What’s the best way to carry your fighting load? You know, your mags, handgun, IFAK, multitool, knife, etc.?
There are certainly plenty of options — plate carriers, chest rigs, and of course, battle belts.
Today we are going to talk about battle belts. Battle belts go by many names, including the dramatic war belt, gear belt, and, when I was in the Marine Corps, Batman belts.
So, let’s dive into these belts, talk about why you might want one and give you some recommendations. Keep reading!
THE QUICK LIST
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Best Basic Option
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Best Budget Pick
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Best Minimalist Option
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Best High-End Option
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Best Lightweight Option
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Best for Full Loadouts
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Best Modular Belt
Table of Contents
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Why You Should Trust Us
In 2009, I was in Afghanistan serving as a Marine. Our deployment was done almost entirely on foot, and no roads meant nothing but foot patrols for seven months.
Along the way, a lot of the guys realized that moving some gear to the belt made a lot of sense.
Moving gear from the carrier to the belt sometimes made it easier to access. It took a weight off our shoulders and put it on our hips.
We also crossed rivers and lakes all the time, and being able to pop the belts off and put them around our shoulders was a handy feature.
We didn’t have access to the modern battle belts, the internet, or any kind of postal service to order one, but these days, you got options…lots of options.
To help navigate the choices, I’ve gathered some of the best battle belts on the market. I’ve researched, tested, and pulled together some options that I think will serve you well.
Why Do I Need a Battle Belt?
Well, I already listed a few reasons, but they bear repeating.
First, they take the weight off your shoulders and allow you to transition it to your hip. Dropping a few magazines, tools, and your IFAK makes sense.
You already need a belt for your pistol, and a battle belt can help you there as well. Battle belts allow you to spread out your loadout.
In a situation where a plate carrier isn’t accessible, and you have to immediately jump in the fight, it can take no time to don a battle belt.
A plate carrier is hefty, huge, and acts like a sweater. Wanting to dump it as soon as possible makes sense. You can dump your carrier, but rock and roll with your belt.
Belts can be removed quickly without compromising armor too.
If you get a serious arm or hand wound, you can remove the belt, access the entirety of your IFAK, and have it right where you need it.
Not to mention, battle belts are just a convenient platform to shoot and train from.
Best Minimalist Battle Belts
1. Sentry Gunnar
The Sentry Gunnar put the low in low profile operator belt. It’s close to the size of a regular hold-your-pants-up belt. It’s 1.75 inches wide and made of high-strength nylon webbing.
A Cobra buckle holds it all together, and the buckle is incredibly strong.
On the inside sits the loop part of the hook and loop. An internal belt wraps around your waist and secures your pants, and offers the hook portion. Combine the two belts, and the Sentry Gunnar stays put.
The belt features a row of vertical MOLLE panels laser cut and tightly fit. You can loop in all your basic gear with ease.
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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25% off all OAKLEY products - OAKLEY25
Copied! Visit Merchant
At the front of the belt sits a portion of MOLLE that’s horizontal to mount goods you don’t want to hang over your leg. It’s a perfect little section to mount a multitool pouch or flashlight pouch.
The Gunnar belt is a minimalist design perfect for mounting basic gear like mags, a pistol, small tools, and an IFAK.
2. Wilder Tactical Minimalist Belt Pad
The Wilder Tactical Minimalist Belt Pad eschews MOLLE and similar designs for a belt inside belt pad design made to mount gear with belt clips.
Its belt pad allows you to flow the belt through several slots to secure your gear. The result is a very stable way to mount gear made for traditional belts.
Throwing a mag pouch on your pants belt isn’t a big deal, but throwing on multiple mag pouches, handgun pouches, a handgun, flashlight TQ, and more starts to weigh you down. Tossing it on the Wilder Tactical setup allows for stable, consistent mounting of a ton of gear.
You’re not constrained to just MOLLE-equipped gear, and the setup works with various belt pouches. The inside of the belt looks to run an internal belt through to secure the belt to your body.
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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25% off all OAKLEY products - OAKLEY25
Copied! Visit Merchant
Wilder Tactical sells complete packages that combine the belt, belt pad, and a few pouches for a plug-and-play design that keeps things simple.
Without MOLLE panels to constrain gear placement, you can be very picky about placing the gear right where you want it.
3. Grey Ghost Gear UGF Battle Belt
Grey Ghost Gear kicked off the minimalist belt system with the UGF. They were the first to really simplify battle belts and shrink them down to a relatively small platform.
