Trying to piece together a battle belt and was wondering if what I list here would be a good setup. Mainly want something that I can just throw on if I need to leave the house with a gun(range use, pest control, etc.)

All this stuff is from Esstac

Enhanced Shooters Belt 1.75"

Single 5.56 KYWI Shorty

Double KYWI shorty

Double pistol

Standard size dump pouch

GP pouch

I already have a med pouch that I can attach to the belt.

Any changes you guys would make to the setup or even another brand? Wondering if I should drop the third 5.56 pouch and just use the dump pouch if I want to carry more mags. I don't want some cheap imported stuff but don't really need top of the line either.

ETA. I forgot about the holster, I would just need to get a regular belt attachment for the holster I use. Should I attach right to the belt or use a drop attachment? I don't have a plate carrier and don't know if I'll ever get one.

If you’re not going to get a plate carrier, that pistol should be right on the belt. Esstac is good to go. If I were you I would want a flashlight and multi tool on the belt. I’m not big on dump pouches but that decision is very personal. For anything I see myself doing I don’t think picking up spare magazines and running out with them is likely. As to mag pouches, I would want at least three 5.56 and just one spare pistol mag. Unless you have classes or competitions that go to which would require more magazines and you don’t want to backload pouches from pockets.

Belt setup is pretty personal usually involves buying a lot of pouches and then deciding how much you actually didn't need or want most of them. My bare minimum is handgun holster, handgun mag pouch, IFAK, and light. I do use a dump pouch as well but it's mostly for snacks and water at the range

The Esstac stuff is good to go. I would recommend Velcro One Wrap for attachment versus MALICE clips or belt loops. One Wrap is tough stuff and it keeps the pouches from slipping around on the belt.

I'm of the opinion that a holster exposed on a battle belt needs active retention. You don't want something to snag your handgun out of the holster. It doesn't take much when the holster is offset from the body even a little. If it's tucked close to the body it's not as big of an issue. The Safariland 6377 type ALS holsters are pretty cheap and have the standard Safariland T pattern for mounts. As it comes out of the package the 6377 has a belt loop that'll fit on your Esstac 1.75" belt and ride at a nice height without a carrier. You can also find used Safariland duty holsters pretty cheap.

The only way to figure out if a setup works or not is try it, but I don’t see anything inherently wrong with your setup.  

Some things to think about:

I work in and around vehicles a lot and the esstac mag holders seem to catch on everything.  The malice clips they come with also dig into my leg a lot, but the catching on everything thing is really the major no go for me.  I seem to be the only person who has this problem with them, so YMMV.  Otherwise they are great holders. I switched to 1x g code scorpion rifle mag and a Spiritus JSTA pouch with one rifle and one pistol mag inserts.  Super happy with that setup, pretty sure I won’t be changing it for quite awhile.

Regardless of that issue, something to consider about the KYWI double mag holders (or any double mag holders) is that you don’t have much flexibility to keep one and ditch the other, or to relocate one of them elsewhere on your belt, etc.  Point being that you may be better served by purchasing two singles if you aren’t 100% sure you want doubles.  Sometimes extra flexibility is worth a little extra cost, sometimes it isn’t.  

That’s my two cents, but gear setup is super personal.  If you use it a lot, expect to spend a lot of time making minor changes until you’ve got a setup you’re completely happy with.

I wasn't really planning on using the dump pouch for holding empty mags as much as I thought it would be a good item for carrying extra loaded mags if I decided I needed a few extra or for water/snacks.

Actually the more I think about it I could take the money the dump pouch costs and add a couple more rifle mags pouches. I already have a cheap water bottle pouch that would attach to the belt and I have a mesh shot shell bag that would work great for an empty mag pouch if I needed one.

I'll look into the Velcro stuff, I was wondering how secure the belt clips would be in regards to sliding around.

I was wondering about having a holster with a retention system other than friction. I'll look into some but it'll have to be new because the odds of finding a used LH for an M&P are slim to none.

You definitely want a retention feature. The belt holds the gun out which causes it to snag on things.

What is your intended use for this belt?  That is a lot of mags on one belt.

I have an Esstac double pistol mag pouch but haven't really worn it much. I also have several BFG Ten Speed pouches, single and double pistol mag and AR mag pouches. I wear the double pistol almost every day and wear 1 pistol mag pouch and 1 AR mag pouch when I go to the range, both on a regular gun belt. They're very tight into the body and don't catch on anything. The pistol mag pouches hold both G17 and G48 mags securely, they're tighter with either than the Esstac pouch is with G17 mags.

I'll use it for going to the range, chasing coyotes around, and SHTF. I figured since I don't have a plate carrier I'd make the difference up with the belt.

One Wrap is the way for attaching anything that'll take a MALICE clip to a belt. The Esstac shooters belt is lined with hook so you setup the pouches with loop side of the One Wrap facing the hook side of the belt. Locks them in place and it also allows the hook side of the One Wrap to grab the liner or belt pad.

I like the esstac stuff, I personally like the 1+1 stuff where my pistol mag is on my rifle mag. It’s muscle memory going to the same place

There are a few used safariland m&p ones in eBay today. Was looking around today

Are you planning on wearing the velcro inner belt as your everyday belt? I wear mine a lot since it's thin and infinitely adjustable, I might just be weird too. If not, you might look at getting a velcro pad to mount to the hook on the belt. I use a Wilder Tactical, it's just barely wider than the belt, has loop on the outside and neoprene on the inside. It turns your inner/outer belt into a "war belt" light so you can put it on over shorts or whatever you happen to be wearing at the time and not feel the hard velcro hook.

