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The advantages wearing your holster on a duty belt....

Charlotte_resident

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As an OC'er, I wear a police-style nylon duty belt which I attach my holster to. This has several advantages which simply strapping the holster directly to your pants or dress belt does.

To be clear, a duty belt as I am describing it is a somewhat thick leather or nylon 2" wide belt which is meant to be worn over your normal pants belt, usually covering it completely. This is the same general thing that cops wear and attach their gear to. It helps to wear one with what are called belt keepers, which are a set of four thin pieces of leather or nylon which fasten into small loops by way of velcro or snaps. Once you see them you'll knwo what I mean but trust me, it helps to have them. They go around both your dress belt and the duty belt, fastening them together and offering more stability for the duty belt.

Of course the main advantage of a duty belt is that it keeps your pants from being pulled down by your gun, and rather well at that. Depending on the type of leather or nylon, the belt can match the finish of your holster. While no one who is not LE should be passing themselves off as such, a duty belt does help with the impression that you are someone who is well equipped to carry a gun, probabky does so often, and therefore maybe has some official reason to do so, increasing your chances of avoiding an OC-related hassle.

Many leather holsters can fit rather tightly on a dress belt and can be a hassle to take on and off every day, but with your holster on a duty belt, you can just leave the holster on the belt all the time and when you want to go unstrapped, just take the duty belt off, which is easy enough. No need to take the holster or other gear off of the belt every day. Oh, and gentlemen, when you head to the washroom and undo your duty and dress pants belt, the duty belt and keepers keep the holster from pulling your dress belt through your belt loops and hitting the floor. Just re-fasten the dress and duty belt and you're good to go again, so to speak. No re-adjusting everything again.

The good news is that while some leather duty belts can be pricey, a decent nylon one with keepers (sold seperately) can be as cheap as $20 or less total.

Does anyone here wear one of these with your holster?

Jeff
 

Grapeshot

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I do on occassion utilize a reinforced instructors belt in a similar fashion. I made my keepers out of thin strips of velcro - they match the belt perfectly. This also locks my holster in position.

This rig does have a professional look to it, but does not convey the LE wannabe look. If I wanted to get that look, I would hook up my old basket weave rig and drop my beloved Mod. 66-2 in it. Still have the speed loader and cuff cases. No law against it but just not my style..............normally, hmmm maybe one Sat. for breakfast and observe whether the looks are any different.

Yata hey
 

thx997303

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I have a Nylon duty belt, and a leather one. I don't use them, because the combination of my leather ranger belt, and my Serpa paddle holster, my pants stay put.
 

DreQo

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I have a nylon duty belt that came with a vest I purchased. At the moment I don't have a holster that will fit on it (belt slots are too narrow on my holsters), but I'd like to get an applicable platform for my current holster. I do use the duty belt for my thigh-rig, which works quite well.
 

ronb5538

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You can accomplish the same thing by just getting a good gun belt. I mean one that is made specifically to hold your pants, and your gun.

I have a couple of them. They allow me to wear my Kimber Ultra all day without pulling my pants down, and without the extra bulk of a pants belt and a holster belt with keepers over the top.
 

Grapeshot

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ronb5538 wrote:
You can accomplish the same thing by just getting a good gun belt. I mean one that is made specifically to hold your pants, and your gun.

I have a couple of them. They allow me to wear my Kimber Ultra all day without pulling my pants down, and without the extra bulk of a pants belt and a holster belt with keepers over the top.
"just getting a good gun belt." Do I detect a note of sarcasm here with a dash of derisiveness?

All of my belts perform their design function admireably - they include dress, casual, work, instructor and yes, a complete duty belt rig. Because they are all in some way well reinforced, they permit me to carry "all things great and small" without fear.

Hint - small velcro keepers are unintrusive and will retain in position a holster that would otherwise tend to retreat to the rear. I make/cut mine to order in different colors to blend.

There is no single right style for all occasions.

Yata hey
 

ronb5538

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Grapeshot wrote:
ronb5538 wrote:
You can accomplish the same thing by just getting a good gun belt. I mean one that is made specifically to hold your pants, and your gun.

I have a couple of them. They allow me to wear my Kimber Ultra all day without pulling my pants down, and without the extra bulk of a pants belt and a holster belt with keepers over the top.
"just getting a good gun belt." Do I detect a note of sarcasm here with a dash of derisiveness?