This minimalist setup uses two belts, and you get both belts.
The 1.5-inch inner belt glides through your belt loops and is equipped with loop material. Its 2-inch padded outer belt comes with a hook portion that wraps about the setup for max stability if you prefer suspenders. That is an option with 3-point loops that work with the UGF suspenders.
Two ladders provide you room to mount all your goodies.
These MOLLE slots are cut to utilize Malice-style clips and are quite tight for traditional webbing. However, it’s not impossible to use standard webbing; just a little frustrating at times.
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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25% off all OAKLEY products - OAKLEY25
Copied! Visit Merchant
This 2-inch-wide belt provides a great degree of support while remaining rather minimalist.
These days smaller options exist, but the UGF Battle Belt provides enough room and support to carry dang near a full load versus other minimalist options constrained to the basics.
Best Standard Battle Belts
4. Crye Precision AVS Low Profile Belt
Crye does Crye things, and those things often make the best gear on the planet or close to it.
The Crye Precision AVS Low Profile Belt isn’t low-profile like some of the minimalistic options out there. It’s low profile compared to the other Crye options, though.
Crye’s non-up-armored belt provides a very capable and not very low-profile carriage for your gear.
It’s made for a full combat load of mags, IFAK, lights, grenades, tools, holsters, handguns, and more.
The Low-Profile Belt aims to provide a comfy means to carry gear in addition to offering lumbar support, moving a little weight to the hips.
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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25% off all OAKLEY products - OAKLEY25
Copied! Visit Merchant
This belt works with both suspenders and the STKSS to connect it to your armor. The inside is heavily padded, providing bang-up support to your hips and waist.
Big belts like this provide a lot of comfort when you start carrying a weighty loadout. Plus, it’s Crye, so it will damn near last forever, and you’ll get major cool points on Reddit.
What do you think of the Crye belt? Let us know by rating it below!
5. Viking Tactics Raze Belt
Viking Tactics comes from the mind of Kyle Lamb, former Delta Force dude, and all-around cool guy.
He now trains, consults, and produces rock-solid gear for the shooting community. The Raze belt is a no-frills, simple battle belt option.
The inner belt goes through your belt loops, and the outer belt wraps around them for total security.
This belt provides generous MOLLE panels for attaching gear with fuss or muss. Its offhand side leaves a section clear, so mounting a handgun holster is equally drama free.
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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25% off all OAKLEY products - OAKLEY25
Copied! Visit Merchant
Heck, there is even an integrated retention loop for safety lanyards for our airborne guys and gals.
A Cobra buckle holds it all together. This isn’t built for a raid laid but for someone who wants to be fast and light with a simple, low-profile belt.
6. Tactical Tailor Fight Light Battle Belt
For a soft goods OG, look no further than Tactical Tailor.
Tactical Tailor’s Fight Light Battle Belt forms the basis for a very capable and heavy-duty battle belt. This isn’t a low-profile minimalist rig but a behemoth ready for your loadout.
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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25% off all OAKLEY products - OAKLEY25
Copied! Visit Merchant
The Fight Light name comes from Tactical Tailor’s weight reduction techniques and materials. This is still a padded battle belt designed for uniformed work. It’s large and in charge, and shooters can run the belt of their choice through the pad, be it a Cobra or rigger’s design.
The big, padded design provides comfort and support for your loadout, with multiple points that allow you to attach suspenders for the long hall — although the suspenders aren’t needed.
The belt features slots for leg rigs and holsters on top of all the MOLLE support.
Tactical Tailor’s belt offers articulation for easy movement and a dense, tough pad for a naturally supportive design.
7. Raptor Tactical ODIN Belt Mark VI
The Raptor Tactical ODIN Belt Mark VI sounds like something Iron Man wears, but fear not, you don’t need a billionaire’s suit of armor to don the Odin Belt Mark VI.
This belt combines a MOLLE sleeve, a duty belt, and an internal belt for stability.
You can save some money if you already have a 1.75-inch belt you prefer, but you can include your own on-demand as well.
The MOLLE sleeve features MOLLE slots cut around the entire belt for adding whatever you need wherever you need it.
On top of that, vertical slits allow you to run your outer belt through. This allows you to use MOLLE-compatible gear nearly anywhere on the belt.
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
-
25% off all OAKLEY products - OAKLEY25
Copied! Visit Merchant
All in all, this makes it easy to add holsters, knives, or your favorite belt-compatible piece of gear to your MOLLE setup.