Just a thought if you want to keep it ready to go and you might not be wearing the inner belt.

I don't want to use the inner belt as an everyday belt. I want to keep the war belt set up so I can grab it and throw it on.

@gunner76  If you want it to be stand alone you might want to invest in something like the hsgi grip belt.  That being said 3 rifle, 2 pistol, dump, gp, med, & holster seems like a lot on the belt; maybe thats me, I'm single rifle, double pistol, dump, holster.  If you shop the EE you could get a chest rig pretty reasonably cheap.

https://www.highspeedgear.com/95mg0-95mgl

Just wanted to drop in and mention that the esstac pouches are fantastic awesome and phenomenal.



But.



The loops suck asshole and I regret them. They do slide around all over the place. I need some one wrap.

Just an update. I ended up buying a T.Rex Arms Orion inner/outerbelt setup and added an Esstac double pistol, single 5.56 shorty, my Leatherman, and a holster mounted to a Safariland UBL Midride with thigh strap. I tried having two 5.56 pouches but the second one got too far back and made it uncomfortable to sit in a seat. Right now since I'm not doing any running and gunning I'm just using a level 1 kydex holster with the retension bolts set tighter but plan on getting a proper Safariland holster in the near future.

3+ rifle mags, 2+ pistol mags, pistol/holster, etc starts to weigh a bit.  If connected to your pants (inner/outer belts), it might weigh them down.  If not connected, it may shift a lot during movement.  Adding suspenders and using a leg strap on the holster helps keep things more stable.

Yeah, usually you only have one rifle and two pistol on the belt. More rifle goes onto your plate carrier/chest rig. It's a lot of weight otherwise, and with the fairly limited real estate that a belt has, you're starting to get things hanging way off the side.

If you have the room and can tolerate the weight, a second rifle isn't unheard of. But 3+ is too much. If you're planning on carrying that much, you don't need a battle/warbelt, you need a waist-based LBE system like the old ALICE kit.

That HSGI suregrip is great, and don't hesitate to take out the removeable sitffener.  
ATS Tactical has a comparable belt that's half the price, and arguably better features (fully open bottom, hook velcro fully on the inside)
ATS's inner belt is tits, adjustable on both sides and full loop velcro.
metal buckles suck at 3am, in the dead of winter, at altitude, etc.  

Never dropped in to leave this for you because I figured you were GTG now. If you're still stuck on a choice, or having rough time deciding what goes where, this might be a little help for someone.

Happen to know a fellow Marine at TRex who gave me an awesome tour of their layout and gear. With so many items spinning in your head you'll never know what works best until you put everything together and crack it on. They just started doing this when I ordered my Orion Belt Setup complete w all trimmings. Box arrived, pulled it out All Assembled and shot that same day. Sure there were a couple tweaks for waist etc, but it felt great!

We often scoff at the notion of some shop putting things together for us, like we don't trust them to do it right (press check) but I have to give TRex some credit for their Ala cart item selection for the other accessories is all you do. Then, let them know where you want each item on the belt and it'll arrive ready to rock outta the box. I opted for a leg drop Ragnorock and thigh strap.

TRex Orion Fully Assembled Warbelt

Definitely NOT here to "preach" or shill for their Company whatsoever. I genuinely believe their quality, pricing and availability to be up with all the other little Tier One brands - actually, they're not as costly as Crye. Anyway, just another seed to plant and I wish you good fortune on you search for a "WarBelt" here in ARFcom World.

The Reptile House Review

Chatting Shit about Kit

I ended up buying the T.Rex belt. They no longer offer the fully "kitted"setup so I bought the pieces I thought I needed and put it together. Really happy with the belt but I do need to get the dump pouch since I think I would use it.

You spoke to them and they told you they don't assemble these anymore? I took that link right off their site yesterday! That's jacked up. It'll take some adjustment with the two belts but you'll get it. The dump pouch was least of my wants/needs so opted for a better medical pouch instead.

they have the fully kitted one listed but when you click on it the description says it is out of stock and unavailable. then in a box it says they had to discontinue it due to the difficulty in keeping them in stock.

Dump pouch and utility bag may not be necessary, you could stow stuff and partial mags in a cargo pocket.  You do want a flashlight on your belt as essential equipment.

2 pistol and 2 rifle mag pouches (+1 in the gun) are enough for any peacetime situation unless you have a million dollar bounty on your head from the Mexican cartel.  That gives you 45 pistol rounds and 90 556 rounds.  For pistol classes, you can put more pistol mags in the rifle mag pouches for administrative use.

You also need a hydration pack as essential equipment.  A small backpack with a hydration bladder or hydration pack with some storage.  Put your extra stuff and mags in there.

My belt has two pistol and one rifle mag pouches on the left side. I went with Gadsden Dynamics Enhanced Warbelt because of the light weight and bang-for-the-buck. I have a T-rex dump pouch right behind them with pistol holster and two pouches on the left - one for a flashlight and one for a multitool. The IFAK now rides in a fanny pack that sits at my six o'clock unless I am sitting down. In this case it sits in front.