Battle Belt for uniform patrol

[Up1911Fan]

The best radio holder I've found is the Maxpedition radio holder, the thing is solid.

Same, I've used mine going on two years and its still solid.

[KevinB]

Will a standard 2" or 2.25" duty belt fit in the velocity belt?

Sorry I missed this earlier:
A 2.25" will fit inside - but not able to weave from what it looks like to me. A 2" will work fine.

[frankepc]

Well since posting I’ve tried one of the belts with the pad and in all honesty other than being able to take it off and on easier and a small level of increased comfort I don’t really see any major benefits. Because of the belt width I can’t use keepers and the belt does slide up during most activities. I’ve also tried a duty belt with a cobra buckle and once again no true benefit and it adds weight to your overall gear.
Back to the traditional duty belt for now. In the future I may go in a completely different direction and possibly try the micro cobra belt or the remora quick belt from Razor Six. I’ve heard from other forums that the thinner belts are very comfortable and allows a greater level of mobility. Although I have yet to see anyone try them with a full patrol load.

[secondstoryguy]

Having broken several of the plastic buckles and seen others break I think the aluminum Cobra buckles are worth their weight.

[frankepc]

Not sure really if that has anything to do with the brand, I’ve personally never seen one fail as an LEO or in the Military. I’m pretty rough on my gear and so far I’ve had excellent results with the Duraflex brand. Then again a little added security never hurt anyone.

[Bill Biggs]

Whoa, late to the party.

I've used a CTOMS X belt for about a year. No keepers, but it doesn't move around on me as long as I wear it properly snug. It weighs a little more than a standard 2" or 2.5" nylon duty belt, but marginally so. It carries everything quite nicely, although it took me a while to figure out how to affix everything to my liking. Smaller and lighter is generally better, but if you end up having to carry a lot of crap based on your departments policies, or mags for a patrol rifle on top of your sidearm, then this could be a good option for you. I haven't gotten any heat from the brass, in black it looks pretty much like a normal belt.

Couple poor quality pics:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/101267...4/13831208614/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/101267...4/13831219754/

I can do up some descriptions on brands and styles if anyone is interested on the pouch configuration.

[secondstoryguy]

How wide is the ctoms x belt?

[pablo]

I've used the Atlas Tac plates for the last 3 years and they are great. 5.11 is supposed to reintroduce them later this year as the Zero-G plates.

They don't have any padding but do a good job at weight distribution. The Atlas doesn't interface well with Teklok buckles and the price tag was steep at $180.

Hopefully the 5.11 plates are a little more friendly on the wallet.

[KevinB]

I have one of the first X belt prototypes from CTOMS - I got in from Chris (the fellow Canadian hookup) when I was in Iraq.
It's a great belt - I still have mine I wear when running around in non Black Gear.

With the Velocity belt - I prefer some options it offered for a patrol belt.



If you run an "inner" pant belt - the Velocity belt has a strip of hook to mesh well with a loop inner belt - negating the use of keepers. Like the CTOMS belt, I have not seen it riding up or moving unless I moved it.

[Bill Biggs]

How wide is the ctoms x belt?

It's 3 rows of Molle (3.5") with a 1.75" riggers belt inside. It's not as slick as a "brokos" style belt, where you can weave your inner belt in and out of the Molle to attach non-molle accessories. However, unlike any brokos style I've tried, it doesn't move around. I haven't really analyzed why, but I believe it has to do with the way the padding is set up in three different sections. It hugs my hips and "wants" to sit in the right spot. Finding accessories for all molle was a pain, but this seemed to be the best type of "battle" belt for uniform patrol duty. My holster fit under the molle through the 1.75" inner belt (the molle flips up and down with fasteners, very low pro) and works fine with a safari land 1.5" drop shank (I wear the same belt for patrol and swat duty to avoid training on two belts, so I was using a drop shank anyway to allow clearance for my plates. Way faster and better when running (for me) than a drop holster).

The belts with the inner velcro that KevinB mentioned work very well in my experience, and being LE you may have tried them. I ran one prior to the CTOMS, but with the amount of gear on it I had no interior space with any significant amount of velcro to stick the belts together, so I ended up going back to keepers and a small leather inner belt. Some guys either gain weight to have more room, or have velcro sewn onto the inside belt loop of some of the pouches, which seems to work quite well. However, I'm guessing with the Velocity belt, if it's the weave style, you would have uninterrupted velcro regardless of how much crap you had to carry. The advantage of the keepers being you can make slight adjustments through the shift, as you sit in cars, walk around, or ride shotgun instead of driving for a bit (passenger side on a crown vic or a burb always pushes at me different than the drivers side), etc. Whereas the velcro is stuck, and is a trial and error to adjust. But if you don't need to move your belt around, the velcro sits solid.