It’s a handy system that excels in modularity regardless of your chosen gear.
Final Thoughts
Battle belts are comfy and easy to toss on; bonus, they don’t bring the heat and discomfort that plate carriers do!
I love a good battle belt…so much that I have three different setups currently — one for my AR, one for my subguns, and one for my shotguns.
What about you? Do you run a battle belt? Let’s talk about it below. To get all your gear set up, hop on over to our [How-To] Set Up the Best Battle Belt & Plate Carrier article.
31 Leave a Reply
Doesn't ANYONE make something that fits us big guys?!? Beyond frustrating. I wear 48" pants. Those are usually roomy for me. Yes, I could afford to drop a few pounds, and I have. In the meantime I need something NOW. it doesn't seem to exist. I'm just look for a belt to hold a holster and several mag pouches. A range day belt! Is that too much to ask?
lose weight
Really helpful. Thanks for your considered and responsible opinion.
This blog post regarding types of Battle Belt is very informative and interesting. keep it up for better understanding.
I'm not ex-military. I'm a 70yr old retired cowboy from Wyoming, and a rifle marksmanship instructor and shoot boss for a national volunteer program. I use a Tactical Tailor Fight Light battle belt (have 3 - third for the AR-10) with thin nylon suspenders (fits under armor) and wear a belt every time I shoot on the 400yd KD range, just to make sure nothing is rubbing holes in me. I removed the pistol, put on another dual mag pouch instead. My gear is perfect IMPO except it's hard to carry as much water as I need in Florida. Use a Ranger canteen when it's hot, which is always, carry it on a sling. Pike is right - battle belts are where it's at in Florida!
I own a Ronin, Kore and a Crye and all of them are great for different purposes.
Where the heck does the firearms industry get their statistics for pricing. I mean I have seen plate carriers, and chest rigs for way less, and they come with pouches. You look at anybody on minimum wage, or on a fixed income, which make up for a big majority of gun owners. They cannot afford those prices. it is no wonder why you see people stuffing their pistols in their pants, or mags stuffed into pockets, unsafely without a holster, Prices for stuff like that are ridiculous, highway robbery really. then have the influencers push them like they are the greatest thing since sliced bread!
Nothing highlights how much this site recycles articles than this one… Despite the fact that there are better belts on the market now than every single one listed here, I’m pretty sure this is the exact same list (and article) you’ve posted for at least the last 3 years.
Reduce, reuse, and recycle!
What can we say...we're environmentally friendly. ;)
We do update these articles but with things we've tested. We frequently push older articles to the top to give our newer readers an opportunity to catch up. We still have plenty of new articles out weekly. Thanks for reading!
You do a disservice to your readers. By not showing the newer, improved equipment we are led to believe it doesn't exist. The "oh, the reader gets to catch up" tripe is for those you can fool. Pewpewtactical is quickly dropping to my ignore list
KORE ESSENTIALS ADJUSTABLE BATTLE BELT
I run the kore molle battle belt these days cause you cant beat being able to adjust the fit based on your load thats game changer as far as I can tell.
I just got the adjustable Kore Essentials battle belt and WOW!! The way you can resize and adjust it righter or looser on the move as your load changes is pretty brilliant in my opinion. All the cobra buckles lock and make it hard to adjust without undoing it. Love to see a review on it and see what you guys think.
Other things to consider which was not fully outlined in the article: The inner velcro belt is always over looked. If you are not sporting the UF Pro's or Crye pants with inner velco cinches it is important to realize cinch factor with your velcro inner belt to keep those pants up especially when adding 15-20 lbs on your belt counting handgun and goodies. I tend to like the load supporting belts like Wilder Tactical and HSGI to avoid the velcro hassle but they all have their advantages and disadvantages. Holsters and threading placement needs to be considered outside of getting a quick release holster with G-code, Safariland, or Blackhawk quick disconnects. Also consider running more hook tape around those holsters if you are going with a hook and loop belt. Lastly, consider and think about applications of use. Playing airsoft and actually army crawling, hiding and ducking into tight cover changes how you choose to arrange your belt versus potentially riding in a car or vehicle and sitting down for periods of time. If you are doing a lot of running and kneeling stay away from the drop leg.
