13 May Direct Action® Belts – Before You Buy
Direct Action® Belts – Before You Buy
Recently we made a video where we fully covered the Direct Action® Spitfire® MKII plate carrier. Today we’re going take a look at their belt assortment and for that we here have the Mustang® Inner, the Warkhawk® and the Warhawk® Modular belts as well as the Mosquito® Modular Belt Sleeve.
We will entirely cover all of them and also give our personal thoughts so you can make your decision in this “Before you buy” blog.
But before we dig into this subject, make sure to subscribe to our blog page by filling in the form. Also Make sure to visit our Youtube Channel by clicking the button. Have a look at our store shop.reconbrothers.com for your quality tactical products.
Direct Action® as a company
For starters, lets’ first talk a little bit about the Direct Action® company itself. For those of you that don’t know, Direct Action is part of the Polish Helikon-Tex® group and is that part of this group that dedicates itself towards special operators.
For this they create very modular and streamlined products with an extreme eye for detail and only work with quality base materials from the Cordura®, Velcro®, YKK® and Hypalon® brand. Also all their products have been rigorously thought-out and tested to comply with special forces their needs.
Now, we recently got some various products from their assortment to test out and we got to say that we have never seen such products with this amount of detail before.
And because of this, there is an incredible amount of stuff to talk about when it comes to Direct Action® their products in general. But we will cover that in another blog later.
General Features
Some features that generally apply to Direct Action® their products and thus also the belts we’ll be talking about are;
1. Laser-cut design
They have laser-cut designs which makes them extremely compact and lightweight.
2. Stitching
The stitching on their products is very well done. They reinforce stress points by double or triple stitching them and the end result is very clean. We mention this, because we know from experience that the stitching is usually the first thing that starts to fail.
3. DWR
All their products have a Durable Water Repellent treatment that makes them waterproof.
4. NIR
The camo versions are NIR Compliant which makes the material blend in with nature to conceal you from night vision devices.
5. Multicam®
Direct Action® is one of the few brands in Europe that makes full Crye™ licensed Multicam® products. In order to achieve this, they work closely with the American Crye™ Precision company.
Patterns and colors
Talking about patterns and colors, in general most Direct Action® assortment can be made in 11 different colors and patterns. This is also possible for most of the belts which will talk about here, but for some that is not the case.
Another thing to mention is that Direct Action® has quite a limited production capability and that means that their stock is also pretty limited. Our shop’s value is to provide Direct Action® products even if they are not in stock at Direct Action®. Meaning we can have them custom made on request or take it from their stock. Currently we are however limited to 4 colors which are Crye™’s Multicam®, Coyote Brown, Ranger Green and Black. But once more options are possible, we will make work of those as well.
That said, as for today we will focus ourselves on a selection of their belt products and for this we here have the Mustang® Inner Belt, both versions of their Warhawk® Rescue/Gun Belts and also the Mosquito® Belt Sleeve. So, let’s start with the simplest of them all which is the Mustang® Inner Belt.
Direct Action® Mustang® Inner Belt
Purpose
The Mustang® Inner Belt might be the most simple of them all, but it serves a very important purpose. Since it forms the base retention for all the following belt systems we will be talking about.
The Mustang® Inner Belt exists to work as a stabilizer. For this it goes inside your pants its loops and attaches to the inner Velcro® loops of the other belts to prevent ride-up during dynamic movements or when drawing a pistol.
Design
The belt is made out of Cordura® Laminate and features Velcro® hooks. It is a thin, easy adjustable and very light design. To give you a number, it only weighs 57 grams. It is also a bit wider than you typical 45 millimeter belts to make the securing of the outer belt a bit easier and maintain that good grip.
Also interesting to know about the Velcro® hooks themselves is that Direct Action® has used a non-aggressive version for this, which we have honestly never seen before. This implies that it won’t destroy your belt loops over extensive time of use, unlike with regular Velcro® hooks. Now, although these are another kind of hooks, they hold up surprisingly well and yet also come off rather easy.
So, that was everything regarding this belt. Let’s now look into the very first outer belt of the three we have here and that is the Warhawk® Rescue/Gun Belt.
Direct Action® Warhawk® Rescue/Gun Belt
Out of all the outer belts we talk about in this video, this one has the most simple design, but that certainly doesn’t make it less suited for the job.
Materials
This Warhawk® is made of a thickly woven webbing that is very rigid which is exactly what you need to keep a hold of all the weight you put onto it. It is also stiffened for a more stable carrying of your pouches, holster, etcetera.
