PMCI - February 2017

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TAC GEAR - BATTLE BELTS
• Fighting loads
If you are going to use your battle belt in the field then you
will probably want to customise your belt for your job. The
addition of extra magazine pouches will be the first on your
list. A minimum of two handgun magazines and a minimum
of one rifle magazine should be carried on the battle belt, with
maybe a utility pouch to carry extra ammunition and grenades
and not forgetting food and water. Think of your battle belt as
a survival kit; ammunition to carry on the fight and that little
extra for when the fight is over, just don’t overdo it. Whatever
you decide to take, the battle belt will free up space on your
vest and help spread the weight load.
• Mission specific
This is usually ammo, ammo, ammo. Stack as much ammo on
the belt as possible. This will free up copious amounts of room
on your vest allowing you to add all those mission specific
extras like NVG, Communication sets, GPS, Breaching tools etc.
Consideration must be taken into account when placing items
on the vest, making sure that they don’t hinder the function of
the kit on the battle belt. I have found in the past that I have
been unable to retrieve certain items from the belt because
items stowed in my vest have prevented me from doing so.
Plan the layout of your belt then throw all your kit on to see if
it is compatible and works well with your vest and other kit.
• Medical
Personal First Aid Kits or PFAK are exactly what they mean, a first
aid kit for you. PFAK’s are intended for personal use only and
are not to be used for the treatment of others. On the one way
range the RO should have access to a range first aid kit, on the
two way range individuals should carry their own PFAK. If you
use your PFAK on someone else and then something happens
to you, your first responder may not have a medical kit to hand
and all you can give them is an empty PFAK. There are plenty
of commercial PFAK’s on the market to choose from, but you
may want to ditch the contents and add your own. Dressings,
FFD, Israeli dressing, sheers, tourniquet, and personal drugs are
a good start. Of course you will need to know how to apply
treatment, so a certification in first aid is needed. The PFAK
should ideally be positioned in the middle of the belt at the
back so it is out of the way but easily accessible by both hands.
The contents need to be kept in a waterproof bag or container
and stowed in the PFAK pouch. The PFAK pouch should also be
clearly marked and should also include your blood type.
ADDITIONS
• Dump Pouch
Dump pouches are nothing more than a bag to drop or dump
your spent magazines or recovered intel/evidence into. Most
dump pouches roll up out of the way when not being used.
Dumping your spent magazines into a separate pouch ensures
you don’t replace them in pouches alongside full magazines.
Once empty the spent magazines are simply dumped into the
bag and forgotten about until you need to recharge them. The
top of the pouch usually has a stiffened neck to hold the mouth
open for easily dumping the magazines. Since the magazines
are empty and of no further use until recharged, both rifle and
handgun magazines can be placed in the dump pouch together.
It’s not essential for you to carry a dump pouch on your battle
belt but it can make life a little easier when you need to make
an emergency or combat reload when the situation gets a little
hot. I spent many years throwing spent magazines down the
inside of my jacket; this was known as a “Brecon Pouch”. That,
however, was in the days when I didn’t wear ballistic protection.
Now I wear a ballistic plate carrier of some description it’s near
impossible to use the good old “Brecon Pouch”. I have found
space for a dump pouch and I must say that it’s easy and quick
to use. I’ve not included a dump pouch on my civilian belt as
I don’t go through tonnes of ammunition and if I did, I would
have the luxury of time to change magazines.
• Ancillaries and Tools
Apart from the basic and essential items to carry on your
battle belt, there may be other tools you may want to consider
adding. Multi-tools can be a god-send at times, especially if it
is a weapons tool. A small knife won’t go amiss either. White
light (flash light) can also be an asset. These extra items can
be added to the battle belt and, if they don’t come with their
own pouch, most small items will fit into handgun magazine
retention pouches. The use of a small to medium utility or
GP (general purpose) pouch is often a help. Items such as
notebook and pencil, snap-caps, weapons cleaning kit etc can
be placed in here. You can even use one as a caddy to collect
spent brass off the range. Personally I use mine to carry my ear
defenders in. Battle belts can be customised to suit any need
just remember not to overload them with things
you don’t want or need. Keep it simple.
NOTE:
Belts supplied by
www.nicks-kit.co.uk
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