E-Mail 'Blackhawk Products Rigger’s Belt with Cobra Buckle, by Pat Cascio' To A Friend

13 Comments

1. If you are wearing a Riggers belt, isn’t that a sure give away that you are carrying? If I see a custom belt through the opening of a jacket I automatically assume the wearer is carrying. Wouldn’t a “properly” made and adjusted good leather belt be less obvious?

   1. Here, I have to agree with “eam”. I particularly like the steel-reinforced leather gun belts made by Bigfoot Gun Belts. These look like a traditional casual leather belt, but have a stiffener added to properly support a holster and magazine pouch. They are made in Idaho.

2. My, how uniform accoutrements have improved. When I was in, you had limited choices for your everyday (BDU) uniform wear, either the canvas belt and slide buckle (which ALWAYS seemed to need blackening with a Sharpie), or the dress uniform belt and buckle.
   Yes, riggers had their belts and buckles, but the everyday pogue or grunt couldn’t get them, and I’m not sure if they were authorized for wear with the uniform back then (20+ years ago) if you weren’t a rigger.

3. Sorry to hear that your waist got bigger…in my case, the older belts all shrunk!
   😉

4. Check out Bullhide Belts, I have one of their holsters ! I carry a Ruger GP100 357 Mag.. rides high and tight, with one of their belts !

5. 511 makes a nice dress belt ( or at least they did ) and it was great for plain clothes duty.

   It even came in basket-weave if you were feeling nostalgic.

   Thanks for the review . always enjoy them.

6. Liberty tree tactical will make you a custom cobra buckle gun belt made to your specs for about $65. Their quality is great and they are a small American business. I am not associated but own several of their belts. They can be found on eBay and they have a website the same as their name. Far superior to the mass produced belts out there. Stealthgear USA also makes a great edc belt without the cobra buckle for about $40 as well as some great holsters.

7. Knowing what LEOs go through for training, and what they watch for, My wife and I no longer use holsters/belts or even those old fashioned “boxes” strapped to your outside belt looking like an oversized phone case. We simply have the smallest concealed gun with stopping power [.380 with six rounds], and place it smack dab right in the front pocket of our trousers. I even place my wallet/billfold right over it [just a few bank cards and license, etc.]. The other pocket contains the moola!

   That way, no eyes can gaze upon my hip holster, or be exposed in bending over picking up something we’ve dropped, or even be brushed up against in a public place. It still is as quick to draw, whether in a holster on my hip with a shirt tucked over it, as it is in my front pocket with a small billfold covering it.

8. My wife and keep our concealed weapon in our front pants pocket. No belt, no holster.

9. paddle holsters solved a lot of my problems of keeping the firearm tight against the body since you have enough extending below the belt line to act as leverage to keep even short barreled handguns snug…although I wouldn’t advise it a paddle holster could probably even be secured with a really poor belt or even a rope

10. ” ‘I like the Rigger’s belt for several reasons. First of all, it is lightweight. Secondly, it will handle all the gear you care to place on it– several magazines in pouches, the largest handgun you care to carry, and if you want to add handcuffs, pepper spray or whatever you feel you need to carry, this belt will handle it with ease.’ ”

    I hope that in addition to”whatever you feel you need to carry” ” is a CAT-T G7!” AND you’ve learned how to apply & use it! I also have learned from (unfortunate experience) that the belt keeper you get with it doesn’t hold up & you’ll need to upgrade to a reliable one, or you’ll end up buying another one!

11. I appreciated all the points brought up in this article. It’s a, here’s what your belt should do, could do, or can’t do.

    I’ve dealt with the can’t do, prior to getting the can do belt. Mine was custom made by a good friend who worked leather by trade with Harley D. He ordered hides by the hundreds and used the appropriate density and thickness, I’d guess about 3/16 x 1.25. It’s fairly stiff and that helps spread the load out.

    Topped it with a saddle bag buckle. Extremely heavy duty. It’s working well, holes spaced three quarter inch a part. Close enough to find a good fit. A few years ago I used the new style that are ratcheted. I liked it a lot, I could get the perfect snug with it. If I sat I could loosen it slightly if desired. It kept cutting the leather as it had two sharp teeth that clamped on the end attached to the buckle. It would last about a month, then cut thru and I’d shave off a quarter inch or so and go again…… Seems to have loosened the clamp and teeth now. I can’t trust it at all, but again, liked the ratchet feature.

    I carry a Glock 22. I’m 6-5, never tuck my shirt, works for the most part. I do have to be careful bending over.

    My biggest problem is the snugness necessary to wear the belt without it drooping and needing to be lifted back up. That’s my dead giveaway issue. It’s a trade off at times. If I’m concerned I tighten the belt and ignore comfort. But comfort does win some times.
    I liked that ratchet for it’s ability to really fine tune, which I guess the velcro design mentioned could achieve.

    In my opinioin, it’s a reasonable price for a significant piece of gear.

12. Rigger belts are uniform and color coded to your profiency in hand to hand combat. Allowed for over a decade but still subject to Orders of theDay .(USMC)

Comments are closed.