Adjustability
It is 45 millimeter wide, has a low profile and is easy length adjustable with a pretty wide range. The excess length can be tuck away neatly thanks to the elastic loop that comes with the belt. This way the profile stays slick and you can attach equipment over it if needed. Examples of this are a horizontally positioned tourniquet pouch or a knife.
Weight
The belt only weighs 220 grams and its inside is lined with Velcro® loops to use it with the Mustang® inner belt for that secure retainment.
Buckle
It closes with a small AustriAlpin Cobra® buckle, which are known to be durable and this specific one can take up to 18 kiloNewton of force. To give an idea, this amount of force is equal to accelerating an object of 100 kilograms at 180 meters per second each second.
Anchor Point
Another feature the belt has up front is a reinforced and stiffened anchor point to attach a carbine hook, a lanyard or a FROG Buckle.
No PALS
Next thing that’s quite noticeable is that this belt doesn’t feature any sort of PALS system. Meaning there is no way to use pouches that have a MOLLE system, at least not in the standard way. Some brands have found ways to still use them, but Direct Action® made a solution of their own for their pouches which is frankly quite extraordinary. What they’ve done is basically provided their pouches with belt loops which gives them some advantages.
Pros Direct Action® Belt Loops
One being, it creates a far better retention and less wobble than a general MOLLE/PALS system. Now, you could say they can still move sideways, but it actually requires some force to move most of their pouches like this. So that will be very unlikely.
But also when using the Mustang® Inner Belt, moving will no longer be possible because of the Velcro® sides gripping on one another. So a good retention is guaranteed this way.
Also, compared to alternative retention systems, this way still allows the hook and loop sides of the Velcro® to grip on one another for the most part. With other systems you usually lose that grip space and thus valuable retention is lost.
Another advantage with these belt loops is that you put a pouch exactly where you want to on the belt, you’re not limited to the fixed positions of the PALS slots.
Cons Direct Action® Belt Loops
Now, the downside of this system is that if you want to change or add a pouch, you will have to remove everything up to that pouch, and once changed attach it all again. But for the level of retainment you get out of it, that’s definitely worth the work.
Having that covered, we said everything there is to mention about this belt, so let’s move onto our next one which is the Warhawk® Modular Rescue/Gun Belt.
Direct Action® Warhawk® Modular Rescue/Gun Belt
This one is a little more advanced version of the Warhawk® belt we just covered. It is built upon the exact same base as the previous one, so its materials, width and adjustability are all the same.
Differences compared to previous belt
The features where it differs are two points. The first is that it has a minimalistic laser-cut modular system and the second is that it has a bigger certified AustriAlpin Cobra® buckle with a D-ring instead of the anchor point as on the previous belt.
PALS
Here the PALS system obviously allows pouches to be mounted with MOLLE and the addition of these laser-cut PALS is very properly done.
What we did notice about using single row MOLLE pouches with on this belt, was that they had quite some angular play on them. This play was actually more than we’re used to with similar belt systems. But again this is only with single row pouches, once they require two attachment points this wobble is gone.
The good thing however, is that you can still utilize the belt loops from Direct Action® their pouches. Some pouches are a bit harder to attach this way than with the previous belt we covered, but the retention is better than anything we’ve ever come across. So, with this belt, you actually have the advantage of choosing which system to use, at least if you’re using Direct Action® their pouches.
Buckle
Next, talking about the buckle. This one is rated for 220 kiloNewton of force. Or in other words the force needed to accelerate that same 100 kilogram object at 220 meters per second each second. So that’s quite a lot. As said, this buckle also features a D-ring and its design features a Velcro® loop to keep it nicely in place when not using it.
Weight
Now, all this together generates a heavier belt and that is 290 grams to be more exact. Which is a normal weight for this sort of belt system.
That was everything as for this Warhawk® Modular version, let’s now look at the last version we have here which is the Mosquito® Modular Belt Sleeve.
Direct Action® Mosquito® Modular Belt Sleeve
This Belt Sleeve is the most advanced belt out of the three we have here. It weighs 255 grams and is made of proprietary laminate with a Velcro® loop inside.
It is extremely versatile which allows it to be used as a base for a low-profile or heavy-load bearing setup.
Needs a buckled inner belt
What you do need to be aware of, is that it cannot be used on its own. As the name says, it’s a sleeve and thus it needs at least a buckled inner belt. The options Direct Action® offers for this are the Mustang® Rescue/Gun Belt, the Warhawk® Rescue/Gun Belt and the Warhawk® Nautic Belt for waterborne use.
