Stable belts are not issued items. They are private purchase. The rules say that a unit cannot require anyone to buy such an item, but woe betide anyone who doesn’t buy one when its expected! The Victors pattern buckles were approved by the Para Regt and SAS in the 1960s. The Hobson versions came out in the 1980s but I’ve never seen one worn by either unit in the UK. The NZSAS bought a number of the Hobson versions and I’m told (but don’t know) that the Australian SASR used some of them in the 1980s before the Aussies stop using stable belts in the late 1980s/1990s. I understand that the Aussies are again allowing certain units to again wear stable belts now, hence the Platatac belt.
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