I received a “Liger” gun belt from Tim @ Maxpedition just about a month ago. Tim sent it to me to T&E. I was initially very skeptical about its use as a CCW belt after viewing pictures of it. I voiced my opinion that I thought the buckle was too unconventional looking to avoid attracting attention. The last thing I want when “carrying” is for attention to be drawn to my waist area.
Tim “put his money where his mouth is” – and “dared” me to use his belt for 30 days to see who was right – he was confident that the buckle wouldn’t attract undue attention – I was sure that it would.
There also seemed to be some “BFC’s” (Big Fat Claims) regarding the Liger belt too – such as “Ligerthane” (the material the belt is made from) being:
1. Highly abrasion- resistant
2. Totally impervious to water, mildew, rot and resistant to many common solvents.
3. Flexible along its length for comfort yet stiff along its width so you can carry holsters, sheaths, or pouches without the belt sagging or twisting.
4. A super grip interior so the belt stays put
5. A LigerDerm™ patterned exterior that gives it the look and feel of leather; it’s nice enough to wear with your BDU’s or dress pants and perfect for discrete CCW.
6. Easy-to-clean, just rinse with mild detergent and wipe dry.
This all sounded too “info-mercial-ish” to me. I thought “there is no way a belt can do all of that”.
As soon as I took the belt out of the box – I thought – “Crud – this buckle probably WON’T attract undue attention”. After thinking about it for a second – I came to the conclusion that I had first viewed the buckle on my 19” computer screen – making the buckle several times larger than it really is in real life. The buckle – even though is VERY high quality – is diminutive enough to not warrant a “second look” – even with the prominent and visible rivet heads exposed.
I wore this belt every day but one for the past month – and not ONE person commented on the belt or buckle. I wore this belt to work – I wore this belt to play – I wore this belt to the local IDPA match – I wore this belt while taking my wife out to dinner – I wore this belt to church – I wore this belt EVERYWHERE – and not one comment from anyone! Nor did I notice anyone doing a “double take” on this belt/buckle either. The “color scheme” I ordered was the “Tan belt/Grey-Silver buckle”. I ordered this color on purpose – with a couple of reasons in mind. First reason was – I am kind of “long” on black leather belts – so I thought I would “expand my wardrobe” to include a tan belt. The second reason is that I felt the “Black belt/Black buckle” was a little more “covert” – and I wanted the “worst case” belt – to REALLY see if no one noticed this belt. And – no one did – so I can say with complete confidence that the Black on Black belt would be just fine in this area too. And – I think the Black on Black belt would even work with a suit. (My tan one looks fine in “Dockers” – but I personally feel it wouldn’t work with a suit – just my opinion though.)
So – my position on the viability of this as a CCW belt from an aesthetic standpoint is this: It won’t attract undue attention to the waist area.
Now you are probably asking – “What about all the BFC’s regarding this belt?”
Let’s talk about each point – one by one.
First BFC is this: “Highly abrasion resistant”. This is a true claim. This belt is much more resistant to abrasion than either of the leather belts I have – or the “riggers” belts I have. The “outside” is sort of “slick” – it wards off abrasion better than the alternatives.
Second BFC is “Totally impervious to water, mildew, rot and resistant to many common solvents.” I know it is impervious to water – as I went swimming with this belt on. It won’t absorb ANY water (or sweat). I also rubbed on it with some gun cleaning supplies – and – nothing happened. Looks like the second BFC is true too.
Third BFC is “Flexible along its length for comfort yet stiff along its width so you can carry holsters, sheaths, or pouches without the belt sagging or twisting.” I thought – no way! I have some riggers belts that have a “plastic” stiffener in them – and some thick leather belts – and they STILL “roll” somewhat – so this belt has got to “roll” too. Well – I was the most surprised on this one. It DOESN’T roll. I wore a fully loaded Safariland 6004, a HSGI thigh rig and a G-Code SOC rig for a few days each – and there was ZERO “roll”. The belt didn’t even realize there was a “side load” on it. I TRIED to get the belt to roll – and I failed. That is what really got me to saying “Hmmmmmm…..this is some belt”.
