GORUCK GR1 HIP-BELT MOD - UPDATE 07/27/2022


HOW TO MAKE AND INSTALL A HIP-BELT TO YOUR GORUCK RUCKSACK?
(UPDATED 07/27/2022)

I wrote this original post back in 2020! since then I’ve completed a lot of personal ruck challenges over many miles and many, many lbs of weight in my ruck using this config and it worked out fine.
However I’ve come up with some updates to the original to make it stronger easy to use and more comfortable, I’ve tacked these findings to the bottom of the original post so if you’ve already read the post just skip to THE UPDATE at the bottom of the page.

A few months ago VANQUEST sent me an IBEX26 (plus other gear) for tests, use and reconfigure shenanigans. This is on-going project but of all the major things this most excellent back pack showed me, was just how great a padded Hip-Belt is!

You may be surprised to discover then, that this post isn’t actually about how great the IBEX Hip-Belt is, indeed I’ve already posted about it HERE but to answer the question - How can I make a padded Hip-Belt and fit to my GORUCK GR1 26L? in such away that if you wanted to do the same, you could do so, cheaply and easily?

Generally GORUCKs don’t have Hip-Belt unless you buy a GR3 or a new SPEED RUCK! And as you may have guessed I do like GORUCKs : ) for everything from EDC to one-pack-cabin-friendly-travel, to big old day hikes. It is this last task that I think a decent Hip-Belt config is needed and as I said earlier, I was reminded just how much easier it is to carry weight with a Hip-Belt!

THE COMPLETED HIP-BELT REMOVED AND SHOWING THE SLICK CLIP MOUNTING SYSTEM

WHAT IS A HIP-BELT?
A Hip-Belt is just that, a belt, solidly attached to the rucksack so that some of the packs weight can be carried on the hips, so taking the rest of the burden off the shoulders. These days most large rucksacks come with Hip-Belt as standard and shouldn’t be confused with a waist belt, which can be a 1” - 2” wide belt which is more for stabilising a backpack, pulling it into the body and stopping it from swings around, super useful when running or high activities.

WHY DO I NEED A HIP-BELT?
In theory, smaller packs such as the GORUCK GR1 26L don’t need one but I’ve found that weight has no prejudice to size. i.e. heavy weight does not always equal large volume therefor I have found that my relatively small GORUCK needs a Hip-Belt sometimes.

HOW TO MAKE A PADDED HIP-BELT
First the part list, you will need:

1. X1 ONETIGRIS Patrol Belt 
2. X4, 1” DURAFLEX Split Bar Ladder lock Buckles 
3. X4, MIL-TEC 1” Webbing Straps
4. X4 DURAFLEX Siamese Slick Clips

THIS IS A SIMPLE MOD YOU CAN MAKE TO YOUR GORUCK - THE PARTS

X1, ONETIGRIS Patrol Belt with a 2” webbing belt, quick release buckle and 2 or 3 rows of MOLLE that go around the entire belt as per the belt I bought from OneTigris. The OneTigris Patrol Belt is an excellent option for this config, it does everything I needed it to, it’s also cheep, available in different sizes and 3 colors. If the GORUCK Hip-Belt config really works for me I might invest in a better belt as per the Triple Aught Designs Stability Belt which is actually designed to be used as a Hip-Belt  There maybe other options out there but to be honest, I haven’t researched them for this post.

X4, 1” DURAFLEX Split Bar Ladder lock Buckles - These will be used to attach and adjust the 4 attachment straps to the Hip-Belt  You need to add these to your Hip-Belt MOLLE positioned at the same width as your GORUCK. I’ve added mine to the top and bottom row of MOLLE so corresponding to the same of the GORUCK.

STRONG SPLIT BAR LADDER LOCK BUCKLES ARE KEY FOR THIS MOD

SPLIT BAR LADDER LOCK BUCKLES FITTED TO THE HIP-BELT MOLLE

ATTACHMENT BUCKLES HOT-TIP
I’m not going to lie, I found installing the Split Bar Ladder locks to the MOLLE field of the Patrol Belt really difficult.

LADDER LOCK FITTED, ABOVE THE MOUNTING STRAP WITH SLICK CLIP IS READY TO THREAD INTO THE BUCKLE

X4, MIL-TEC 1” Webbing Straps - These will used to actually attach the Hip-Belt to your GORUCK and what we need to end up with is a strap with a strong loop and one end, it may be possible to to buy these somewhere but I haven’t been  able to find any so I bough X4 adjustable straps and removed the plastic buckle leaving me with what I needed.

ALL COMPONENTS COMING TOGETHER

THE MOUNTING STRAPS ARE CUT A LITTLE LONGER THAN NEEDED SO THEY CAN BE LOCKED OFF, MAKING THEM LESS LIKLY TO WORK LOSE

ATTACHMENT STRAPS HOT-TIP
Once you’ve built everything up and strapped all to your GORUCK I suggest not cutting your adjustment straps down until you’re sure and happy with your config. Instead roll up the lose and tidy up with web dominators. Once you have used your new rig a few times and you think you’re happy with it, then cut the straps to length.

ATTACHING THE NEWLY CONSTRUCTED HIP-BELT SYSTEM TO THE BOTTUM 2 ROWS OF MOLLE, ON THE SIDES OF YOUR GORUCK GR1

ATTACHMENT COMPLETE AND LOOKING VERY SLICK

X4, DURAFLEX Siamese Slick Clips - These will be used to attach your new Hip-Belt config to your GORUCK. This was actually the toughest part of this config to find a solution for. I liked the look of the Slick clips but initially rejected them out of hand for strength reasons. After lots of Google search’s and coming up with nothing, I thought I’d try the Slick Clips for strength you never know they might be stronger than I think. So I threaded some 1” webbing strap through both sides of the Slick clip and gave it a pull, I could not pull the clip apart! I was impressed, surprise and pleased the Slick clips looked to be perfectly strong enough for this task.

THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE MODS ALL FINISHED AND MOUNTED UP. THE NEW HIP-BELT MOD LOOKS LIKE IT WAS FACTORY MADE

IN CONCLUSION


So far the GORUCK HIP-BELT MOD looks like a really good solution to the lack of an integrated Hip-Belt for most GORUCKs. Is it better than a GORUCK after market Hip-Belt? I don't know that product but do I think this mod is an option, especially if you don't live in the US and shipping and import tax are an issue. It’s comfortable and does the job of shifting pack weight to your hips very well. As I write, I’ve used this config for two day Hike Rucks; One of 16 miles, the other 20 miles, it just worked and felt as if the rucksack had left the factory with it included. Very pleased, it looks like this config is going to make my Hikes and Rucks much more comfortable from now on.

HIP-BELT MOUNTED DETAIL


HIP-BELT FITTED TO A GR1 26L AND WORN BY A PERSON WHO IS 5'11 TALL


IMPORTANT TO THREAD THE LOWER SHOULDER STRAP BETWEEN THE HIP-BELT MOUNTING STRAPS. THIS ALLOWS THE HIP-BELT TO FIT AROUND THE WAIST COMFORTABLY


20.2 MI, 7:04 HRS THAT WAS A TOUGH RUCK IN THE MUD BUT THE HIP-BELT WORKED OUT GREAT

THE UPDATE - 07/27/2022

The first two parts of this update apply to how the belt attaches to the GORUCK. The third applies to issues of adjustability of the belt.

NEW BELT INSTALLED

THE SLICK CLIPS
The original config had the slick clips attached to the webbing strap using one half of the clip, this has never failed but always bugged me that it could, so what to do? The update here is that I’ve attached the slick click by threading the looped strap onto the centre bar of the click. Structurally this must be a stronger way to attach and, “BONUS”, leaves us with not one but two clips to attach to the bottom 2 rows of GORUCK side MOLLE. (Twice as strong).

