Civilian Belt Kit Loadout Theory | Carcajou Tactical

A civilian biased belt kit shakedown & some thoughts behind it.

LOADOUTS

Rebel_Spirit_Operations

10/13/2025

This is my suspended belt kit from Carcajou Tactical that I'm currently evaluating for civilian use. As for if a civilian even needs an overt LBE (Load Bearing Equipment) system, well that's a topic for another day & ultimately is up to each individual to decide. I came to the conclusion a while back that the more popular chest rig style of LBE while being very intuitive, simply was not ideal for my use case.

In large, chest rigs lack the carrying capacity capabilities that I was searching for. And out of the few options on the market that could carry the items & weight I wanted, all of them did so in a way that left me top front heavy. Long story short it led me to a suspended belt kit system & eventually to this Canadian set of Nylon & Cordura. This style of LBE is not a new concept by any means, but it is less seen here in America. British PLCE (Personal Load Carrying Equipment) gear has been used for decades if not centuries & has been proven to be a fantastic way to carry equipment. Allowing for the user to bear a large portion of weight relatively comfortably in a sustainable format, opposed to the more western style of bearing all the weight on your back & shoulders.

Modern Americans who participate in the prepared lifestyle, tend to gravitate towards chest rigs over a belt setup by a large margin. I believe it's primarily due to the massive number of GWOT veterans & active-duty personnel who not only make up the majority of our little community, but they are also the ones teaching the regular civilian weather that be in person or on digitally. They have been there & done that using a chest rig layered on top of body armor that got the job done... mostly. The grunts doing all the heavy lifting did so like champions, however there was a massive toll on their bodies leaving a large portion of them with lifelong injuries. All this to say 90%+ of our veterans & active duty have little to zero experience with an LBE belt system & that lack of experience is why I believe it hasn't been adopted in large.

Somehow even though Belt Kits aka Jungle Belts are not widely used state side, there are a lot of preconceived notions on them that are either wrong or just over exaggerated that I would like to toss my two cents in on the matter.

  • "They do not work very well with a ruck"

    • This is so wrong, it almost makes me think people who say this have never actually worn the two together. Now I will say unlike chest rigs that largely will not run into any clearance issues with a ruck, some belt kit & pack combos may not be possible due to the design. This may be more true for American packs in particular, due to they typically favor a more elongated slimer design rather than a wider bulkier aesthetic you typically see across the pond on the European side. However, I have more packs than most & they are primarily of American design & I have yet to run into a combo that was unworkable. To ensure a good fit, a bit of homework will be encouraged, but that's the same for any system one is running.

A complete breakdown for all my fellow autistic brothers:

  • Harness

    • Carcajou Tactical 6-point Molle Yoke with shoulder pads

  • Belt

    • Carcajou Tactical Padded Molle Belt (Large-22 columns of molle)

    • Pig Delta+ Gloves dangling from carabiner

  • 2 o'clock position | 556 Recce Pouch | Carcajou Tactical

    • 30 round AR Magazine - x3

    • TQ Pouch Affixed to Outside of Pouch

  • 3 o'clock | PRC 152 Drop-Down Radio Pouch | Shanyingquan (knock off)

    • Harris 152 Radio

    • Disco 32 PTT

    • Peltors 3M

    • 1-2 Chem Lights in Protective Case Affixed to the Outside of Pouch

  • 4 o'clock | Sustainment Pouch 9x3 | Carcajou Tactical

    • Grayl GeoPress 24oz or Kleen Wide Mouth Canteen 40oz

    • Aqua Tabs - x30 (weatherized)

    • Individually Packaged Electrolytes Drink Mix - x5 (weatherized)

  • 5 o'clock | Sustainment Pouch 9x7 | Carcajou Tactical

    • Assorted Disposable Batteries in hard case & weatherized

    • Multitool, Headlamp, Camo Compact, Anemometer

    • Maps, Protractor, Compass, Notepad, Ranging Card

    • 1/2 of Pouch Remains Empty.

  • 6 o'clock | Sustainment Pouch 9x3 | Carcajou Tactical

    • IFAK [Red Tape Identifier]

    • 6" Israeli Bandage aka Emergency Trama Bandage

    • Compressed Gauze x4 - Hemostatic Gauze x2

    • Chest Seal x2 - Emergency Blanket - Roll of Medical Tape

    • Trama Sheers - TQ - Large Chem Light x1

  • 7 o'clock | Sustainment Pouch 9x7 | Carcajou Tactical

    • Socks & Beenie (weatherized)

    • Balaclava Mask

    • Poncho

    • 1/3 of Pouch Remains Empty

  • 8 o'clock | Sustainment Pouch 9x3 | Carcajou Tactical

    • Pathfinder 32oz Wide Mouth Canteen, Stove, Nesting Cup & Lid

    • CLIPPER Lighter - x1 (weatherized)

    • Fixed Blade Affixed to the Outside of the Pouch.

  • 9 o'clock | 556 Recce Pouch | Carcajou Tactical

    • 30 round AR Magazine - x3

  • 10 o'clock | 556 Recce Pouch | Carcajou Tactical

    • 30 round AR Magazine - x3

    • Smoke Grenade Pouch affixed to outside of Pouch

  • "I prefer Armor"

    • Again not sure why people say this. Most folks in our circle understand the concept of layering kit very well, or at least should. Belt Kit is no exception & it stacks with a plate carrier beautifully. Giving the operator multiple benefits over a chest rig combo with few exceptions. The main one being allowing the user to get much closer to the ground when prone than any chest rig layered on top of a carrier could dream of doing. And besides needing a better sustainable rig, the fact that Belt Kit pairs so nicely with a slick carrier was a pillar of my decision to move forward with it.