Fourth BFC is “A super grip interior so the belt stays put”. I thought this was going to be “mutually exclusive” to the First BFC – being abrasion resistant. I thought “there is no way it can be abrasion resistant AND have a “super” grip interior”. Well – I was wrong. The bad news is – if you don’t get your equipment set “just right” before you tighten the belt – all you will do by trying to adjust the position of your gear is twist your pants around your body. At least that has been my experience. Good news is – once you DO get your gear set just right and tighten the belt – your gear ISN’T moving! It will be exactly where you put it as if you “super glued” your rig to that spot on the belt.
Fifth BFC is “A LigerDerm™ patterned exterior that gives it the look and feel of leather; it’s nice enough to wear with your BDU’s or dress pants and perfect for discrete CCW.” This is true. It does indeed look like leather.
Sixth and final BFC is “Easy-to-clean, just rinse with mild detergent and wipe dry.” True.
So – is this belt perfect?? No – it is not. What is??
Here are my “wishes”. I wish there was some other way to “fasten” the belt – like a “riggers” belt. I just don’t like “holes” on a belt. I feel it limits me to a series of “compromises”. However – all of my leather belts share this same dilemma too – and I still wear them…
This belt will not absorb any sweat – so it may seem a tad “warmer” than a leather or nylon belt that will absorb sweat. However – sweat will deteriorate leather – and isn’t good for riggers belts either. I wore this belt in temperatures over 100 F – and I really didn’t recognize any heat build-up – but some may. However I LIKE the idea that it is impervious to sweat.
So – what is the bottom line you ask??? It is my opinion – won through experience – that this belt is the BEST “CCW” belt on the market today. If there was a way to buckle this like a riggers belt – I would be so bold as to say that this would be the best belt on the planet for any and all tactical uses – be they CCW or for use by SpecOps units in lieu of a riggers belt. I am REALLY impressed with this “Liger” belt. The next $59 I can free up from CINC House and I will be ordering a Black on Black one – and these two Liger belts will replace ALL of my leather belts. I am not easily impressed – in fact I am very skeptical regarding claims made by most manufacturers and gear sellers – but this is one fine belt.
Tim – you won the bet! And – I am glad you did – as this belt is really something!
The Liger belt can be ordered here: http://www.maxpedition.com/product/product_liger_belt150.htm
cheers
tire iron
Tim “put his money where his mouth is” – and “dared” me to use his belt for 30 days to see who was right – he was confident that the buckle wouldn’t attract undue attention – I was sure that it would.
There also seemed to be some “BFC’s” (Big Fat Claims) regarding the Liger belt too – such as “Ligerthane” (the material the belt is made from) being:
1. Highly abrasion- resistant
2. Totally impervious to water, mildew, rot and resistant to many common solvents.
3. Flexible along its length for comfort yet stiff along its width so you can carry holsters, sheaths, or pouches without the belt sagging or twisting.
4. A super grip interior so the belt stays put
5. A LigerDerm™ patterned exterior that gives it the look and feel of leather; it’s nice enough to wear with your BDU’s or dress pants and perfect for discrete CCW.
6. Easy-to-clean, just rinse with mild detergent and wipe dry.
This all sounded too “info-mercial-ish” to me. I thought “there is no way a belt can do all of that”.
As soon as I took the belt out of the box – I thought – “Crud – this buckle probably WON’T attract undue attention”. After thinking about it for a second – I came to the conclusion that I had first viewed the buckle on my 19” computer screen – making the buckle several times larger than it really is in real life. The buckle – even though is VERY high quality – is diminutive enough to not warrant a “second look” – even with the prominent and visible rivet heads exposed.
I wore this belt every day but one for the past month – and not ONE person commented on the belt or buckle. I wore this belt to work – I wore this belt to play – I wore this belt to the local IDPA match – I wore this belt while taking my wife out to dinner – I wore this belt to church – I wore this belt EVERYWHERE – and not one comment from anyone! Nor did I notice anyone doing a “double take” on this belt/buckle either. The “color scheme” I ordered was the “Tan belt/Grey-Silver buckle”. I ordered this color on purpose – with a couple of reasons in mind. First reason was – I am kind of “long” on black leather belts – so I thought I would “expand my wardrobe” to include a tan belt. The second reason is that I felt the “Black belt/Black buckle” was a little more “covert” – and I wanted the “worst case” belt – to REALLY see if no one noticed this belt. And – no one did – so I can say with complete confidence that the Black on Black belt would be just fine in this area too. And – I think the Black on Black belt would even work with a suit. (My tan one looks fine in “Dockers” – but I personally feel it wouldn’t work with a suit – just my opinion though.)
