Quote History Quoted:
A company would do well to emulate BFG's customer service.
How do you like the SOC-C belt?
View Quote View All Quotes
View All Quotes
Quote History Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I have one and love it. It adds extra space for what ever misc pouches you want to carry. The extra weight that it adds is not really noticed due to it being destributed over your hips. The extra level of ballistic protection is just an added bonus. They aren't for everyone, but they are an easy way to scale up or down in ballistic protection.
I have a Blue Force SOC-C war belt kit, which includes suspenders.
https://www.blueforcegear.com/soc-c-modular-padded-belt-kit.html I also have the optional armor inserts, which replace the OEM standard foam inserts. If you wish to add the armor inserts, contact BFG. The added weight is negligible, IMHO. It's nice to have choices.
They don't have the armor inserts anymore, they were discontinued a year or so ago according to my sales guy.
Too bad. I must have gotten lucky. I bought the belt kit, on sale, and asked the sales rep--over the phone- if they could add-in the armor inserts at the sale price. To my surprise, and delight, they agreed.
For some reason, I've always found the folks at BFG very easy to deal with on the phone, but truth be told, I do better on the phone with almost any vendor than I do via e-mail. But BFG still stands out. YMMV.
A company would do well to emulate BFG's customer service.
How do you like the SOC-C belt?
I deliberately ordered the belt so that the ends would almost touch when I was wearing light street clothes. There is plenty of adjustment room if I am wearing heavier clothes, and the armor coverage is maximized.
To define: I consider 4-point suspenders a MUST on heavily-loaded belts, and the very inferior 3-point suspenders tolerable on lightly-loaded belts. Those buying belts should make certain of the type/number of attachment points on the belt they contemplate buying. Some belts are set up for both. FWIW, I have yet to hear, over
decades from anyone who believed a 3-point belt suspenders was superior to a 4-point.
The BFG suspenders are fine, except that they have integral, non removable thick bungee cords. I am thinking they pose an irritation problem when worn under a PC. I'm currently evaluating a set of ATS suspenders, which should be less bulky under the PC. As stand-alone item, the BFG suspenders are GTG, but to my mind, the belt and suspenders rig
must be GTG both as a stand-alone item, and as a rig worn under a PC. YMMV.
As far as the belt goes, it has all the bells and whistles one could desire. Variable open bottom, and all that. Almost any holster can be attached to the belt in most any way the user desires. The belt itself is well-made, needless to say. The OEM thin foam inserts can be replaced by thicker
closed cell foam inserts, say, from a GT sleeping pad, but I don't think that necessary for comfort, but might be an asset for floatation.
I think there are two types of war belts. One type, intended to be worn with light weight attached, and so without suspenders. Most of these belts have some sort of 'gription" inner surfaces, like the HSGI units, that help to keep them in one place on the user's body while the wearer is undergoing heaven knows what contortions--all this without suspenders, mind you. Adding suspenders allows adding additional weight, but in so doing, the "Gription" surfaces on some belts become superfluous, and possibly an extra cost that might have been avoided had the user/wearer admitted that they might want to eventually load up the belt to the level where suspenders were required. That is the second type of war belt, the heavily-loaded war belt which
requires suspenders, and in such a case, the quality of the suspenders is a key element, since the suspenders will be worn underneath a PC. If the user
never intends the suspenders to be worn under a PC--or vest-- then the world is wide open. However, if wearing suspenders under a PC, care must be taken to
minimize any possible protrusion that might irritate the user.
I hope this answers your question. Feel free to ask further questions..