    • I touched on it before hand but its worth repeating here. The way the weight is distributed across the body is even more prevalent when you toss armor into the mix. All the weight of your sustainment equipment that would typically be entirely on your shoulders, is now spread out between your hips & shoulders. The increased comfort & less wear on the shoulders will not only help the individual in the long term but the short as well.

  • "They Suck When In a Vehicle"

    • Ok this is a fair point. They do tend to struggle if ones primary role is going to be vehicle work. More so the driver than anyone else but there are ways to work though it, especially if you think about what you will be specifically using the vehicles for.

This really isn't an augment for belt kit over other LBE systems, but given that they are not as prevalent on the civilian side of things, I figured it best to hit a few of the points. In the end it's up to each individual to decide what they like & as long as you have the ability to carry everything you need, have good range of movement & its sustainable, it's viable. I mean hell I know guys that wreck it using a FLC Vest back from fucking Vietnam or when ever the damn thing was made, & they kicked ass. Be wise about your choice, pick something & above all else train with it.

The Shake Down

I'm no professional warrior & to be honest only have experience with 3 different belt kits made from different manufactures. So, it's not like I have a ton of experience to fall back on, but I do enjoy using this type of equipment on a personal note & take the time to do so any chance I get. I've been testing out this system since January 2025 & really do love it. Carcajou hit the nail on the head with the belt, yoke and pouches. Oh, can't forget the shoulder pads as they are some of the best in the industry hands down. Can not stress enough how well they did their shoulder pads; they absolutely are something to write home about. The belt is fairly simple no doubt about that, but they did simple superbly. Stitching is strong & pinned in the right areas; the cushioning material they picked out is fantastic. Both for comfort but forming to the body as well, helping it stays in place when doing stuff like running, jumping & crawling.

However there two small complaints. One of which to be honest I'm not sure if the belt is at fault or me. The belts are size specific & come in 4 sizes. Small, Medium, Large & Extra Large. My body type as of now is leaves me needing a padded section with available molle somewhere in between Large & Extra Large. The XL is barely useable, requiring me to tighten the front connection strap down to the max & even then the molle & padded section comes to my thigh which is a bit too much. This also leaves me no room to play with if I was to lose some weight, which is needed if I'm to be honest & currently am in the process of. The Large is a bit too short for ideal placement but is still very useable as I am now & gives me that room to get more in shape.

The 2nd small complaint is small but very noticeable to me. The front two D rings that are used to affix the yoke to the belt, are not as far forward as I would like. They could be moved closer to their respective ends about another 1.5-2 inches which would be a noticeable difference when wearing it. This little issue may also be resolved as I lose weight & like the sizing issues, still completely useable in my current condition.

Literally everything else about this system, I love. The yoke does a fantastic job at spreading the weight over a wider area again aiding in comfort for the end user when weighed down. The pouches I'm a big fan of as well. Nothing groundbreaking but again simply superb. Large elongated multipurpose pouches made to carry lots of equipment like we see in the older previously mentioned British PLCE pouches. However, they have been modernized for the times we are living in both in material & design. The materials used is that 500D laminate stuff that is tough, lightweight & good at repealing water. From what I can tell they doubled up on the layers either for durability or it was a necessary factor due to the 3 updated pockets located on each face of the pouch in their design. Which is a great way to add some organizational capabilities to each pouch for smaller items like lighters, water treatment, paper documents, pens & so on. Each pouch is lined with loop material allowing the user to utilize dividers, inserts & other ways to further its organizational abilities. Each pouch also has a section of 2x6 section of laser cut molle on the left, right & top of the pouch allowing us to utilize otherwise dead space on the belt or act as tie down spots for equipment or materials like jackets, tarps or ponchos when not in use.

The 556 Recce Pouches are a bit of a love hate thing. Most of the mags I own are P Mags which due to their increased thickness don't fit very well when you run this pouch as intended with 3 mags. It was made for the USGI metal mags and holds them perfectly, but I would prefer something that could run P mags without being a nasty tight fit. And as fate would intend it, soon as I got in my recce pouches, Carcajou released their 762 Recce Pouch that literally fixes this exact problem. Whatever. I'm not paying for 3 exact same pouches just a hair bigger. I just toss 2 metal mags and one P mag into each pouch, and it works just fine. Finger loop pull tabs made of 550 cord on each of the metal mags to aid in retrieval and it's a fairly smooth system with practice.

As it sits, the LBE has good range of capabilities & room to expand which is key. I run my water filtration system & food in my pack 99% of the time but could easily adopt them into the belt making it a completely self-sustainable system for 24 hours. Hell, toss a packet of Dude Whips, foot care kit & Jolly Ranchers in my clothing pocket & I could possibly skip the pack all together for an extremely light weight fighting load given the right time of year for a short period of time. I don't really have any complaints about the system. Yea I laid out a few points where it might possible be improved upon but that's being very nitpicky and it's not really a complaint just possible improvement. Now if I could only get Carcajou to sponsor me, I'd kill for a set in multicam tropic.

Cheers
-G-