It is no secret that men and women are built differently. However, when it comes to equipment, gear, and clothing, many pieces are all built the same, which causes discomfort and sometimes even pain for the woman wearing it. This is especially true when it comes to belts and duty belts. Duty belts have additional weight on the belt and they have to be tight to stay in place. For women with hips and differently shaped bodies, this can cause rubbing and pain throughout the duty day. Blue Force Gear (BFG) fixed this issue though with their new CHLK Belt.
Blue Force Gear, a big name in the military and law enforcement equipment industry that makes lightweight load-bearing gear, made a game-changing duty belt with the CHLK. While it isn’t gender specific, the curvature and lightweight design of the belt almost makes it seem like it was made for the woman warfighter. Below will be specs of the belt, highlights of why the belt is perfect for a woman’s body, and some upgrades that BFG has made to it.
All of this information comes directly from a female that has spent many days wearing it. A little later in the article, I will talk about my sizing and preferred accessories for the belt.
The CHLK Belt by Blue Force Gear
CHLK, standing for “Combat Helo Load Rating Kit,” first came to the scene due to its anchor points (reinforced loops) that met the needs of helicopter assaulters. However, it maintained its popularity and was quickly adopted by other parts of the industry due to how lightweight and comfortable it is.
According to BFG, “The Blue Force Gear CHLK Belt is based on a two-belt inner/outer belt system and features laser-cut MOLLEminus slots for attaching holsters and other gear. It has a load-rated buckle, ANSI spec Dyneema-nylon hybrid webbing, and two external tether attachment points. The CHLK Belt is purpose-built to allow commandos to snap securely into helicopters while performing INFIL/EXFIL and during time of flight.”
Features and Specs
- 3500lbs load rating (static)
- Rigid liner prevents pistol “flip”
- Cut on a curve for maximum comfort
- Rigid composite Laminate ULTRAcomp laminate
- TEX 70 bonded nylon thread
- Dyneema-nylon webbing
- Sizes: 30-44 in belt size
- Colors: MultiCam, Ranger Green, Coyote Brown, Black (Note: The above price is MSRP for the newest version of the belt. When searching for the BFG CHLK Belt a belt such as the “legacy version” may pop up. This is an older version of the belt at a discounted price.)
- MSRP: $349.95
CHLK Belt Features that Women Appreciate
The CHLK Belt offers a few specific features that women in combat or tactical roles value.
The Hip Curve
Women everywhere know the pain of wearing a belt and for various reasons. One of those reasons is how much a belt digs into the sides of your hips. Women’s bodies are built differently than men. Our hips are curvy and stick out, making even standard belts without added weight uncomfortable. Any battle/duty belt needs to be cinched tight. It will often have a good amount of weight on it and will be rigid, not allowing for flexibility around the hips, which makes the pain even worse. Some belt companies have started to catch onto this issue by making their belts more flexible or by adding a simple curve into the shape of the belt. Blue Force Gear perfected this very thing, with both men and women included in the testing.
The CHLK Belt from Blue Force Gear features a 32° curve in the shape of the belt to mimic the shape of a human’s hips. If you put other belts on the ground, they’ll lay in a straight line, but with this belt you will see the built-in curve.
The CHLK belt has a built-in curve to relieve the hips of friction and stress, which is very much needed when carrying a lot of weight on the belt. The belt also has a slight outward cant from the top to bottom of the sides of the belt. This allows more comfort when wearing the belt, no matter how tight or heavy it is. Both the 32° curve and the outward cant will help with a woman’s larger hip angle and mitigate the uncomfortable digging into the hips by the sides of the belt.
I have personally worn the belt for 12 hours straight in a class with the weight of a BFG Med kit, two full pistol magazines, two full 30-round PMAGs, and a multi-tool. I had no pain on the sides of my hips and no signs of rubbing. This has never been the case with any other duty belt.
Fun Fact: The belt actually had a greater-degree curve at first design, however after more touch points with those in the Military, they decided to ease back on the curve.The new design received much better feedback from those wearing these belts all day and night.
Lightweight without Losing Quality
The most frequently used word in feedback on this belt is lightweight. Many battle belts are rigid and thick. This makes them heavy both from the inner and outer belts and a pain for many smaller women. The BFG CHLK belt however is only 12.5 ounces without skimping on quality.
BFG uses a MOLLEMinus field on the outer belt. Basically, this is how the molle slots are designed into the belt. Instead of adding more material to make loops for attaching pouches and accessories, which also may lead to more stitching failure points, BFG simply cut slots into their UltraComp Material. This means less weight and more reliability, and allows the pouches to be closer and tighter to the belt.
The Rigidity of the belt without extra weight comes from UltraComp High Performance laminate. This gives the belt shape and makes it less flimsy. Pouches with heavy, loaded PMAGs and holsters with guns can be attached without worry of them sliding or flopping around, without the bulk and weight that most rigid belts have.
Size and Use Adjustability on Inner Belt
One aspect of this belt that women seem to most appreciate has to do with the inner belt, an often forgotten portion of the duty belt system. Duty belts usually work by having an inner belt with hook and loop material on it that can go through your belt loops. The outer belt has the receiving side of the hook and loop and will attach to the inner belt. Two things hold the belts together, the hook and loop, and a buckle providing tension. With this system, the inner belt is often not used by itself because it is not comfortable at all.
Blue Force Gear decided to change that. They made the inner belt comfortable, largely adjustable, and useable both with the outer belt and on its own.
The inner belt is comfortable due to its light cushioning and G-Hook. Many women know the misery of bending over to do something and having a large buckle jab them in the stomach. The small G-Hook is just enough to hold the belt together but not push over the pants and into your stomach.
A unique thing about the CHLK belt is that the inner belt is reversible. The hook and loop is covered when wearing the inner belt on its own and flipped inside out. This can act as a normal belt or even an Everyday Carry belt.
There is a ton of adjustability in the inner belt allowing for weight fluctuation. There are five different loops on the inner belt for the G hook to hook into, making the belt usable no matter if you lost (or gained) a few pounds after ordering your belt.
How to Size