So – my position on the viability of this as a CCW belt from an aesthetic standpoint is this: It won’t attract undue attention to the waist area.
Now you are probably asking – “What about all the BFC’s regarding this belt?”
Let’s talk about each point – one by one.
First BFC is this: “Highly abrasion resistant”. This is a true claim. This belt is much more resistant to abrasion than either of the leather belts I have – or the “riggers” belts I have. The “outside” is sort of “slick” – it wards off abrasion better than the alternatives.
Second BFC is “Totally impervious to water, mildew, rot and resistant to many common solvents.” I know it is impervious to water – as I went swimming with this belt on. It won’t absorb ANY water (or sweat). I also rubbed on it with some gun cleaning supplies – and – nothing happened. Looks like the second BFC is true too.
Third BFC is “Flexible along its length for comfort yet stiff along its width so you can carry holsters, sheaths, or pouches without the belt sagging or twisting.” I thought – no way! I have some riggers belts that have a “plastic” stiffener in them – and some thick leather belts – and they STILL “roll” somewhat – so this belt has got to “roll” too. Well – I was the most surprised on this one. It DOESN’T roll. I wore a fully loaded Safariland 6004, a HSGI thigh rig and a G-Code SOC rig for a few days each – and there was ZERO “roll”. The belt didn’t even realize there was a “side load” on it. I TRIED to get the belt to roll – and I failed. That is what really got me to saying “Hmmmmmm…..this is some belt”.
Fourth BFC is “A super grip interior so the belt stays put”. I thought this was going to be “mutually exclusive” to the First BFC – being abrasion resistant. I thought “there is no way it can be abrasion resistant AND have a “super” grip interior”. Well – I was wrong. The bad news is – if you don’t get your equipment set “just right” before you tighten the belt – all you will do by trying to adjust the position of your gear is twist your pants around your body. At least that has been my experience. Good news is – once you DO get your gear set just right and tighten the belt – your gear ISN’T moving! It will be exactly where you put it as if you “super glued” your rig to that spot on the belt.
Fifth BFC is “A LigerDerm™ patterned exterior that gives it the look and feel of leather; it’s nice enough to wear with your BDU’s or dress pants and perfect for discrete CCW.” This is true. It does indeed look like leather.
Sixth and final BFC is “Easy-to-clean, just rinse with mild detergent and wipe dry.” True.
So – is this belt perfect?? No – it is not. What is??
Here are my “wishes”. I wish there was some other way to “fasten” the belt – like a “riggers” belt. I just don’t like “holes” on a belt. I feel it limits me to a series of “compromises”. However – all of my leather belts share this same dilemma too – and I still wear them…
This belt will not absorb any sweat – so it may seem a tad “warmer” than a leather or nylon belt that will absorb sweat. However – sweat will deteriorate leather – and isn’t good for riggers belts either. I wore this belt in temperatures over 100 F – and I really didn’t recognize any heat build-up – but some may. However I LIKE the idea that it is impervious to sweat.
So – what is the bottom line you ask??? It is my opinion – won through experience – that this belt is the BEST “CCW” belt on the market today. If there was a way to buckle this like a riggers belt – I would be so bold as to say that this would be the best belt on the planet for any and all tactical uses – be they CCW or for use by SpecOps units in lieu of a riggers belt. I am REALLY impressed with this “Liger” belt. The next $59 I can free up from CINC House and I will be ordering a Black on Black one – and these two Liger belts will replace ALL of my leather belts. I am not easily impressed – in fact I am very skeptical regarding claims made by most manufacturers and gear sellers – but this is one fine belt.
Tim – you won the bet! And – I am glad you did – as this belt is really something!
The Liger belt can be ordered here: http://www.maxpedition.com/product/product_liger_belt150.htm
cheers
tire iron