Great article but i do have a few issues, mainly just a rant, but I am a "poor" so what do you expect, but you know the one thing I have noticed is for the most part, gun prices are reasonable, but when it is time to upgrade and accessories it is a racket. I mean come-on a good m4 pouch runs about $25 just for 1, drop pouch $20 and it doesn't do anything special but hang there, and catch your crap. Battle belts are ridiculously priced. for those prices mentioned you should get all pouches included. especially just going to the range. why would you need to spend that kind of money on a belt. I can understand actual combat, but just going to the range for a little basic training. there is no reason to spend that kind of cash. think about it $100 for a belt and let's just round pouches off to $25 each, and you probable need a minimal of 5, 2- m4, 2- pistol, and A dump pouch, now you are well up $200 plus, for just going to the range for some basic target shooting, maybe some light foot work. Where I live $200 would roughly get you 500rds ammo. I understand you need away to carry all of that but a light chest rig will do wonders. I even think they are high priced but decent for what they do I am sure there is somebody out there there that is willing to make good gear and not take a person to the cleaners Condor is okay but I think still charge to much. Gun Accessories, parts, upgrades, and especially gear, should not cost more then the gun itself and you can tell allot about the manufacturer or company making the stuff for you and your gun buy what they charge for their "name" oops I mean stuff. They just want the money they don't care about you or anything else just your money and how much they can take of it. I am sorry for my rant but I tend to get upset when it comes to nobody looking out for the poor we need gear just like those of you that are better off and I promise if you could get gear such as belts chest rigs etc, gun parts upgrade and accessories, that are decent quality you wouldn't spend a butt-load of money on those name brands either and don't try to lie to everybody either men are naturally cheap and always looking for a deal. I would rather spend $20 and replace my gear once a year then spend $200 on gear that I may replace later with something else I like better anyway then you have a box full of stuff that just sit there not getting used that you could give to poor that could actually use it since you seem to have the money to spend on replacing all of that stuff I would be tickled if I could acquire second hand parts accessories and gear because you used it once and got another brand. In the end all I can really say is since you privileged people have all that extra stuff just sitting in boxes and drawers not getting used keep us poor's in mind we would be honored to have that stuff, especially me. Thanks for listening and sorry for my rant, Have a great day and God Bless
AR500 makes a Battle Belt. Have you seen, or know about it? Wondering what your thoughts are about it.
My latest setup (and my favorite after 28 years of running around) is an Ares LE Duty Belt, Outer Gen 2.5 paired with an HSGI Micro Grip belt panel. The Ares duty belt is the stiffest duty belt I have ever used, and the HSGI Micro Grip inner belt panel is a neoprene gel-like liner that Velcros directly to the Ares Duty Belt. This combination is stiff enough with the Ares Duty Belt to support a full fighting load, the HSGI Micro Grip inner belt panel is comfortable with the gel, and it keeps the duty belt from slipping and sliding around on your trousers. Easy to take on and off, durable, and comfortable to wear, with very reasonably priced belts from two very good companies. “Two great things that go great together.” Stay safe
My favorites are my T3 tactical Triton belt and I also like my Ronin senshi belt. They are both amazing belts. No sag no binding super stable. The T3 didn’t come with the inner belt but it was easy enough to find one that would work.
What: NO mention of the GREAT battle/war belts from Condor?
I got one. It's one of the few pieces I bought new. My inner belt is an old Army issue pistol belt. Total cost : ABOUT $40.
Most of my nylon gear is non color coordinated military stuff inexpensively acquired over the years. If you want it to match, just dye it.
I've even got an old Tactical Tailor padded 'battle belt' from waaaay(ca. early 2000s) back when LBEs were still 'in vogue'.
What about Blue Force Gear’s CHLK Belt? or the AXL Eclipse? or the RoNIN Tactics SENSHI?
Agree, I was wondering why Ronin didn’t make it on there. I ran with that belt my last two deployments.
what about Blue Alpha Gear's stuff or the Bison Belt from Ferro Concepts?
We're in the process of testing Blue Alpha's belt now! Stay tuned for an update.
Good options here. Another option, affordable but high quality and American made is the LAB belt sold by AWS (veteran owned company in Fayetteville, NC). I’ve used it for several 2gun competitions and am a big fan of the durability and comfort.
You can also get a surplus Army pistol belt for cheap, I paid about $15 for mine.
"If you get a serious arm or hand-wound, you can remove the belt, access the entirety of your IFAK, and have it right where you need it"
Hopefully you will still be able to use your arms and hands to do that.
Well you have two of them....