I've carried mine verticle, just to the left of the belt buckle for nearly 20 yrs now. I'm right handed.

Three negatives to consider when going to horizontal placement, assuming you are set up to pulling them mags out away from you, i.e., to the left.

1: As mentioned before, when you loose function of your left hand, and you need to pull a mag out with your right, that could be a problem. If you have them set-up vert., it will be a much easier draw.

2: When you find yourself prone behind something, and assuming your right handed with your mags horz. on your front left side, which way do you think you would be set-up to cover your target? My guess is your going to be peeking around the right side of the cover. Now, keeping that in mind, you need to reload. Which way are you going to roll to retrieve your mag. My guess is your going to want to roll to your left, behind cover, to get that mag. So you roll up onto your left side. Where is your mag pointing? Straight down into the deck, where if you have them set up vert., you can always access them now matter which way you may need to roll.

3: When you're standing behind thin or limited cover, just barly enough to keep you concealed. Now you have to reach for a mag. With vert. mags, you can draw that mag straight up, keeping all body parts tucked in close as not to expose anything. With horz set-up, you now have to draw that mag out away from your body, exposing your left arm, elbow. etc., to get that mag out.

I know these may seem minor, and guys will say your chances of being in those positions are slim. True. But are you willing to bet your life on that? Cause WHEN YOU DO (the mind set you need to have, so IF it happens, you have been telling yourself all along that this was comming, and it's less of a surprise) get into a fire fight, you only get ONE chance to get it right. So, functionallity v. looking cool. Hmmmm..... I'm going home tonight, I'm going with functionallity.

quote:

Originally posted by 21yrsUSCGUSCS:
On my belt for CBP, I had my weapon, two mags, my flashlight (streamlight), ASP, motorola radio, small container for rubber gloves, cellphone, and my cuffs.

I am one of those 33" waist guys that can barely get all my defensive equipment on my belt. I noticed, Don, that you said you carried your cell phone on your belt. I never did, or do. I have a healthy respect for Murphy, and know that just when you get into something, the damb phone is going to go off. So you set it on vibrate. Another thing to distract you when your in the middle of something.

When I go out into the field on foot, I always leave mt cell phone in the truck. No distarctions, coverage sucks out there anyways, and if I need to make an emergency call-out for help, I don't want to have to use fine-motor skills to dial a phone, I want to be able to mash that mic button, make my call-out, and have everyone hear what's going on, not just the one person in dispatch to then try to relay what's happenening.

Just my $.02 worth.

a47mlb,

Very, very good points you brought up about the magazine access when taking cover.

I hear ya on the cellphones. We were issued them and expected to wear them on boardings because so often when we ran checks for warrants, Sector would want to pass info to us that wasn't allowed to be passed over the radio.

Whenever we were deployed in the woods, I would leave it in the car or make certain it was turned off for the same reasons you stated. Nothing like a cellphone going off in the middle of the woods at night.

Don

quote:

Originally posted by 21yrsUSCGUSCS:
a47mlb,

Very, very good points you brought up about the magazine access when taking cover.

I hear ya on the cellphones. We were issued them and expected to wear them on boardings because so often when we ran checks for warrants, Sector would want to pass info to us that wasn't allowed to be passed over the radio.

Whenever we were deployed in the woods, I would leave it in the car or make certain it was turned off for the same reasons you stated. Nothing like a cellphone going off in the middle of the woods at night.

Don

Yep, the same reason I don't take it out to the deer stand. I will only make that mistake once. There is one lucky buck out there somewhere.

Jeff

New question... How are we going to secure our weapons belt with the new uniform? No place to put keepers?

quote:

Originally posted by seasaltri:
New question... How are we going to secure our weapons belt with the new uniform? No place to put keepers?

Please tell me the Coast Guard didn't go with "fashion before function" and mandate you all where the blouses untucked while wearing your gun belts.

If so, hopefully once enough complaints and reports of incidents come from those in the field will change it to something more practical, like having access to your uniform belts allowing the use of keepers.

