Background

 Can be found here: http://shooters-factory.com.pl/galeria/nasze-produkty

With more experience in shooting comes more experience in equipment and sooner or later I came to the decision that a MOLLE panel with a belt insert was not for me. No matter how much I tightened up the interior belt the panel would bounce around and slip down becoming incredibly uncomfortable. This method may work for most people but my slim 28” waist simply can’t manage the task of holding up a MOLLE panel without the use of a Yoke.

What I needed was a belt that mounts to the waist as secure as possible without a Yoke but avoid the hassle of removing and mounting pouches every time I take off/put on the belt. But with so many different brands and designs on the market I wasn’t sure which one to spend my money on.

Fortunately, I’ve seen one be put to good use by the man who designed it – Tomek Kwintal of Shooters Factory. Tomek is a former member of the Polish military with deployments to Afghanistan where he also tested his belt design. He is now a shooting instructor for a variety of schools and training areas. So it’s needless to say he knows a little bit about how kit should be set up and he’s shown his knowledge in his Direct Action MOLLE Belts.

Description

 Comprising of two main parts the inner Velcro belt and the outer MOLLE belt, the Direct Action Belt can be easily removed and adjusted without the need to take off pouches yet retains very little movement or wiggle when on the move thanks to the hefty Velcro that joins the inner and outer sections. The closure of the MOLLE belt is well secured by both a Velcro closure and a genuine Austrialpin Cobra buckle which since my purchase Tomek has changed to be a Cobra buckle with the additional D-ring. Both the inner and outer sections are 1 and 3/4” wide so not only will it fit comfortably in just about any belt loop but should you wish to use the outer section as a traditional belt then that is also possible.

The MOLLE sections themselves are 2 parallel 10mm wide strips that can be a little stiff and troublesome to use at first but after a bit of breaking in will firmly hold any pouch and in my opinion do a much better job at eliminating “bounce” than your standard 1” Strips. Wear and tear was one of my main concerns for the thinner strips but even after some winter range time in Poland and not forgetting Tomek’s aforementioned use in Afghanistan they have shown little to no wear and I can see this being one of those good kit investments that will last me for a lifetime. This may be down to Tomek using material that’s a little outside of your usual 500D Cordura. All the belts are made from high-quality Ariadna Tytan Polyamide Fabric. Something I haven’t seen before but the material has proven its worth.

Colour wise you have your usual selection of Black, Coyote, Ranger Green and Multicam.

Opinion

My only issue with the belt is it can dig in a little bit if you’re not wearing trousers that have some waist padding but this may be down to the fact I have the hips of a 12 year old girl. Other than this you get a lot of belt for the price tag of €75 (£66.60 as of the time of writing) especially with the newer belts having an added D-ring. Let’s not forget you’ll be supporting a good quality manufacturer that has other great products like slings and even a training aid for the practice of handling a pistol along with some additional ideas in the pipeline that I look forward to seeing in the future.

In Summary

With other similar belts from brands such as Raptor Tactical and Eagle Industries (I’ll leave out Crye for now as we’re still a week from payday) but running at least £20 higher, I can’t see any reason why you wouldn’t choose a Shooters Factory Direct Action belt and get extra quality and attention to detail for your money. I was that happy with my purchase it wasn’t long before I ordered a Shooters Factory adjustable sling to add to the kit box.

 Ratings

• Cost: €75 I can’t quite remember what I paid for delivery from Poland but it was no more than £10. Quite a bargain for high quality material and a fantastic design.
• Value For Money (1-5): 5  Especially now with the new belts having an additional Cobra D-Ring buckles there isn’t anything quality wise I can pick up on. The materials, experience and craftsmanship that have gone into the belt will ensure you get your money’s worth of use and enjoyment.
• Ease of Use (1-5): 4 Well first of all it’s a belt and if you can’t figure out how it works then quite frankly I’m amazed you’ve been able to read this far. Only issue I have with the belt is to begin with the MOLLE loops can be a little finnicky when trying to feed pouches in but after changing my pouches around a couple times I found that the stiffness wears off a little.
• Construction (1-5): 5 Looks solid, feels solid. The Velcro is even particularly more “Velcro-ey”
• Allyness (1-5): 5 “Sick belt mate, where’d you get that?” “Oh, this Polish veteran and instructor bloke started knocking them out after he used his own one in Afghan” “Ally!”

This Kit Pest Review was written by Rob “Harley” Quin. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment!