Over the past few months I’ve been switch between the Hunter Constantine Concealed Carry Belt and the AEGITEC Hybrid Tactical Belt. I personally think that these two belts are very similar in terms of general concept, but after actually using both, they’ve ended up filling very different roles for me.
At a high level, both of these belts follow the same design philosophy. They each have a stiffer section that’s reinforced with a bar behind the textile where you mount your gear, and more elastic sections that stretch. That stretch is there for comfort and also makes it easier to dial in fitment without constantly resizing the belt.
Between the two, the Hunter Constantine belt is definitely more stretchy. You can really feel that elastic working when you sit down, bend, or move around. And for a lot of people, that extra stretch can absolutely be perceived as more comfortable. The AEGITEC belt still stretches, just not quite as much. Comfort-wise though, I’d honestly say they’re pretty close overall. Neither one is uncomfortable, even after wearing them for long periods.
Both of these belts feature a buckle with a hook that you use to hook onto a loop. With the Aegitec, sizing adjustments are made at the buckle. With the Hunter Constantine belt, you adjust with a second buckle that the material loops around and gets locked in place. Resizing this belt isn’t necessarily difficult, but it is slow. Again, the belt loops around itself, and that takes time to adjust. It’s not something that I personally want to mess with frequently. Because of that, I basically have my HC belt set to one size for one specific gear setup, and I leave it there. I don’t really adjust it on the fly. That ends up making it less versatile for how I personally carry.
The AEGITEC belt, on the other hand, is much more straightforward. It loops over the buckle once. That’s it. It’s fast, simple, and easy to adjust. Because of that, I actually use the AEGITEC belt way more often. I can quickly go from inside-the-waistband carry where I need more slack to outside-the-waistband carry where I need less without needing to really stop and resize the belt. That adjustability makes it feel much more like a true EDC belt for me.
Something else to note is that the Hunter Constantine belt uses two loops that the buckle hooks into, which technically allows for some micro-adjustment. It does work, but for me, the spacing between those loops doesn’t give enough meaningful change to really matter. I usually end up using just one.
Another issue I’ve personally run into is that those loops are stiff and stand taller than the rest of the belt. Because of that, it becomes difficult to thread them through the belt loops on certain outside-the-waistband holsters. That’s the main reason I don’t use the HC belt for OWB anymore. For me, it’s strictly an inside-the-waistband belt unless I’m running a holster that doesn’t rely on traditional belt loops.
One thing the Hunter Constantine belt advertises heavily is that you can use it without belt loops, like with sweats or athletic shorts. And yes, you can do that. The belt sticks to your body well enough to conceal carry, but what I’ve found is that when I practice drawing and firing with this belt, I only get a limited number of draws before the belt starts to move and I need to adjust it.
Out of curiosity, I tested the AEGITEC belt the same way, without belt loops, and honestly, it performs about the same. I can draw from a holster, but again, after a few draws, I have to adjust. So in this specific scenario, I’d say both belts perform similarly, even though only one of them really markets that feature.
At the end of the day, I think both belts perform about the same in terms of comfort and general everyday use. Neither one is bad. Neither one is unusable. For me, what it really comes down to is ease of adjustment. Because the AEGITEC belt is faster and easier to adjust, I use it in more scenarios, more often, and with different carry setups.
And then there’s price. The AEGITEC belt costs around $40, while the Hunter Constantine belt is about $115. That’s a huge difference. For my money, and for how I actually carry day to day, I’d take the AEGITEC belt any day.
If you’ve used either of these belts, I’d be curious to hear your experience in the comments. And if you’re trying to decide between the two, hopefully this gives you a more realistic idea of how they compare in real use, not just on a product page.
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