Don

USMC Military police been wearing belts over untucked blouses for long time.

quote:

Originally posted by d1b3:
USMC Military police been wearing belts over untucked blouses for long time.

Deputy Marshals went a century wearing holsters that hung down....so was that the right way for LEO's to do so today?

My point is, I don't know of too many USMC MPs who crawl around in engine spaces or climb jacob's ladders up the side of rolling freighters.

Don

Just tuck in the new ODU two pocket top for L.E. ops, Geez!!!

Hey, I think the uniform we have now is great.. Why change a good thing? But the fact is the decision has been made. I feel that the majority of the LE involved personell don't want the untucked ODU.. no keepers. And there will be no tucking the blouse in for LE. What options do we have in the field. That is the response I am looking for. I am at a loss for solutions.

There is a set of web gear type suspenders that work well in the situation you describe. They are actually meant for old farts like me who get a sore back when wearing a duty belt for 8 or 16 hours but I think they are a great idea for everyone.

I personally do not use them but they are available and I will most likely get a pair soon. We have also begun wearing an outside vest holder that looks like a uniform shirt. It is more comfortable and does not have the intimidation factor of the over the top vest holders many LE folks are wearing.

I believe Uncle Mike's makes the suspenders you are talking about. We were issued black ALICE type Y suspenders on LEDET. These worked well to support the weight of the duty belt and to attach a Camelbak to. They also served to keep the belt from shifting around. Eventually we were issued tactical vests which team members had the tendency of overloading with rarely used and boarding kit redundant gear.

I like the uniform shirt style vest covers; they look professional and blend in with the rest of the uniform. I usually wear my vest under a shirt for boardings and in the outer "tactical" cover for search/arrest warrants since our uniform consists of polo/t-shirts.

quote:

Originally posted by seasaltri: And there will be no tucking the blouse in for LE.

Says who?
Why not the Army MPs do.

This is where my PD gets all of their gear.

http://www.nylonwebgear.com/

As for gear placement, as long as you train with the gear you can put it where you want in a reasonable place.

I am left handed, I ride a bicycle and here from center to right is my belt.

Buckle Taser X26(Angle) Key holder, open top cuff case, pepper spray, Radio, Stinger and SL 20 ring. Nothing in the middle of the back,

Hand Cuff case Colapasble Baton, Handgun, Magzines (Horizontal facing right)

My placement is determined by pedaling the bicycle and works well as I am also a Marine Officer patroling the bays.

quote:

Originally posted by Hooligan1790:
There is a set of web gear type suspenders that work well in the situation you describe. They are actually meant for old farts like me who get a sore back when wearing a duty belt for 8 or 16 hours but I think they are a great idea for everyone.

Yea, they're great for keeping the weight of the belt off the hips, but for those of us svelt types, we need something to keep the belt from riding up to the arm-pits when drawing. That is why wee will need to tuck in, and use keepers to keep the belt down.

quote:

Originally posted by duckcop:

quote:

Originally posted by Hooligan1790:
There is a set of web gear type suspenders that work well in the situation you describe. They are actually meant for old farts like me who get a sore back when wearing a duty belt for 8 or 16 hours but I think they are a great idea for everyone.

Yea, they're great for keeping the weight of the belt off the hips, but for those of us svelt types, we need something to keep the belt from riding up to the arm-pits when drawing. That is why wee will need to tuck in, and use keepers to keep the belt down.

It's also so much fun when you kneel down to look into an engine room or into a space and your belt slides up to your chest.

quote:

Originally posted by 21yrsUSCGUSCS:

quote:

Originally posted by duckcop:

quote:

Originally posted by Hooligan1790:
There is a set of web gear type suspenders that work well in the situation you describe. They are actually meant for old farts like me who get a sore back when wearing a duty belt for 8 or 16 hours but I think they are a great idea for everyone.

Yea, they're great for keeping the weight of the belt off the hips, but for those of us svelt types, we need something to keep the belt from riding up to the arm-pits when drawing. That is why wee will need to tuck in, and use keepers to keep the belt down.

It's also so much fun when you kneel down to look into an engine room or into a space and your belt slides up to your chest.

Yea!! That too.