ATTACH THE SLICK CLIP VIA THE CENTRE BAR


MIDDLE  ATTACHMENT
Now with have the slick clips attached in an improved way, we have two parts of the clip we can use to attach the belt to the GORUCK. In the original comfig I attached using one MOLLE column? Looking at this now I can’t believe I did it like that, it’s never failed but with just a bit more thought, using the same parts in a slightly different way we dramatically improve the performance and reduce the likelihood of failure (love that) Here I’ve attached, using both parts of the click either side of the bartacked MOLLE column, two clips better than one and if the bartack ever fails the MOLLE strap will still be sewn to the bag so the belt won’t completely fall off and you can continue your ruck.

ATTACH THE SLICK CLIP BOTH SIDES OF THE CENTRE MOLLE BARTACK



JUST TRYING TO SHOW YOU WHAT I MEAN BY; CENTRE MOLLY BARTACK


BELT ATTACHED, HOW IT SHOULD LOOK

To recap; stronger anchoring to the belt and MOLLE attachment that’s twice as strong. Remember this is the same parts just used in a different way!

ADJUSTABLE BELT IMPROVED
So this was an issue that raised its head almost straight away. Originally I chose the ONETIGRIS Patrol Belt to build this project around mostly because of the MOLLE configuration making to possible to attach it to my GORUCK in the way I wanted. But the ONETIGRIS Patrol Belt is difficult to size adjust and impossible to do so while rucking. The solution is to remove the standard hook and loop adjustable belt and replace with a 2” wide adjustable waist belt and “BAMM”, problem solved.

NEW WEBBING BELT READY TO SLIDE INTO THE PADDED MOLLE THE HIP BELT 


DONE!


ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS
Since a I wrote the original blog post back in 2020 alternatives to the ONETIGRIS Patrol Belt have come to market, I.E.


In my opinion the above seem better then my first recommendation as they come straight out of the box with an easily adjustable belt and has the configuration of MOLLE that not only allows to mount to a GORUCK as described above but have plenty of MOLLE for water bottles and utility pouches. The world moves on and we move with it but it needs to be said, I’ve not tested any of these belts although they do look like strong alternatives.

There we have it! stronger and more adjustable and ready for my next PERSONAL RUCK CHALLENGE : )

ORGINAL PARTS LIST:

Comments

  1. This is just what I was looking for! I am surprised those Saimese Slick clips are strong enough, but if it has work for you, then I guess they work!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi SMT
    Re. Slick Clips strength, so-far-so-good. If you don't think they're going to be strong enough for you, you could swap out for carabiners. That was my origninal thinking. Thanks for your comment and good luck with your modding.

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  3. I’m so glad I found this site! I am new to rucking and loving it. Great mod you shared. I’ve got a GR1 I’m making my own as I Ruck the word. I’ll keep searching your page for more great content!
    Thanks again
    Vince

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Vince

    Thank you very much for your measage and for reaching out.
    I'm pleased that you find my mods and configs useful.
    Do send me some pics of your own reconfigured GR1 when you're finished and you're happy with it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Neil,
    Do you have alternate sources for some of the parts listed? Amazon did have a few of the items.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Any update on how well this has held up? Is the molle on the bag tearing at all?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry for the slow reply - So far so good - In full disclosure, for most of my Rucks/Hikes I carry about 30lbs inc water, I've only done 2 Rucks carrying 40lbs, one 6miles and another for 20 miles but all looks good. FYI I also use this config for running but obviously, with a lot less weight : )

      Delete
  7. Has anyone tried this on a 10L Bullet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jadine - Quick answer is yes and it works quite well, I'm actually going to write a blog post about it. Basically instead of attaching the hipbelt to the GORUCK side MOLLE, attach it to the front by extending the HipBelts attachment straps a bit. I hope this helps and do let me know how you get on if your try it.

      Delete
  8. Are you still happy with this set up?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi James
      Really sorry of the slow reply.
      Quick answer is yep! pretty happy although I have up graded it a bit.
      1. I've swapped out the belt for a unit that's easier to adjust.
      2. I've remounted the slick clips via the central bar so it's stronger.
      I'll update the blog post soon.

      Thanks very much for your comment buddy.

      Delete
    2. Looking forward to that update! I’m setting up a GR1 in this manner and would love to see how you’ve improved it

      Delete
    3. Hi James - I'll consider that an order : ) Thanks once again for your interest buddy.

      Delete

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