The need for a rigid duty belt . . .

Unfortunately, rigidity has become a substitute for stability. So as more and heavier accessories are added to the belt, more rigidity has been built into the belt in an effort to make it a more stable platform. Two belts are most often worn, not one. The inner belt is a conventional leather one. The outer, or patrol belt, is thicker to provide extra rigidity. And, to provide still more rigidity a polymer stiffener runs the full length of the belt sandwiched between two layers of heavy leather. Often both inner and outer belts are equipped with steel buckles.

Most officers resist newly issued duty belts because they know that new belts mean pain. Even when "broken-in", today's duty belts are too hard and inflexable.

. . . and the discomfort associated with today's rigidity.

When the duty belt is too rigid and doesn't flex in response to an officers' shifting posture (sitting, standing, walking, kneeling, running) it negatively impacts the nervous, circulatory and muscular-skeletal systems by pushing on pressure points, often creating problems such as pinched nerves, sore back and bruised hips. Read about how Duckbill alleviates the discomfort associated with regidity here.

The need for keepers . . .

Securing today's belt and accessory module platform continues to be a belt-through-slots solution. This however, allows the modules to shift and "creep" along the belt when changing position from sitting to standing or while running. And with few exceptions the accessories tend to migrate to the lowest spot on an officers' waist throughout the course of the day. To counter this effect, the officer will adapt one or both of two remedies.

First: An officer will depend on belt keepers to maintain the position of his accessory gear. Keepers however are at best an incomplete solution. Since the inner and outer belt are rarely the same width, the keepers fail to prevent the heavy outer belt from settling at the bottom of the keepers while at rest or bouncing while the officer is walking or running. It's not unusual for running officers to keep one hand on their belt in an attempt to keep it stabilized.

Second: Officers will almost invariably over-tighten their patrol belt. This is an attempt to (a) secure the modules in the place last assigned to them, (b) prevent the outer belt from bouncing along the inner one, and (c) add a further measure of stability to the operations platform around their waist.

 

. . . and the discomfort associated with keepers.

Duty belt weight, when it's improperly allocated around the waist and when the allocation isn't maintained throughout the day, causes an officer to compensate in unnatural and unintended ways. With too much weight in the front, the body compensates by pulling backward against the weight. This causes a routine pelvic rotation and the hyperextension of the spine causing cumulative pain and discomfort.

When the duty belt is cinched too tightly it compresses the abdominal muscles and inhibits their full functionality. The officer is inclined to overuse the back muscles to compensate for this and again, the routine pelvic rotation and the hyperextension of the spine results in pain and discomfort.

By the mere fact of being worn around the waist, the duty belt, and/or some of the accessories, impinge on the bones of the pelvic girdle – particularly among women (in large urban law enforcement departments, women make up between 10% and 30% of the patrol force). The pelvic girdle is strong and dense and consists of two large (left and right) coxal bones. The ilium is the portion of the coxal that is the flared upper portion of the hip. Many gun holsters press and rub on the ilium resulting in bone pain, skin abrasion and regular bruising.