For the new Ultimate Rigger’s Belt 215 Gear replaced the standard parachute hardware that rusts with an aluminum Cobra Buckle. Next, they removed the parachute v-ring and incorporated a sewn in attachment point. The belt in constructed with double layered, resin treated webbing and the entire belt is 7 Class sewn throughout, not with #69 threads, as most on the market are. they take it one step further and extend the 7 Class sewing past the standard WW stitch, 4 rows down the entire length of the belt.
Available in sizes Small – XLarge, the belts are available for Pre-order Now and will ship the week of 4/15.
215gearstore.com/ultimateriggersbeltmulticam
Tags: 215 Gear
The following applies to most of the riggers belts out there that have incorporated a soft loop over hardware into their belts as an attachment point, it’s no way a slam towards 215 gear.
There is a trend to add in lots of overkill in areas that aren’t subject to the stress loads during a short static fall, which is what a belt like this is going to be subjected to by those who use them for more than holding their pants up. On belt attachment points, with or without hardware, the first points of stress in the system will be along the stitching to the left and right of the attachment point itself as it takes the load. Using a stitch pattern other than a box X and or a 5 point (W) stitch to the left and right of the attachment point will result in the stitching blowing out and or beginning to pull out.
Now I know someone out there is thinking that they would never be able to fall and create enough force to do that. Using a 175lb dummy(which is light compared to what a kitted up person normally weighs) wearing a riggers belt with a soft attachment point attached to a fixed object/anchor was dropped 3 feet using the typical safety line to simulate falling out/over a platform. This small drop alone was enough to cause stitching(other then box X and or 5 point ) to begin to unravel and materials to separate from one another. This essentially renders the belt useless after one real use/fall as it will continue to degrade over time.
The old school hardware and the Cobra hardware is not even a concern as their capacities well exceed the forces generated and most of the belt routing is such that if the soft loop did fail, it is still one continuous piece of material that is surrounding the wearer(like the one above). However, there are some riggers belts out there that sew that soft loop and or loop with a V ring to the belt itself( a separate piece of material) which means if the stitching failed the user could potentially fall to his death.
So if you rely on a piece of equipment like this for work, don’t go with what looks cool, go with what will work and preferably work more than once. The best way to approach it is to ask your self “What would happen if the stitching on this attachment point on the belt broke?” If it means the stitching comes out but it still remains one continuous piece you are golden, if not, find a different belt to use.
PLiner makes some good points. Here are some quick facts:
The soft loop was designed by 215 Gear™ when the availability of the AustriAlpin Cobra Buckle was introduced. The two items, when paired up make up an attachment point and buckle system that not only weighs less than the parachute hardware commonly used in this application, but also is impervious to rust. This is not only important for those operating in a maritime environment, but anyone exposed to the elements outside. The common parachute hardware rusts at the mere mention of rain. In addition the soft loop folds almost completely flat, when magazine pouches are added in the area, when the attachment point is not immediately needed.
PLiner is correct in the stress points when a dynamic fall is induced onto the wearer. The entire belt is sewn with 3 cord (207) thread with a much higher break strength than typical 69 that a lot (not all) are made from. In addition to the sewing, is having enough webbing length at the bitter end, past the adjustment bar of the Cobra Buckle. This length is needed to prevent the webbing from reversing back through the adjuster. Our belts are sized to accommodate this into the sizing. Additionally we have a custom male side made for us, to accommodate the extra width of the webbing and Velcro. Without this extra room, you will continue to pull the Velcro from the webbing from repeated donning and doffing, as is the case with every other belt o the market.
Finally worth mentioning is the simple fact 215 Gear™ was the first to invent this soft loop, in 2009. Why would you upgrade hardware and the additional cost of the Cobra Buckle and still use the parachute hardware rust magnet next to it? We also included a short video of the belt in use, on rappell. Please remember what this belt is used for (Helo tie in/tertiary safety device). It was NOT designed to replace a rappell harness, or hang 12 M4 magazines from your belt.
http://www.itstactical.com/skillcom/climbing/215-gear-ultimate-riggers-belt/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsh9k5mtLAI
Multicam seems to be a big deal today, was it proven to be better than desert/jungle MARPAT? I’ve watched some amateur-made videos and multicam seems to lose though it is usable in both desert-like and forest-like environments. Whereas desert MARPAT is nothing in forests. Multicam sucks major balls in the jungle though, at least compared to jungle MARPAT.
This is a fair bit better in my opinion:
http://www.platatac.com/sicc-belt-multicam/w1/i1397966/
That belt is actually two separate pieces of material sewn together and has several of the shortfalls I mentioned above. The 215 belt shown in this article is by far the better belt. If you’re a flat range commando and only need your belt to hold your pants up, that belt will probably work great.
So they don’t make the original Ultimate Riggers Belt in khaki/black anymore? I can’t see it anywhere on their website.
Sorry, Gremlin was in the site, original Ultimate Riggers Belt is back up.
Any chance of making in it OD Green?
For that price I’d stay with the khaki one, however I have a shellback tactical riggers belt and it works just fine, if I ever need a new one I’ll look here.