wait. But, I got my belt
back when order to door was 4 days. Glad to see them doing well.

Order now and keep using what you've got until it comes in. Buy once; cry once.

[TehLlama]

I have to reach below my own knee line to make the HSGI Suregrip start riding up, and even then it returns to a pretty consistent rest point. It's so good I've even stopped using the (awesome) BFG elastic suspender setup I got for it.

Even running it with Misty Mountain ISH leg loops, it still rides up a touch because of the rigidity of the belt, but it's still usable, and for realistic uses I'm extremely happy with the belt.

[cjnuckols50]

My HSGI stays put for the most part.. I'm going to try that malice clip idea though. Thanks.