Its a 1.75" belt that uses a "Desert Sand" AustriAlpin FC45B-SA-XL Cobra Quick Release and eliminates the need for a V-ring by replacing it with a bombproof loop of heavily-stitched webbing. The parachute webbing itself is all "Khaki," according to 215 Gear, however the belt is also available in black. It is "7 Class" sewn throughout. Here's that webbing loop I'm talking about, its actually the webbing of the belt itself, just taken off the other bit of webbing, rolled and stitched to itself:
The belt is available in Medium, Large and Extra-Large sizes, and with these sizes, it can accommodate waists from 30" to 45". I have a Medium, and its a real bitch to set up or disassemble, (airports are problems), however this issue may be specific to the Medium size or to anyone with a smaller waist, (mine's about 32"). Because the belt must be pulled so far through the male portion of the Cobra buckle in order to tighten it down, the loop material on the belt also gets pulled through the buckle. It has not hampered performance in any way and I have little reason if any to believe that it would fail anytime soon, however it does make it really hard to pull the belt through the buckle and to pry it off later (I end up using a knife's spine to initially get it through the buckle, and as you can imagine, I dont usually carry knives when traveling through airports). I have noticed minor abrasion on the hook material on the belt, but absolutely none on the loop material that is pulled through the buckle. Here's a shot of this minor complaint:
The belt has a generous section of loop material. I have not noticed any wear on it whatsoever.
Due to the design, the right side of the belt, (or I suppose left if you wore it upside down), is verrry thick when completely assembled. The belt is doubled-up webbing all around apart from the adjustment portion that feeds through the male Cobra and as you can see in this picture, the tail of the belt, when added to this doubled-up webbing, creates a platform which can overwhelm some holsters with its thickness:
My Blade-Tech OWB Holster fits quite tightly with Gen II Tek-Loks, however I'd check to ensure that your holster's belt loops or loop, (if it has some), can fit a belt that's almost half an inch in width. The belt will obviously compress to much less than that, perhaps a quarter of an inch if you really put pressure on it. Just something to be aware of. The belt features ridiculously reinforced stitching on the female Cobra side, just behind the loop that replaces the V-Ring on standard rigger's belts:
The other side of the loop is stitched only a couple of times, but it really doesnt matter if it comes completely undone because the buckle is still there to keep your connection point usable. You would have to sever the webbing entirely on that side to make the belt fail, and I just dont see that happening anytime soon. Despite rappelling in this belt alone more times than I can count, I have noticed absolutely no wear on the stitching on the loop and the reinforcing stitching around it. It's also a bitch to remove from just about any pants due to the size of the buckle requiring you to disassemble the belt in order to remove it. I've found that newer versions of 5.11 TDU's and older HRTs do not feature belt loops which fit the huge buckle, however older TDUs still may fit it. Dont know about newer HRTs or any other pant's belt loops, but I can tell you that the buckle is approximately 2.3" tall at its widest point.
I'd like to speak about the Cobra series of buckles for a minute. The female side of the Cobra buckle contains the locking mechanism which is two brass locks on springs. The rest of the buckle, apart from the pins on which the brass locks rotate and the bar in the adjustable side, is anodized 6061 and completely indestructible. It would take an impressively powerful and accurate hit from something about as hard as steel to break the locks. If one lock is released, the buckle remains locked together, no need to worry. The locks will NOT release under tension, (if rappelling, for example). The male side is just a hunk of aluminum and a crossbar for adjustment, I'm fairly certain that it's actually impossible to break it through any type of normal abuse.
The buckle locks and releases almost immediately, allowing the operator to tactically remove his pants extremely quickly if using a pant with a snap-buttoned waist. So. If you should find yourself in need of stripping with maximum efficiency... The Cobra may be for you. I've found that the smaller, 24mm (1") models are a bit harder to release and wear in, but so long as you push the male side into the female side, (teeheeeheheheehehe), prior to releasing the locks, it's fairly smooth. Ive had no issues with the larger 45mm model on the Ultimate Riggers Belt being difficult to release. All in all, a damned well-made belt. Highly recommended for training or operatin, but perhaps not the best everyday belt.
215 Gear also markets a highly similar belt which they call their "Enhanced Riggers Belt." It features the same materials and attachment loop, however it features a standard, sliding buckle instead of the more expensive Cobra.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this or other equipment, feel free to ask away. I'll respond to the best of my ability. Cheers.
Thank you for the great review! Very useful!
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