What do you carry on your belt?

[One Day...]

Less is more ... until less is less...

1) Is it needed?

This is a cost/benefit analysis: how often do we need it vs. how often do we carry it for nothing, and is carrying it a pain...

We all make our own decision based on our own tradeoff.

Have we ever seen a hunting buddy:

• run out of ammo in the field?
• miss his knife?
• miss his camera?
• walk into a thorn or twist an ankle walking in the dark?
• get lost?
• misjudge a distance?

Admittedly a client in Africa does not skin animals; asks the PH for the range; relies on the PH to shoot pictures; is generally back in camp well in time to watch sunset over sundowners; trusts the PH and trackers to find the way back to the truck; etc. etc.

So, I can see the point of less is more. After all the client is here to enjoy, not schlep a special forces 5 day combat harness and battle pack. Yes, 3 rounds in the rifle ought to be all the client needs...

But then again... occasionally:

• a one-shot kill turns into a 6 rounds affair;
• a PH does not have a reliable rangefinder, or (so common!) a fresh battery in it;
• a 15 minutes stalk turns into an afternoon pursuit that leaves you 2 hours from the truck when the sun disappears behind the next hill;
• everyone lost their bearing zigzagging in the dense Jesse (rare, but it happens! - did you notice that a fair number of very well known PH operating in large blocks carry discreetly a GPS on their belt);
• the cell phone relied upon for trophy pics has a cracked lens, or (more common) its battery is dead after a day of roaming, location tracking in the middle of nowhere, and endless WhatsApp-ing?

So... it seems that some of us do bring along a little more than 3 rounds in the rifle...

2) Belt? Pockets? Backpack?

• Are you wearing now the layer in which pocket what you need is?
• Did you transfer the pockets content when you changed layer?
• Did you grab the backpack when you jumped off the truck for this 5 minute stalk that turned into an afternoon pursuit of the next world record three-toed unicorn that always seemed to be tantalizingly only another 100 yards away?
• Did you notice that the tracker who carries your pack was sent back by the PH to fetch the truck an hour away and that he took off with your pack?

When the chips are down, and when you do not carry your own pack, what is so important to you that you do not want to run the risk of being without it?

THIS should be on your hunting belt, and likely your belt will be different from the next guy's belt

• it looks like we all agree on ammo and knife;
• I have personally collected most of my best animals in the last 15 minutes of light way out there, so I always have a small flashlight;
• memories are too important to me to run the risk of not having pictures, so I always have a compact camera;

Conversely, now that my rangefinder is integrated in my binoculars, I do not have it on my belt anymore...

 

[sestoppelman]

Here in GA my side arm, in Africa, nothing.

SIDE ARM?!?!?! OMG!!!! The Horror,,, the Horror....

 

[VertigoBE]

View attachment 434669
My belt was inspired by another thread here.
Named something like "Show us your Hunting belt."
Depending what and where. I have 2 different ammo holders in a magnum size belt slide and a medium rifle flip out bullet holder.
A leatherman on a horizontal sheath, pocket knife horizontal sheath, a Von Gruff 4x4 Hunter and a Courteney Buffalo hide belt.

I used to use it for regular walks when working in the bush. , It was a quick gear up for a quick hunt that was mostly shooting feral pigs.

I like nice leather gear.

The Croc skin bullet holder my son bought me. It was set up for 12 gauge. I'm going to adjust to .375H&H

any reason for the horizontal sheaths @CBH Australia ? Or just easier carrying?

 

[One Day...]

On the plus side horizontal sheaths are much more comfortable when sitting with the belt. This is the reason why I moved from a 4" fixed blade knife that was a pain in the butt (literally!) in the truck, to a 3" folding blade, or why others are using an angled knife sheath with their fixed blade knife.

On the minus side, horizontal sheaths take more belt space, but a hunting belt is typically not as loaded as a military belt...

Although, it seems to me that the question for the hunting belt is whether to wear one or not. If a hunting belt is worn, it really makes zero difference whether it carries only one or two small pouches (ammo and knife) or four or six (small flashlight, compact camera, GPS when appropriate, multi-tool, etc.).

