AO Review: 5.11 Tactical Maverick EDC 1.5 Belt – Confidently Strapped

5.11 has supplanted itself in the market as a provider of a wide variety of gear and has really made the term tactical even more mainstream in the last few years. Providing everything from workout shorts and sandbags to hiking backpacks and combat pants they really do have their fingers in many markets these days. While everyone and their brother has begun making everyday carry-style gunbelts, 5.11 was one of the original companies do so. Recently they released their hybrid-style Maverick EDC 1.5 Belt to the market and sent me a copy to review.

5.11 Tactical Coverage on AllOutdoor

The 5.11® Maverick EDC 1.5 Belt was provided by 5.11 for this review and while I am allowed to keep the product indefinitely, this will not change my opinion on this product or any of 5.11’s current or past offerings.
I have taken the 5.11® Maverick EDC 1.5 Belt on many EDC outings over the past several months but have not used it on a very consistent basis at this point in time, read the review to find out why.

Specs – 5.11 Tactical Maverick EDC 1.5 Belt

Weight: 7.5 oz
Color Options: Black, Coyote Brown, OD Green
Belt Sizes: Small – 2XL
Buckle Type & Material: Cobra Buckle – 1″ Male | 1.5″ Female, Aluminum
Belt Material: Nylon Webbing
MSRP: $95.00

Fit and Comfort – 5.11 Tactical Maverick EDC 1.5 Belt

When it comes to nylon-based gun belts. The market has certainly plateaued in recent years in terms of innovation. Many companies now offer EDC-style gun belts at pretty decent prices, so 511 had to think of something unique to make their product stand out on the market.

While most of the Maverick, EDC 1.5 gun belt is pretty standard and certainly not unique, there is one aspect that is a little bit different. Most buckles on belts stay the same size if your male buckle is 2 inches then, so will the female buckle. When it comes to cobra buckles, you can actually get away with using a 2-inch female buckle that can fit with a 1.5-inch male buckle. One of the reasons for doing this is because most pants including even tactical pants, don’t have 2-inch belt loops on them, making it difficult to thread a, 2-inch gun belt through the pants. By having a 1.5-inch male buckle. This means that it is much easier to thread the buckle through the pant loops on tactical and traditional pants.

While this all sounds good in theory, it can still be a bit of a pain to loop the 2-inch buckle of the belt onto any set of pants. The only reason I’m even talking about this is that a company called Blue Alpha Gear has already solved this problem by having an entire cobra belt that is no wider than 1.5 inches. I don’t think Blue Alpha has the patent on this, but I don’t understand why 5.11 didn’t simply just include a 1.5-inch female buckle to go with the 1.5-inch male buckle for this belt. It’s kind of perplexing to me.

For comparison here are a few images that show how the ears on the 5.11 belt are much wider than the ears on the Blue Alpha Belt, while it may look like a subtle difference, those ears and the increased overall size of the female buckle make putting this belt on just annoying enough to make me not want to use it.

Aside from the strange choice in buckle sizing, this belt is just as comfortable as any other rigid, double-layered, nylon gun belt you’ve probably worn before. One thing I do appreciate on this belt is that it comes pre-curved making it worse likely to dig into your body when you really cinch down the belt. The hook and loop field is very wide and allows for around 14 inches of adjustability for the belt. This means that even if you get a version of the belt that is a bit too large or small for you you should be able to still adjust it to your body, in theory.

Usability – 5.11 Tactical Maverick EDC 1.5 Belt

Since this belt is a little bit more difficult to get on, then I would like the useability is going to be a little bit lower for me. This is still a well-made, well-designed rigid belt, that certainly holds up well to being used to carry a firearm. I typically carried a Glock 43X in a minimalistic holster with this belt and had no issues aside from one tiny thing. I like to wear more athletic-style clothes. Therefore, my clothes are usually closer to my body. This presents a challenge when it comes to conceal carrying a handgun in the appendix position. I have found with other belts that the slimmer the belt, the better I carry, the gun, and the less I print.

Personally, I found that the buckle actually sticks out further than the gun meaning that the belt was actually printing more than my Glock. Obviously, this is a case-by-case basis, and not everybody will have this same outcome, but just something I wanted to highlight from my perspective. The cobra buckle works great as it should, and all the Velcro is very strong on the belt.

Competitive Options – 5.11 Tactical Maverick EDC 1.5 Belt

Likes

Well constructed

Dislikes

Mix Mached buckle sizes
Expensive when compared to the competition
Only available in 3 colors

Wrap Up – 5.11 Tactical Maverick EDC 1.5 Belt

And I think that the 5.11 Maverick EDC belt is good in a vacuum. It offers good rigidity in the belt with a solid lock-up from the cobra buckle and comes in several colors. Normally, this is the part of the review where I say I think this is a great option for everyone but unfortunately, as stated at the beginning of this article, there are lots of other companies making belts. When you compare this belt to other offerings on the market, it quickly starts to lose its luster.

The aforementioned Blue Alpha Gear Hybrid EDC belt seems like a much superior product to this and also comes with a true 1.5-inch male and female buckle, that is also produced in America. High Speed Gear offers their Vigill EDC built that while I have not tested has a very intriguing locking system on it. The real kicker here is the price. This is one of the more expensive cobra buckle EDC belts you’ll find on the market which is strange because usually, 5.11 makes a product that is more budget-friendly. In the end, I think that this belt needs some improvements and hopefully 5.11 listens to some of the user feedback and fix some of this belts flaws or develop some thing new and exciting.

Patrik Orcutt

Patrik Orcutt is currently a writer for AllOutdoor who has chosen not to write a short bio at this time.