Hi All,

Been dealing with this belt for well over a decade and have had enough.  I normally wear an admin set up since I do crime scene work.  However, we are redeployed every few weeks and I then wear a full rig.

I have a velcro inner belt and Bianchi nylon outer.  It's very light and a great belt.  The problem is that with the keepers and inner belt along with the BDUs, my right hip get dug up and bruised horribly.  Part of the problem is that the BDUs have a crappy pull tab and metal buckle that make the problem worse.

Do you guys have any tips or tricks to help pad the hip area?  

Thanks and regards

these I thought always looked sorta funny but supposedly they are comfy

Get pants without the metal tabs?  A fitted pair of 5.11s would be alright.

Or just cut the tabs off. I hate those things and cut them off on all my BDUs that have them.

Gonna cut t he tabs off tonight for a start...

I'm sure my belly isn't helping things  

Try changing up how you have your belt set up. Does your duty belt have a Velcro lining also? If so, you might be able to do away with a keeper or 2. You can try loosening your duty belt a little bit, since your inner is doing the job of holding your pants up. Alternatively, you could try ditching the Velcro belts, as they seem to flex less because of the extra layers. I personally use a blackhawk rigger belt under my leather duty belt.

Considering you mentioned you dont wear it often, you might want to try wearing your gear more, as some nylon takes more to break in because of the plastic used to stiffen it, although that's probably not it since you said its a decade old. Maybe time for something new.

Thanks for all the advice.  The Bianchi inner and outer belts are a set.  They mate up with velcro.  technically, I don't even need keepers when I wear them.

There is really only one place right on my right ilium (iliac crest) that gets bruised up.  Seems to be right where the holster is LOL.

I'll keep playing with it.

BTW- Has anyone seen these?

Zero-G Plates

Have you ever done red man without keepers?  That Velcro won't hold at all against even light contact.

Yeah, I was wearing 5 keepers but removed the one in front of the holster.. seems to reduce the digging a bit.

In my experience, these are the keys:


1. Pants that fit correctly. They need to be sized to be flat at your waist, but not too tight.


2. Inner belt that's not a soft flimsy POS. It should have at least a little form to it.


3. Size the outer belt to close tight against the inner belt. It should all but "bunch" the inner belt when you secure it. That's how you know it's sized correctly. The inner is pushing out against the outer. The outer is holding everything together like a tight belt sandwich, and the inner is just tight enough to hold your pants up. The belt keepers just hang on for the ride, and keep stuff in place when it's go time.




You probably have the above stuff all good-to-go, so I'd say cut the tabs/buckles off and try adjusting the keepers and holster to be in a slightly different location. I don't pad anything. I used to have that hip-rubbing problem. After I figured out the proper sizing for everything, it went away.