Its no secret that Arc'teryx has been working on a high speed belt for the past few years, and we showed you a sample from this years SHOT Show. However, clear pictures have been missing, and it seems like we've been teased with little glimpses here and there around the web. For the past 14 hours, I've been wearing the Arc'teryx H-150 Riggers belt along with a new Glock holster from Praetor Defense. The H-150 is classed as a 2" Riggers belt, but lets not kid anyone, its going to see a lot more time hanging a pistol on it than it ever will hanging a guy from a rope.
Click the below image for more information, and lots more pictures.
Arc'teryx is clear that the H-150 is designed as a belt for "travel restraint". It is NOT designed to be used as a climbing harness where you can be expected to fall, and have the belt take the shock when the line goes tight. I think the primary concept here is that the belt can be used for emergency rappelling if needed. Thankfully, along with wearing the H-150 as a gun belt, I also took it out to a rope course, and spent some time in it along with my locking carabiner and my Super 8 off my climbing harness. I've used Riggers Belts in the past to attempt both belay and rappel, and to be honest, its typically a painful experience. The Riggers Belts are usually nylon, and crease in the middle, which digs heavily into the small of your back. Arc'teryx takes this issue on with what they are calling "Warp Strength Technology". The belt is extremely thin, but rather rigid. It supports weight without digging in to your sides when wearing a firearm, and the belt remains comfortable. This by itself makes it a worthy gun belt in my eyes, as it takes pressure of the small of your back, especially if you are one of the guys that really loads your belt up.
How does the H-150 hold up when hanging off an 11mm rope with all your weight suspended from it? Its still no joy, but its better than any other Rigger Belt I've used, including the one I use for daily offduty carry of a weapon. If you are doing much rappelling, or expect to do rappelling, get the LEAF harness, or other harness designed for the job. If you are tying in or need a belt that has lifesaving capability, the H-150 is better than anything else I've tried.
We'll look at this in a long term review in another 6 months or so, and we'll be reviewing the holster shortly as well. The Arc'teryx H-150 is so new that its not in the Arc'teryx LEAF listing, and I've not heard anything solid regarding the price. At this point, I'll be switching to wearing this as my daily wear belt for carrying a weapon offduty, which makes me wish mine was in something other than multicam. Aside from a color change, I can't think of anyway to make a better belt at this point. I'll let you know if I feel the same way in 6 months.
*** UPDATE ***
Arc'teryx has advised these are shipping to US dealers and will retail at $119.
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