FLC Battle Belt Review

A couple of years ago I was looking through my bins of surplus gear (we all have them right?) And I came across an FLC. I've never liked the FLC, it seemed to be a piss poor compromise between an LBE, a vest, and a chest rig, from a time when ALICE was passé And before plate carriers came into their own.
It's the awkward puberty years of MOLLE.
but inside of them is a gem. The FLC inner belt. I decided to use it to build a battle belt and the results did not disappoint.
It's held up for 12 to 18 months with a couple of modifications.
After using it for that long I can say that it has been satisfactory, but it's likely that if I found myself using it on a very regular basis I would want to purchase a dedicated belt.
Take a look to see my thoughts in detail and what modifications I had to make for it to work well.

[@Rc252]

You’ve basically created an Eagle Industries padded war belt 🤙🏻

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

Just looked it up and you are 100% correct lol

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

Check out my other video on making an LBE out of this... I go on to add suspenders which only makes it more similar to that eagle industries belt lol

[@Saintbow]

The FLC innerbelt is a very underrated belt. I would buy the FLC for about $4 and would cannibalize the belt, straps, and panels. Even made one into being a belted harness very much like what my dad rocked out with in Vietnam. For the price, they are perfect kits for budget friendly builds.

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

@@Saintbow I absolutely agree! I have another video where I built a suspender kit (like the harness you described). What's the pouch layout on yours?

[@rgeardesign]

Yes, it was always by intent. Great to see it being used that way….

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

That's good to know! Can you give any more details on the design intent of the FLC or inner belt, generally? I love that kind of info, if you have it.

[@othernamesweretaken1871]

Hey man, that pouch that’s open on the bottom is a 40mm grenade pouch. They come in different lengths for different purposes but repurposing one for a hand tool of some kind is very smart. I have a SFLCS belt I hike a lot and that never occurred to me. Very cool set up.

[@jerryrichards8172]

Yes best gear advice ever. GET OUT DOWN AND DIRTY AND USE IT ❤

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

The best gear is dirty gear!

[@jerryrichards8172]

I did the same thing when I purchased my FLC as a test. I even thought about ordering another FLC just for the belt. being I had other plans for my belt I didn't. I collect airforce ABU and they have a nice padded palls outer belt that I just completed 2 days ago. I ran a coyote color heavy 2.5 seabee construction belt for the inner belt and ran it through the AF ABU padded belt. Rock solid. I really like your velcro idea. I'm going to have to keep a look out for a inner belt with velcro. I have one more of those seabeebelts left and they have the loop from hook & loop on the inside but the outside are smooth. I need to watching videos like yours so I can better learn how to configure it. Thanks for sharing 👍

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

Air Force ABU kit has some really interesting components. I found some nice triple magazine pouches in ABU from either venture surplus or McGuire surplus and bought a bunch. I also have a few of their load carry systems though I don't like them much. I haven't seen a belt though now you've got my interest piqued. Can you find a link and reply here?

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

Also glad you liked the hook and loop idea. I bought that inner belt with velcro on it from Amazon. Perhaps I should source them and sell some myself 😂

[@jerryrichards8172]

@@DefiantTacticalTn the ABU belt is from Ebay there's quite a few there. I have a 42 waist and the xl just fit. That may help you with your sizing. Thanks for the Amazon inner belt tip. Never had going to try that out.

[@jerryrichards8172]

@@DefiantTacticalTn the triple mag pouches are nice I picked up several.

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

@@jerryrichards8172 thanks! I'll look them up and maybe pick one up.

[@protectpersevere2030]

Cool video man just subbed! I did a video on modding the upper flc vest into a more modern split chest rig but might try out the inner belt like you showed here.

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

Well I have a few upper parts of the FLC laying around now so I'll have to take a look! Thanks for the sub!

[@muchosgracias3764]

It's a 40mm grenade pouch

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

@@muchosgracias3764 hey, I've had a couple people say that and I know it kind of looks like one in the video but it's not. I'll upload a video in just a second going over it. I tried to find it online and I just cant.

[@jerryrichards8172]

I really like the tomahawk. The military history show were a American soldier/marine kicked in a door slammed chest to cget with a insurgent tangled up there rifles together they became useless. He reached down pulled out his tomahawk and finished that fight. Full on hand to hand with a tomahawk in fallujah !

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

That's pretty crazy! I'd like to think this would be mostly useful for breaching light doors, windows, and things like that, but you never know!

[@coreytena2]

How did you attach the Velcro? Did you stitch it?

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

I think I would have preferred to stitch it, but with the PALS webbing loops on the outside that would have been hard. Believe it or not, I used hot glue to attach the velcro. I think it's about 3-4 inches wide, cut into four to five inches wide pieces. It has worked really well, though I have one piece that has come off. Overall I'm fairly satisfied with it. But if I were doing it again, I think there are other spray on adhesives that are supposedly more permanent.

[@MyOldAccountWasShit]

Great Video, do you think it would be doable to use the rest of the flc to create a harness close to alice?

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

Thanks! Possibly, I suppose if you just keep the pouches along the lower 3 rows of webbing it would be kind of close. That being said, I do think this inner FLC belt with a pair of ALICE suspenders is very close to a modern ALICE rig. There are of course modern belt harnesses and suspenders you can buy off the shelf, but it's a viable option at an unbeatble price. I have an ALICE-like load out with another one of these belts plus a few other suspender rigs, I'll put together a video for you so you can see what it looks like all together. If I can I'll tag you on the video and I'll comment here, but subscribe to make sure you see it. Thanks for your feedback!

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

Here you go! kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5-Tq2yEebKZbc0

[@declineofthewest.]

Rothco has a harness and belt combo for $22 that looks really nice

[@DefiantTacticalTn]

@@declineofthewest. I hadn't looked at that combo until just now. It might be a decent deal, but from what I found online the harness alone is 22. I don't know about the belt. The pictures are deceiving everywhere I look lol. They all make it look like the belt is included but in the fine print it says it's not. Still, even if it comes to 50 bucks it might be a good deal. I would have two concerns about that setup. One is that the back of the harness covers a lot of the back, which could be problematic for hot environments, and two is the bulk of the belt. It looks padded and thick, which could be good or bad depending on how it's done.