As promised in my long-term follow up on my SOE Cobra belt, I’ve given the Talon Tactical Ring Buckle Gun Belt in brown several days of EDC and have some first impressions for you.  Honestly, today is the first day since I got it last week that I haven’t worn it.  I’m impressed.

The weight of the belt, or lack thereof, was the first thing I noticed after receiving it.  It’s a featherweight compared to other riggers or Cobra-buckle belts.  Constructed of a double-layer of proprietary 1.5″ webbing, the belt uses custom glass-filled nylon rings as the buckle system.  Most riggers belts use a heavy buckle and/or v-ring, but the nylon rings on the Talon belt make traditional buckles feel like bricks.  The two layers of webbing are held together with six rows of stitching:  two near each edge and one in the center.  The edges are nicely finished, with heat applied to the ends to prevent fraying.  The construction of the belt shows serious stitching skills.  Talon knows their nylon.  Mike at Talon Tactical informed me that their belts are designed to adjust up 2 inches and down 2 inches from the listed size, so I ordered a 34, since I’m a 32 without gear but up to a 36 depending on what I’ve crammed inside my waistband.

Being so light–and relatively thin–the belt did not immediately win me over as a heavy-use gun belt.  I have labored under the assumption that to support all my EDC gear, the belt has to be stiff and substantial.  I carry a G17 with light, a spare mag, a Surefire 6P, my badge, and a BUG with reloads in my pants pocket.  That’s a lot of weight.  The Talon Tactical belt, though, proved me wrong.

I immediately put the belt to use as soon as I ripped it from its package.  The belt is rigid, but flexible.  Imagine one-and-a-half layers of SCUBA webbing (if that were possible), and you get the idea.  It was easy to thread through my pants and holster/mag pouch, and it was a breeze to thread through the nylon rings and cinch tight.  And once cinched to a comfortable tightness, my gear stayed put.  There has been no sagging, no flopping, and no rolling over of the belt since then.  The belt formed to my gear and waist, and I could go about my day without even thinking about the belt.

While I have yet to put the belt to any hard use, it has proven itself a very capable concealed-carry belt.  Most importantly, it’s thrifty–at only $40.50 shipped, it beats most gun belts by $20 at least.  I’ll have a long-term follow up after more time with the ring belt, but I’m impressed so far.