Battle Belts- So Tacticool
Do I need a battle belt? Maybe. There are many reasons to run a battle/war/shtf/go belt. I’ve been in the Infantry and SF for 8 years now and until my most recent deployment I haven’t worn a special battle belt minus a handful of operations where I needed to carrier some extra surprises. On this last trip I found a great setup for me and just recently decided that I wanted to put one together for the house as a grab and go item fully loaded ready to go if needed.
 |
| Home belt |
 |
| Work belt |
As you can see, I have a little bit different setup between each belt because they are set up for different jobs. However, you can also see the similarities between the two. Let’s start with my work belt. On it I have a grenade pouch for my compass, a spare m4 mag pouch, a roll-up dump pouch, a tourniquet, an extra accessory pouch, a holster for my primary weapon…a radio antenna, another grenade pouch, and a cow tail to make sure I don’t fall out of air thingies while yanking and banking. So why did I choose each of these? The first grenade pouch is for my army issue compass. I am a freak and unlike most Soldiers my age I still love a good compass. I carry a standard issue one on my belt, I wear a wrist compass that has been my primary since Ranger School, I wear a Garmin 401, and have a program on my sweet pocket computer to make sure I don’t get lost. But no matter what, that compass on my belt has never failed to point me in the right direction. I only carry one spare m4 magazine on my belt in case I need a oh crap reload. The rest go on my body armor and back pack. I carry the dump pouch to make sure I have a place for all my candy bars or if I need to throw something quick in there to be better placed later. The tourniquet is to make sure I keep as much blood in me or one of my buddies as I can. Notice the placement on unused space and can easily be reach from pretty much any position with either hand and is secured by rubber bands so that I can rip it off quickly if needed. The accessory pouch holds a notepad, sharpie, and sat phone. The antenna holster was custom made as an easy way to keep my sat antenna ready to go. And lastly the other grenade pouch has a spare radio battery in case I need to do a speed reload on my radio. Yes, I realize it is upside down as well. I do this because sometimes I carry a frag grenade in there depending on the mission and if you’ve ever tried to get a grenade out in a hurry it doesn’t work well. I flipped the pouch so all I have to do is unbuckle and it slides right into my hand. I do the same with one on my body armor. I chose each of these things based on what was necessary for missions as well as if all I had was my belt I could still get by.
Now my personal belt is a little different because I’m running alone or with Red if I need to grab it. I don’t have the ability to call in air support so I tailored it for a grab and go belt that has everything needed in case that bump in the night turns into multiple explosions. On this belt I chose to have a double pistol mag pouch, single m4 mag pouch, roll-up dump pouch, tourniquet, knife, and pistol holster. The double pistol mag pouch is because I keep the handgun in the holster so I know worst case I have a minimum of 45 rounds on tap. A single m4 mag pouch because that will be the next gun I grab if time permits and like to have a reload ready just in case. Like my work belt I like to have a place for all my twinkies so the dump pouch is on there. Any time I might get holes poked in me or someone else I like to have a tourniquet. The knife is on there if things get really dicey (pun intended). I moved the knife that would normally be on my body armor at work onto this belt since it is made to stand alone or with more gear if the situation dictates. And then my handgun holster with handgun so no matter what I have something to fight with.
The similarities you’ll notice are that both belts are 1.5 inches in width, fairly thin but stiff enough to hold up what I’m loading them down with, Velcro to go over an inner belt or if needed just throw around my waist and go, have cobra buckles (I like the adjustment and quick, but secure on and off of these buckles) and a way to thread molle or other clips through so that everything stays put as I do a poor impersonation of John Wick.
Now these are just two meager examples of what you might have seen and/or want to put on one but that doesn’t mean they are right choices for you. Don’t go watch the newest Navy SEAL video about battle belts and decide you need 87 magazines and a beer holder when in reality a handgun and couple spare mags might suffice. And it doesn’t have to be the newest, fanciest gear. Use what you have and find out what works. If it is 30 years old and still works then it works. Just remember that if you are going to make one of these bat belts, then tailor it to your needs. I definitely see the utility of one in certain situations but you will almost never see me wearing one outside of work because there is something to be said about running low profile. With that said, I have one at home ready to go just in case Red Dawn (the one with the Swayze, obviously) becomes reality.
Editor notes:
- The remake of Red Dawn introduced me to Rolling Rock so I can't hate it
- My battle belt for the house has three M-4 mags because I watched "Black Hawk Down" at a very impressionable age
Smart and they work! I carry a blow out kit in my cargo pocket, and I really need to get a new Sat phone. Some of the places I'm looking at travelling don't get cell service.
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely a reason so many use them. I think the hardest part is realizing that you have to tailor to you and that it is constantly being evaluated. A Sat phone is a greatly beneficial piece of kit to add to your communications plan.
Delete