Survival belt thread got me thinking.
We know there are many former soldiers and Marines here; we also know that many of us use our belts to carry more than just a pair of pants....
Here is an example of a setup I recently created with the view being towards light duty patrols or hiking or camping...
This is all based on the old idea of Load Bearing Equipment, like the venerable M1956, M1967 and ALICE gear, also inspired by the British PLCE setups. No small part goes towards the equipment bags carried by the wildfire fighting crews, namely their huge lumbar packs.
This rig is based on the 1st gen MOLLE Rucksack belt; without the hated plastic insert.
I have made a couple of V strap adapters to enable one to use the Tactical Tailor upper harness portion with the belt as shown.
Base setup.
View of the V adapter, using the Strap Divider from ITW-Nexus, 1.5" webbing tapered and sewn to 1" webbing. TT harness has 1.5" webbing going to the top of the divider.
Close up of how the lower straps attach, 1" webbing and Tri-glides to the metal loops on the belt.
Lumbar pack attached. The pack is roughly 10x13 on the back, 9x13 on the front, with 6x13 side panels; this is nearly double the size of the USGI butt packs; about twice the volume. It is capable of carrying quite a bunch of things... I have my USGI Poncho liner and a warm jacket stuffed in there.
Side view
With gear attached. 2x CMVS triple mag pouches, 2x Canteen overs, 2x TT Large Utility pouches, and TT Medic pouch pardon the messy room. cleaned it afterwards
Upper view. pardon the toes.
Other version of the 1st gen belt; it is a 3 piece design, with three loops on the outer sleeve pieces and the center piece has the 1.5" webbing and main belt area. it is adjustable just like the next generation MOLLE II FL vest ; or the earlier SPEAR ELCS H harness system.
This version is more common, however many shops cut off the 1.5" webbing and sell the belt as a warbelt for the user to modify or use... shown with the same TT harness and V adapters.
Here is a hypothetical patrol setup. from outboard to inboard;
2x Grenade pouches, 2x CMVS Triple mag pouches, 2x Canteen covers, and finally, 100rd SAW pouch that has the plastic FAK box insert from the older Jungle FAK .
Basically, this specific belt kit has 6 AR mags, 2 canteens, and FAK, with the smaller pockets on the triple mag pouches and the grenade pouches carrying additional items.
This set up also allows the user to have a Medium ALICE rucksack or a 3 day bag, or even a Large ALICE ruck or the MOLLE rucksack if lower the H harness a bit to hang down further, like on the ALICE setups.
The original MOLLE vest with ruck waist belt.
The orignal MOLLE vest with Utility belt.
We know there are many former soldiers and Marines here; we also know that many of us use our belts to carry more than just a pair of pants....
Here is an example of a setup I recently created with the view being towards light duty patrols or hiking or camping...
This is all based on the old idea of Load Bearing Equipment, like the venerable M1956, M1967 and ALICE gear, also inspired by the British PLCE setups. No small part goes towards the equipment bags carried by the wildfire fighting crews, namely their huge lumbar packs.
This rig is based on the 1st gen MOLLE Rucksack belt; without the hated plastic insert.
I have made a couple of V strap adapters to enable one to use the Tactical Tailor upper harness portion with the belt as shown.
Base setup.
View of the V adapter, using the Strap Divider from ITW-Nexus, 1.5" webbing tapered and sewn to 1" webbing. TT harness has 1.5" webbing going to the top of the divider.
Close up of how the lower straps attach, 1" webbing and Tri-glides to the metal loops on the belt.
Lumbar pack attached. The pack is roughly 10x13 on the back, 9x13 on the front, with 6x13 side panels; this is nearly double the size of the USGI butt packs; about twice the volume. It is capable of carrying quite a bunch of things... I have my USGI Poncho liner and a warm jacket stuffed in there.
Side view
With gear attached. 2x CMVS triple mag pouches, 2x Canteen overs, 2x TT Large Utility pouches, and TT Medic pouch pardon the messy room. cleaned it afterwards
Upper view. pardon the toes.
Other version of the 1st gen belt; it is a 3 piece design, with three loops on the outer sleeve pieces and the center piece has the 1.5" webbing and main belt area. it is adjustable just like the next generation MOLLE II FL vest ; or the earlier SPEAR ELCS H harness system.
This version is more common, however many shops cut off the 1.5" webbing and sell the belt as a warbelt for the user to modify or use... shown with the same TT harness and V adapters.
Here is a hypothetical patrol setup. from outboard to inboard;
2x Grenade pouches, 2x CMVS Triple mag pouches, 2x Canteen covers, and finally, 100rd SAW pouch that has the plastic FAK box insert from the older Jungle FAK .
Basically, this specific belt kit has 6 AR mags, 2 canteens, and FAK, with the smaller pockets on the triple mag pouches and the grenade pouches carrying additional items.
This set up also allows the user to have a Medium ALICE rucksack or a 3 day bag, or even a Large ALICE ruck or the MOLLE rucksack if lower the H harness a bit to hang down further, like on the ALICE setups.
The original MOLLE vest with ruck waist belt.
The orignal MOLLE vest with Utility belt.