Unlike the majority of airsofters, my kit tends toward law enforcement style gear –mainly because my early gear was leftover stuff from my days as a patrol guard, and my films tend to feature LE officers more than paramilitary characters. As a result, I tend to prefer having a duty belt with stuff on it over a chest rig. The big hurdle is all the good, inexpensive gear nowadays is on PALS, requiring a place to attach MOLLE straps, MALICE clips and similar rigs. I’m sure more than a few have you have noticed that while putting MOLLE/MALICE though belt loops is easy, the hard part is getting them to stay stable on your belt. I hate the feeling of a $100 radio or loaded grenade shells sliding around.
Enter
Down Range Gear and their Belt Stabilizers after reading a review on
ITS Tactical (read their review for more detail). I contacted Chris at the site for a quote for a couple of their Belt Stabilizers, shipped to Ottawa:
- Belt Stabilizer – Double Cell: $9.95 USD
- Belt Stabilizer LE Variant - Single Cell: $8.50 USD
- Shipping: $7.50 USD
The dude hand makes each set, with different color options; not sure the specific color options, but looking at the site it’s at least black, tan and OD. The LE variant has Velcro, hook on one side, loop on the other, to ensure extra stability. Here’s what they look like, stand alone:
And here’s how they are on my belt. The standard Double Cell is securing a pistol grenade launcher holster at the small of my back with MALICE. The Single Cell LE version is holding my radio pouch in place with MOLLE, though all I need for that spot is for the 'hook' part of the Velcro to attach to the inch or so of the 'loop' portion of the belt.
And let me say they work great. This last two months I’ve played 4 games (two 8hr, one 12hr, one 24hr) with them on, swapping different combinations of gear. The leather double cell has enough slide to adjust while the belt is off you, but when you put the belt on that sucker stays in place. They’re built rugged, and after those 4 games there’s not a single sign of wear. Is it worth the cost? For me, yeah. I’ll probably get a couple more single cells to keep my options open. If you have a leather working system or a buddy that does the same, maybe you can crank them out cheaper.
I’m not sure what the market for these would be on these forums – you guys love your chest rigs – but it may be useful for those times you want to run fast & lite in a t-shirt and secondary weapon, but still need that ONE critical piece of gear on a belt, like a radio, grenade pouch, or ammo holster that’s built on PALS.
August 1st, 2012, 18:18