I had never used the Leatherman in Africa until this year. It turned out to be quite useful to remove a snare in Zimbabwe...

Maybe folks with military experience do not mind the belt as much. I almost feel naked without mine

 

[VertigoBE]

Less is more ... until less is less...

1) Is it needed?

This is a cost/benefit analysis: how often do we need it vs. how often do we carry it for nothing, and is carrying it a pain...

We all make our own decision based on our own tradeoff.

Have we ever seen a hunting buddy:

• run out of ammo in the field?
• miss his knife?
• miss his camera?
• walk into a thorn or twist an ankle walking in the dark?
• get lost?
• misjudge a distance?

Admittedly a client in Africa does not skin animals; asks the PH for the range; relies on the PH to shoot pictures; is generally back in camp well in time to watch sunset over sundowners; trusts the PH and trackers to find the way back to the truck; etc. etc.

So, I can see the point of less is more. After all the client is here to enjoy, not schlep a special forces 5 day combat harness and battle pack. Yes, 3 rounds in the rifle ought to be all the client needs...

But then again... occasionally:

• a one-shot kill turns into a 6 rounds affair;
• a PH does not have a reliable rangefinder, or (so common!) a fresh battery in it;
• a 15 minutes stalk turns into an afternoon pursuit that leaves you 2 hours from the truck when the sun disappears behind the next hill;
• everyone lost their bearing zigzagging in the dense Jesse (rare, but it happens! - did you notice that a fair number of very well known PH operating in large blocks carry discreetly a GPS on their belt);
• the cell phone relied upon for trophy pics has a cracked lens, or (more common) its battery is dead after a day of roaming, location tracking in the middle of nowhere, and endless WhatsApp-ing?

So... it seems that some of us do bring along a little more than 3 rounds in the rifle...

2) Belt? Pockets? Backpack?

• Are you wearing now the layer in which pocket what you need is?
• Did you transfer the pockets content when you changed layer?
• Did you grab the backpack when you jumped off the truck for this 5 minute stalk that turned into an afternoon pursuit of the next world record three-toed unicorn that always seemed to be tantalizingly only another 100 yards away?
• Did you notice that the tracker who carries your pack was sent back by the PH to fetch the truck an hour away and that he took off with your pack?

When the chips are down, and when you do not carry your own pack, what is so important to you that you do not want to run the risk of being without it?

THIS should be on your hunting belt, and likely your belt will be different from the next guy's belt

• it looks like we all agree on ammo and knife;
• I have personally collected most of my best animals in the last 15 minutes of light way out there, so I always have a small flashlight;
• memories are too important to me to run the risk of not having pictures, so I always have a compact camera;

Conversely, now that my rangefinder is integrated in my binoculars, I do not have it on my belt anymore...

Those are my thoughts precisely. Even when hunting here in Belgium, the number of times I'm mindlessly looking for my stuff in all the different pockets of my vest, just to realize I forgot to transfer from back pack to my vest, or it was in another vest, or whatever.

I would indeed need to foresee an additional pocket for my rangefinder. I cannot bring myself to purchasing a swaro with it integrated yet, but perhaps this can be a christmas gift for myself in a year or three. For now, just a cheapo rangefinder.

 

[BeeMaa]

A five shell ammo carrier, that's it. Plenty of easily accesible ammo at that point. I'll have extra shells in my pack that's either on my back or the truck. I've found a knife gets in my way and digs in my back or side when sitting in the truck. And I have a knife in my pocket plus one in the small pack I take at all times anyway.

Have a crossdraw sheath made for your knife. Something like this will keep it from digging into your side. I'm having a few made for knives I carry daily for this very reason.

 

[Velo Dog]

Murray cartridge belt, holding 8 cartridges on my right side, with small sheath knife (2.5 inch blade) on my left side.

The knife is never really “needed”.
But now and then I have used it to cut biltong, during cocktail hour in camp or an apple at lunch time.
Once I even cut, with my little knife, a spent bullet from just under the skin, on the off side of a Kudu I had shot.
However, I could probably get along just fine without carrying a knife in Africa.

