What brand is your duty gear?

Time to buy it all. First stop to Galls was a little unhelpful.

I'm looking to buy nylon type. I just can't figure out what brand is the best.

I sort of settled on BlackHawk, but I can't find what I need from their website or from Galls. It's too damn disorganized.

So, I know a few LEOs frequent, I'm curious where you picked your stuff up at and what works the best.

I personally like (and use) Bianchi AccuMold. To me, I think it looks and performs the best. Over the years, I've picked up various pieces of Bianchi gear from uniform stores, gun shows and the internet (I don't have one favorite place). If the AccuMold line is too expensive, Bianchi also has their "PatrolTek" line, which looks about the same as the AccuMold gear but cost a little less.

OMB Police Express, use to have the best price on Bianchi acumold. I would check them out. I also am a fan of the Bianchi stuff looks good and performs well.

officerstore.com good prices, stock what they sell

AccuMold is tough as hell, Blackhawk and 5.11 excellent as well

I found GT Distributors (I think) through PoliceLink. They sell Blackhawk gear at the same price Galls sells their brand.

I just don't know many people who wear it to ask how strong it is. The point of spending a little extra money was for it to hold up longer. No point in dropping 250 dollars if I need to replace it in a few months.

However, these 5.11 boots are sweet.

I don't recommend anyone buying from Galls or Blackhawk. Blackhawks website has got to be the most ridiculous thing. It wouldn't let me add anything to my cart. Galls took half the stuff from their magazines off the website. Well that's no help

+1 on Bianchi accumold, it is extremely durable. I have had mine for two and a half years and use it in pretty rough conditions. The one thing I will not recommend is the swivel mount radio holder. The plastic swivel is known to break.

I use Fobus holsters and MilitarBrasil. Obviously, the latter brand is a brazilian brand.

MilitarBrasil makes excellents tactical gears wich are the best at the national level.

Cheers
Dioni

What are you needing to carry? If carrying a weapon, pick a holster and work around that. Different brands are better with different items, at least it is to me. I've always been a big fan of Uncle Mikes gear.


I've been issued a Bianchi accumold holster and mag pouch since 2001 and they work fine. My belts, belt keepers, baton case, OC case and handcuff cases are Uncle Mikes.


I have to carry too much crap

I'll second Uncle Mike's. Very comfortable to wear in the cruiser and standing at roadblocks.

After going through a bunch of duty gear, the most comfortable belt i found was from a french company called GK - one of their "timecop" range, worn over a nylon underbelt.

Cuff case was from uncle mikes (chain link cuffs) and Hellweg (Hiatt ultimate cuffs)
Baton carrier was an ASP Sidebreak, with a custom made retention snap (similar to a thumbreak, but to stop the baton coming out sideways)
Maglite brand Nylon loop for the Magcharger later changed to a custom built one that held it rigidly, and Surefire leather carrier for the 6p
Surefire hard nylon carrier for the U2, and a custom built carrier for the Stinger/Inova T4 (I went through a few lights on duty)

Radio Carrier was a custom built one.

Mum taught me to use a sewing machine at a young age, was never really useful till i couldnt find gear i liked, so i made it myself.

I havent done security work in quite a few years, so i havent worn my duty belt in a long time either, but you will change stuff around.

just make sure your Weapon holsters (Taser, gun, baton, OC) are in the same spot every time you put your belt on, so you can find them when you need them, and practice getting stuff out in a hurry too.

i can recall doing a baton course, where we did a modified version of the tueller drill, drawing and striking with batons, rather than drawing a firearm.
most of the class got "stabbed" with a red whiteboard marker, only me and another guy managed to get the batons out in time to effectively strike.
I had a chat to the guy later, and he practiced drawing his baton before every shift. tried to get two perfect draws, before he went out on shift.
i had been doing the same thing, and spending maybe half an hour a week, drawing and expanding the baton, then closing and reholstering.

I sure wish we could wear nylon gear. We have to wear Safariland leather Gear and it's uncomfortable as hell. Unless you're built like a toothpick (which I'm not) the thick, rigid cuff pouches dig into your hips and it's just all around miserable. A couple of ground fights or bumps against brick walls and now you're stuck w/ a scuffed up belt and pouches. I really wish our dept would evolve in it's choice of uniform & duty gear.

I never realized how uncomfortable the leather gear was until I started wearing nylon gear while in the bike unit. I believe it was Uncle Mike's gear, which was ok. The mag pouch completely fell apart after just a few weeks on the bike. Everything else held up ok.

I also use Bianchi accumold duty gear for the belt system mainly. Go Nylon If You Can!!!!!!!!! Had this rig for over five years and after ground fights, car wear, ect. still looks brand new.

The really nice thing about nylon is you can wash it if you need to. I've only had to do this one time after I got blood on the rig during a bad accident evac.

Safariland holster for Glock with light. Best Fit, But a lower level retention.

Black Hawk Light holster, Mod-u-lok (gladius Holster, Surefire G2 light-Fits perfectly)

Black Hawk Taser Holster, Lightyears better than stock taser holster.

5.11 outwear, pants, shirts, boots with side zippers (AWESOME!!!!)

Hatch kevlar gloves, Kevlar is a must (dont go cheap on pretection)

Omb Express is a good retailer with fast shipping.



****A few tid bits about holsters, Just my $0.02(keep in mind Im a firearms and combat pistol instructor, glock and colt armorer)****

I DONT recommend Uncle Mikes products for holsters, Retention sucks, Drops Break right off. Stay away and stay alive. If you take something cheap to the Police Academy they will never let you forget about it. I watched my instructor standing next to a cadet rip his Uncle Mikes Holster right off his belt with a swift jerk. Buy a Quality Holster from Bianchi or Safariland, You'll thank yourself later.

I also do not recommend any holster that requires a twisting or canting action to remove the weapon as a retention system. Although these work incredibly well for keeping your weapon out of the hand of an attacker, they work too well sometimes. I've watched my officers on the firing line struggle for several seconds to remove their own weapon. This is not good, as the gunfight will be over in just one or two seconds. I do not allow my officers to use these types of holsters anymore.

I also recommend open top mag pouches, Blade Tech is a good one. Seconds save lives, and Speed is your friend.

As with any piece of equipment you must practice to be proficient with it.

To each their own I guess.

Good Luck