All of my belts perform their design function admireably - they include dress, casual, work, instructor and yes, a complete duty belt rig. Because they are all in some way well reinforced, they permit me to carry "all things great and small" without fear.

Hint - small velcro keepers are unintrusive and will retain in position a holster that would otherwise tend to retreat to the rear. I make/cut mine to order in different colors to blend.

There is no single right style for all occasions.

Yata hey

No sarcasm intended. For many people, a simple rig, i.e. a gun belt and holster is all they require or desire to deal with on a daily basis.

Many of us have enough decisions to make each day without having to decide which rig we are going to wear depending on the occasion.

JUST don't read more into someone's reply than that which was intended.
 

marshaul

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Aug 13, 2007
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I have one belt I wear all the time:

http://www.tedblockerholsters.com/H.php

It has a steel insert, so it's pretty sturdy for a 1.5" belt. I can hang just about anything on it (two guns no problem), it's comfortable, and it looks good enough that I've had people (on the occasions when there are no weapons attached to it :lol:) ask where I got it. It's a beautiful cordovan color, and can be dressy enough to wear with a suit, but casual enough to wear with jeans (I do both).

What was that about a duty belt? :lol:
 

Michigander

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Aug 24, 2007
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I prefer thick all leather belts that are available at uniform stores, but not the fancy ones, just the cheap plain ones. They usually cost under 20 bucks, can last over a decade, look good enough for all but the most formal situations, and work extremely well at carrying guns, and even tools when tool pouches are hooked to them.
 

ilbob

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, Illinois, USA
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Living in the PR of Illinois, I have not carried in many years, since I worked as a security guard back when I was in school.

I can tell you that carrying on a normal belt is a bad idea. They just are not stiff enough. I am not overjoyed with the idea of having a second belt and keepers. I think just getting a stiffer belt would work quite well.
 

Evil Ernie

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Castle Rock, Colorado, USA
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I use an $8 leather belt made by Dickies that I bought at Wally World. It's thick as hell and has a good sturdy buckle. There's almost no flex to it after wearing everyday for the past 6 months.
 

kurtmax_0

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Apr 22, 2007
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My ring belt from Wilderness Tactical just arrived yesterday and it's great. For a 1.25" belt it is very, very stiff and does not sag at all with my bat-gear on. (I did get the stiffener insert with it...)
 

Grapeshot

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Evil Ernie wrote:
I use an $8 leather belt made by Dickies that I bought at Wally World. It's thick as hell and has a good sturdy buckle. There's almost no flex to it after wearing everyday for the past 6 months.
Glad you found something that works for you at such a reasonable price. Unfortunately, I have checked Wal-Mart repeatedly - I grocery shop there some - and never have found a heavy or sturdy enough belt there - most definitely not for $8.00.

The only ones I have seen which were wide enough had a single layer of split leather. Not doubting you. The same products aren't always in different stores - I find this true even within this single market.

Yata hey
 

DreQo

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Grapeshot wrote:
Evil Ernie wrote:
I use an $8 leather belt made by Dickies that I bought at Wally World. It's thick as hell and has a good sturdy buckle. There's almost no flex to it after wearing everyday for the past 6 months.
Glad you found something that works for you at such a reasonable price. Unfortunately, I have checked Wal-Mart repeatedly - I grocery shop there some - and never have found a heavy or sturdy enough belt there - most definitely not for $8.00.

The only ones I have seen which were wide enough had a single layer of split leather. Not doubting you. The same products aren't always in different stores - I find this true even within this single market.

Yata hey
I carried on a Dickies brand, wal-mart bought belt for quite a while. The buckle ended up failing, but that's because it was a rotating buckle for a reversible belt, so the buckle had a weak point. The belt itself comfortably and effectively carried the weight of my full-sized SW99. I now carry on a galco "matrix" belt, or a blackhawk nylon "instructor's" belt. The "matrix" belt is a leather-looking synthetic, and the blackhawk belt has a kydex insert which makes it very stiff.
 

asforme

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Mar 27, 2008
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I just got my 5.11 leather belt. Honestly, with the fairly new market for CC accessories (which work for OC too) there are several makers of stiff dress and casual belts now. The 5.11 is very stiff and looks great, I got the detail stitching and I almost want to tuck in my shirt outside of work now, just to show it off.:)

It is very sturdy and holds the holster very secure without having to cinch it down super tight around my waist.

Personally, when I'm OCing, I just want to look like a normal guy, who carries a gun to protect himself and his family, I have no interest in becoming or looking like a cop.
 
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