 

[CBH Australia]

@VertigoBE
I just find the horizontal pouch is out of the way, sitting along the belt even if it's one pouch.

I find when I have a multi tool or pocket knife on me I do use it. I don't know how often I otherwise reach for a knife or tool if I don't have one but sometimes you are just opening something and with a knife on you you just use it because it's there.

 

[rinehart0050]

Thanks for all the responses so far! I see two philosophies developing, the less is more group and the let’s take a minimum capability group.

From my own limited experience, I had the same issue as @One Day… : when changing outfits from one day to the next , too often I found that the light was not in my pocket on the day we hunted an animal in late afternoon, and then had a walk in the dark. Or while usually three cartridges in the rifle only for the day was plenty, the one day I did not bring the pouch with extra rounds, I had fired 2 by lunch, making me uncomfortable for a next stalk.

And I just like nice things so I’ll probably have a look for a belt and sliding closed ammo pouches in the style @rinehart0050 posted , with the flap sans button.

That way each day I can dress however I want/need, jacket or not, long or short pants, quilted thong or bermuda’s just put on the belt and go.

Btw, @IvW, I read on an older thread that you used to carry some spare ammo on your off-hand wrist, is this still something you would recommend? Just for interest of mine, I do not think I’ll need that myself.

One additional benefit of the stock mounted ammo carrier, is that you have additional surface of the wood being protected by leather… something for me to ponder. As I’m afraid to death of going through the brush with my new Heym and scratching all that gorgeous wood up.

One thing I would add to my setup, game dependent, is a second ammo pouch.

For PG, the one ammo pouch with 5 extra shots is probably more than adequate.

For DG, elephant specifically, I wish I'd had another ammo pouch. On my elephant hunt, I used all 8 rounds to take down my elephant. I should have carried an additional 8 rounds just in case.

 

[Newboomer]

On my belt: 5 rd ammo slide for the caliber of the day. In my shirt pockets: a baggie with a few bandaids for the inevitable scrapes and scratches, a headlite that clips on my hat visor, hunting license for NA game. In my pants pockets: Leatherman multitool, celphone, handkerchief.

 

[Frederik]

My DG belt is custom made by a good friend of mine who is a wizz with his hands. It can hold 14 rounds for Magnum Cases. This one work for both the 375 H&H and 458. On my shooting competition day I normally fill it with 14 rounds and top up from range to range. When hunting and depending on what I hunt if buff it would be 5 softs and 4 solids and then 5 softs in the rifle magazine.

Then I will have my knife on the belt and also busy making a pouch for my small torch wich I find can be needed and most times not but when needed it will be of great help. When not needing solids I would just have 6-8 softs in the belt.
Also with the width of the belt you can load it with weight and I can add my 9mm Pistol and it distributes the weight neatly

Still need to do an elephant hunt where I can carry only solids.

As for headlamp type I rather would like to use a small handheld torch where the beam can be set so if you need to follow up somehting you can hold it in your left hand holding the rifle stock. Head lamp will interfere with your sights or scope and won't be on point when you are going to aim for a quick shot.

I like the camera pouch idea a lot need to buy a proper camera first though but its in the back of my head.

 

[CBH Australia]

One thing I would add to my setup, game dependent, is a second ammo pouch.

For PG, the one ammo pouch with 5 extra shots is probably more than adequate.

For DG, elephant specifically, I wish I'd had another ammo pouch. On my elephant hunt, I used all 8 rounds to take down my elephant. I should have carried an additional 8 rounds just in case.

But you lived to see another day, all is good.

 

[Rell]

Custom leather belt with two separate flap covered 6 round shell holders. 6 solids and six softs. Rodeos happen ….

 

[Desperatezulu]

It's clear that the answer to this is conditional on the type of hunt you're on...

