Velcro belt compatibility?

[barrysuperhawk]

I am working on converting my gear over to Safariland ELS clippies, and I am at the point I should buy a new belt.

I am currently running an old style Bianchi nylon Duty belt [inner and outer] and just burned the holes for the ELS clips in it with a Soldering iron. It's not pretty, but it works. The problem I have, is I think the Velcro is backwards from most other brands since the hook part is on the inner belt and the loop part is on the outer. This means I am going to need a new inner belt to go with the ELS outer belt, because I believe the ELS belts have the hook portion on the outer belt. Is this correct?

Secondly, I am also planning on switching my USPSA [limited] rig to a new belt also [since I just burnt a bunch of holes in my old one] but since I don't do that much switching around with it, I am going to build a standard static setup, but I want to make sure the inner/outer setup matches the Safariland ELS belt. The other reason for 2 belts is I run a 6004 Drop rig on the 3 gun belt, but a regular Blade-tech holster on the USPSA rig, and it would cost $100 worth of hardware and clippies alone just to make both systems work with the same belt. It seems much cheaper to run 2 belts, one set up for the 6004's and one for belt-height holsters.

The Double Alpha belt's look pretty nice, how is their Velcro oriented? What other outer belts should I be looking at?

Last question. At a 3 gun match last year, I remember seeing someone with a rigger/wilderness style belt that had the Velcro sewn onto the outside of it already so the shooter didn't need to take off his pants belt to switch to his competition rig. I didn't ask him about it at the time, but now that seems like a terribly good idea, so does anyone know who is making those?

[Sarge]

The Double Alpha belt's look pretty nice, how is their Velcro oriented? What other outer belts should I be looking at?

Last question. At a 3 gun match last year, I remember seeing someone with a rigger/wilderness style belt that had the Velcro sewn onto the outside of it already so the shooter didn't need to take off his pants belt to switch to his competition rig. I didn't ask him about it at the time, but now that seems like a terribly good idea, so does anyone know who is making those?

What you saw was the inner belt to one of the popular brands of shooting belt. I know DAA and CRSpeed are oriented the same with the fuzzy, soft velcro being on the inner belt and the prickly side being on the inside of the outer belt. You run the inner belt through your pant loops and close it up. Then you put the outer belt with all your gear on over top of it.

From what I understand Safariland velcro is oriented to opposite of the other major players.

[Guest]

Th old safariland competition belts have the hook on the outside of the inner belt and the loop on the inside of the outer belt - opposite what the CR and DAA belts are.

The new Safariland ELS belts have the hook on the inside of the outer belt and the loop on the outside of the inner belt - just like the CR and DAA

BTW - The Safariland ELS is a very nice belt - just be aware that it is 1.75" and not 1.5" wide like the CR and DAA belts. This can be important if you do not want to use the ELS attachment clippies and plan on just using the normal belt attachments for mag pouches. If you are running Safariland mag pouches you can get the 1.75" wide belt hangers for the pouches (like the 771 and 773) for less than 5 bones each.

[dukduk]

u can get a wilderness belt with the Velcro all over from wilderness

[barrysuperhawk]

Th old safariland competition belts have the hook on the outside of the inner belt and the loop on the inside of the outer belt - opposite what the CR and DAA belts are.

The new Safariland ELS belts have the hook on the inside of the outer belt and the loop on the outside of the inner belt - just like the CR and DAA

BTW - The Safariland ELS is a very nice belt - just be aware that it is 1.75" and not 1.5" wide like the CR and DAA belts. This can be important if you do not want to use the ELS attachment clippies and plan on just using the normal belt attachments for mag pouches. If you are running Safariland mag pouches you can get the 1.75" wide belt hangers for the pouches (like the 771 and 773) for less than 5 bones each.

I am converting from Tek-locks, so that shouldn't be a big deal. Actually, I am still planning on using tek-locks on my holsters...

So the old bianchi belt I have is the same as the old safariland belts, and the new safariland belts are the same as CR/DAA, Got it.

One other thing I am having some mental trouble with is the lack of a buckle with almost every belt I see. Velcro is cool, but I have seen competitors get hung up on obsticles, chairs, etc. and rip their belt partially or completely off. I realize these ELS clippies would probably give before the belt does, but that does bear thinking on.

[Guest]

The buckle-less Safariland belts don't rely on just Velcro. For the ELS belt they have studs which engage in the holes, for the old competition belt they used hooks. Take a look at the pics for the ELS belt in brownells and you can see the two silver studs in the holes ( http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=53971/Product/ELS-COMPETITION-BELT ). Really, once that belt is on it isn't going anywhere.

Edit - I believe the Bladtech tecLocs work with belts to 2.0", so you should be good to go.

Edited August 13, 2012 by Bamboo