Mustang® Inner Belt
Aside this, you also have the option to use the Mustang® Inner Belt for better retainment of the belt. It overall grips better than the other belts we just covered, but the Mustang® Inner its value for that retainment is big and thus we personally recommend to use it.
Design
As for the sleeve itself, It is a very slim but wide design compared to usual “warbelt” designs. This one has laser-cut PALS for MOLLE pouches and also has vertical cuts to bring the used inner belt outwards. This allows the placement of holsters and knives, but also makes it possible to attach the Direct Action® pouches with their belt loops for a more secure hold as with the two other belts.
Furthermore, its 3 and 9 o-clock sides are stiffened which hold the weight of a pistol in a holster and filled magazines in their pouches very securely.
Talking about security, the Mosquito® Sleeve also features Velcro hooks on both belt ends where the buckled inner belt goes. This avoids slipping of the inner belt system and is certainly a big added value.
Above that, the buckled belt can be worn in such a way that there’s no buckle over buckle interference when wearing a regular belt in your pants and the Mosquito® one on top.
Harness rings
Furthermore, the sleeve also features four rings to attach a harness if required. For this Direct Action® has two versions available whereas one is a low-profile Y-harness and the other is an H-harness with quite some modular options.
Optional Hip Panels
And aside these two options, the Mosquito® Belt Sleeve can also take hip panels which directly attach to the Velcro positioned on the inside of both the 3 and 9 o’clock of the belt.
Both an S and L version exist of the hip panels. These for example, allow a direct lower placement of a holster or make it possible to put a dump pouch directly underneath your mag pouches on your side.
That being said, we also fully covered this belt. So now, let’s have a look at our final thoughts.
Final Thoughts
In overall we must say that all the belts we have here are really good and will very well serve as a base to make a tactical belt setup. Only differences in our eyes between them is how modular you want to go and also how far your budget reaches.
Having put these belts to the test, we are of opinion that the Mustang® Inner Belt is a must have for that maximum fixation of the entire belt, whichever you choose.
Direct Action® Warhawk® Rescue/Gun Belt
The Warhawk® Rescue/Gun Belt is the cheapest and the most simple of them all, but will do its job very well. Especially when you use the Direct Action® pouches with their belt loops system, you will in fact have a setup that’s better than most other modular belts out there. So, we would recommend this belt for those that want to create a setup with mainly Direct Action® pouches, but want to keep their spendings as low as possible.
Direct Action® Warhawk® Modular Rescue/Gun Belt
The Warhawk Modular Rescue/Gun Belt is the most advanced low profile belt out of these three. The fact that you have the option to both utilize the PALS slots and the Direct Action® pouches with their belt loops make it our personal favorite. Because those belt loops offer a far better retention than any MOLLE system, especially for single row pouches. The downside with this one is that the PALS slots allow for quite an amount of angular play which is bigger than with other modular belts. This is only a problem with single row pouches though and it does not affect their vertical retention when drawing or inserting a mag for example.
So, as for this belt we would recommend it to those that want a very good and strong low-profile modular belt setup. With this one you can go a lot of ways to make it into something that will serve your needs, whether you use Direct Action® pouches or something entirely else.
Direct Action® Mosquito® Modular Belt Sleeve
The Mosquito® Modular Belt Sleeve is certainly the most expensive of all these belts, because it also requires a separate buckled inner belt to fully function. You can go in all directions with this thing because of its extreme modular options. You can build something that serves as a low-profile setup all the way up to something that is able to wear a few kilograms without a problem. So, as for this one we would recommend it to people that are looking for a highly versatile belt.
Overall Conclusion
In overall we can conclude that the belts we have covered here are very well made and thought-out. They’re all very low-profile, have a great retention and some have more modular options than other belt systems out there. And certainly not unimportant they look badass as well.
So, having covered that we hope this blog gave you some more insights in these different belts from Direct Action®. If you want to buy one of these, can find them along with other Direct Action® products through shop.reconbrothers.com. We also made combo packs available of these three belts that will have an all-year-around discount, so you can start your build with a bargain.
Thanks for reading our blog
“Direct Action Warhawk, Warhawk Modular & Mosquito Belt – Before You Buy”
Let us know in the comments which of these three belts we covered here today gets your preference. Make sure to leave a like, thanks for reading and make sur eto subscribe for our new blogs.
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