Volund Gearworks Atlas Belt

[Steve S.]

Hmm, this couldnt of come up at a better time.

I have been talking to Jake at Ares for awhile about ordering his belt. I worry that it will be uncomfortable due to the stiffness. I also worry I will get annoyed with working around the cobra buckle, and that it SCREAMS "CCW" to those in the know. But, I want something more stiff than my Wilderness Instructors belt.

So, in comes this belt. My worries about the Atlas are that it isnt that much stiffer than a Wilderness Instructor belt, and that the velcro securing system will wear out.

I have also been trying to find a belt mfg that can make a belt in MCMAP Brown so I can wear it while deployed, but so far Ares cant do it and wilderness doesnt offer a brown either. I emailed Volund, I hope they can accomodate.

Myself and another here have been testing the Atlas for a bit. I'll give it a proper review, but I like it. It's more unique.

As far as stiffer then your 5 stitch, it probably isn't. I don't view this as a bad thing necessarily though. It's a very thin and low profile belt. The buckle is nearly non existent. It has enough stiffness for any CCW purposes though.

As for matching the Marine Corps brown, that may be tough. Try contacting Kary Welch of Endeavor Stitch Works. He gets a whole lot of colors in - including MARPAT. Some of the weird ATACS and shit too. For deployment, or any use really, I whole heartedly recommend the standard Riggers in 1.5" or 1.75" over the 1" buckled style (Ares Ranger, Jones EDB, etc). This isn't a shot at either company, especially since they both offer some bad ass Riggers belts.

I keep meaning to order one of these to try, but keep forgetting.

I wear a Jones 1.5" EDC belt (1.5" Cobra buckle) daily and don't really understand the difficulty some people seem to have operating that system platform, but I think the Volund has some interesting aspects I'd like to try.

Some people don't like removing the buckle. On Cobra belts, you have to remove the buckle to thread gear. My issue isn't as much with getting it on, it's just I don't think the EDB style does anything better then a standard Cobra Riggers, and a few things worse.

[Irish]

One of the things I like best about the belt is that it is much lighter than my Wilderness Instructor belt due to losing the boat anchor belt buckle.

[rob_s]

I don't think the EDB style does anything better then a standard Cobra Riggers, and a few things worse.

I don't understand this sentence.

[Steve S.]

I don't understand this sentence.

As in the concept or terminology?

[rob_s]

By "EDB" are you referring to a "Ranger" style with 1.5" webbing and 1" buckle, and by standard Cobra you mean a 1.5" webbing and 1.5" buckle?

[Steve S.]

By "EDB" are you referring to a "Ranger" style with 1.5" webbing and 1" buckle, and by standard Cobra you mean a 1.5" webbing and 1.5" buckle?

Exactly. For lack of a universal term, I've coined the Ares Ranger style the 1.5"/1".

I should have said Cobra Riggers, but there's also a lack of universal terminology there. Technically, that would refer to having the offset V or D ring to click into - which doesn't matter much for CCW.

[JSantoro]

Two weeks in, I'm definitely liking it. Rigid enough to easily support my EDC stuff, but not the kind of crazy-rigid my Ares Ranger sports (still love the Ares belt for 2X AR/2X pistol mags and a pistol for taking/teaching classes; the rigidity shines, then).

I, also, don't get the gripes about how "complicated" a belt is when it comes to what one needs to do to thread into loops or take a dump, as mentioned by those that will still use the belt they're describing as such. If it's that big a PITA, the logical COA is to change to a different belt. Not like there ain't plenty of options out there.

I mean....it's BELT LOOPS, for the love of Ned. They'll be complicated when they require a damned CPU to successfully interface with a belt; until then, somebody's definitions are kinda screwy, or they need to open and drink a can of "Man."

...much lighter than my Wilderness Instructor belt due to losing the boat anchor belt buckle.

I don't tend to notice weight, but losing the bulk of a two-ring, Cobra, or riggers-type buckle is definitely nice, in general, and particularly if I have to offset the buckle for some reason. No more hot-spot over my hip bones, yay! How a simpler buckle impacts the price of the thing is a definite perk, too! $45 is not too shabby.

Though, for the first time in years...I probably should have ordered the medium instead of the large. I'm using the last of the 4 PALS loops both with AND without an IWB holster. I can't tighten the thing at all with the two innermost loops.

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

Ive got a black one on order now, made with a sizing range of 34-40. He's got some brown webbing coming sometime in the future, and if the color is right I'll order one too.

[Irish]

Though, for the first time in years...I probably should have ordered the medium instead of the large. I'm using the last of the 4 PALS loops both with AND without an IWB holster. I can't tighten the thing at all with the two innermost loops.

I'm in the same boat. I typically wear a 36" waist size in jeans and the Large is slightly too large. I contacted Matt and he's making everything right, suggest you do the same, he's a really good guy.

[bdcheung]

I got a Medium and could have done fine with a Small. My waist is between 30-32" and I've got the G-hook on the last (innermost) PALS web, plus the nylon strap is cinched all the way down.