For me, the non-negotiables on belt:
- ammo pouch (or culling belt)
- knife (either a folder with guthook if hunting with trackers, entourage etc, or fixed blade skinner if solo or with buddy where I expect to do field dressing)
- Leatherman in pouch (not sure what model but it's an old full size slender one that's much less bulky & lighter than the latest models. Pliers, screw-driver and back-up blade all useful)

Negotiables on belt:
- range finder (terrain dependent. If hunting in the bushveld then shots are close enough not to need ranging and time for shot too short to mess with ranging)
- mini IFAK

Like many, I also use a small backpack with water bladder containing most 'essentials' if heading out on foot. But that's not the topic of this thread.

On the topic of knives and my logic - the trackers/skinners/guides and even PHs occasionally don't have knives or their knives are blunt, so having a folder at least means bleeding and gutting of animals can happen. (And the tracker has the hassle of using a folder, not me). If I know I'm going to be doing the bloody work, then I want to have the best tool for the job, which for me is a proper fixed blade drop-point 'skinner'. And I put up with the marginally greater inconvenience of carrying a fixed blade over the folder. I always carry a smaller utility folder as well.

Just a comment on ammo pouches and ammo belts (culling belts) - exposed cartridge cases are hell on rifle stocks and also flash in the sun. For me a closed/covered ammo pouch is hugely preferred - and must have no metal studs or buckles or more stock damage, so a 'tuck in' flap like the Els & Co is first prize. It's also the quietest to open and close.

If using a culling belt, I do not fill all the loops especially on the right where the stock might be scratched. Plus leaving occasional empty loops makes it easier and faster to extract rounds from the belt. This doesn't solve the metal flashing in the sun - but I figure if I need quick access to 15+ rounds in a big bore, then the sun flashing in the eyes of a charging buffalo probably isn't my biggest problem.

@Kevin Peacocke - velcro? Really? Nasty, noisy stuff for the hunting field

 

[HWL]

Credit card, condoms and a cork screw.....




HWL

 

[Ryan]

Have a crossdraw sheath made for your knife. Something like this will keep it from digging into your side. I'm having a few made for knives I carry daily for this very reason.
View attachment 434962

I've made and tried them, along with a couple that swing on a rope Scandi style or a swivel and loop. In the end they get in the way to me and I worry it could fall out or get lost. And I am often wearing a pack frame here in Alaska, so anything under it's hip belt is very annoying. So in the end my knives are in my pocket and pack where I have confidence they aren't going to fall out and I can get to when needed. That's my view.

 

[Happy Myles]

Since turning 80 years old have taken two 30 day safaris and began wearing suspenders and can’t say i like them but they do hold my pants up better than my various trouser belts i wore when younger. I still use my Murray belt and ammo holder. I see others agree he sure makes high quality leather gear.

 

[VertigoBE]

Have a crossdraw sheath made for your knife. Something like this will keep it from digging into your side. I'm having a few made for knives I carry daily for this very reason.
View attachment 434962

I might look into that, but I actually prefer the looks of a straight down sheath.
How do you keep the knife stay sheathed, when you are crawling on all fours or on your belly to get to the next bush? I have a hard time keeping my knife inside a straight sheath, let alone one that would angle downwards if you crawl...

 

[VertigoBE]

Just a comment on ammo pouches and ammo belts (culling belts) - exposed cartridge cases are hell on rifle stocks and also flash in the sun. For me a closed/covered ammo pouch is hugely preferred - and must have no metal studs or buckles or more stock damage, so a 'tuck in' flap like the Els & Co is first prize. It's also the quietest to open and close.

I also would like to avoid any metal studs, buttons, or exposed cartridges, for the same reasons. Protection of my rifle stock, and no glints/glares alerting the animals. Otherwise what is all that camo clothing good for... (I almost never wear camo though, just earth tones)

 

[BeeMaa]

I might look into that, but I actually prefer the looks of a straight down sheath.
How do you keep the knife stay sheathed, when you are crawling on all fours or on your belly to get to the next bush? I have a hard time keeping my knife inside a straight sheath, let alone one that would angle downwards if you crawl...

Knife sheath is on a belt separate from the one holding my trousers up, so things can be shifted around as needed for the situation. When riding in the bakkie, the belt comes off and put in the daypack. When I grab the rifle, I grab the belt. Cartridges go on my right hip, knife on my left.