For those who might be unaware, the term ‘structural’ as it relates to cummerbunds began to be popularised in the late 2010s, as products began to appear which added rigidity to the sides of various plate carriers – as opposed to simply being made of soft cordura and webbing fabrics.
While the Equinox was not the first ever structural cummerbund on the market, it did quickly make a name for itself and became very popular in a short space of time.
In the package you’ll get both left and right sides and a pair of attachment shims made of a similar thermoplastic to the one that is sewn inside to the cummerbund to provide rigidity. You will also get a few lengths of elastic cord – both thick and thin, so you can choose your own level of flex/movement at the mounting point inside your rear plate bag.
Generally, if you are putting side plates, munitions and radios etc on your sides or if your main plates are heavy, then I would probably recommend the thicker cord. If it’s just a couple mags and some admin split between your left and right, then the thinner might do the job. Definitely something to test and adjust before you actually use your vest.
Your rear plate bag will need a grid of holes or PALS for threading and tying the bungee, if not then add a velcro adapter like the one from VXV I’ve shown here. AXL do of course sell these as well.
In this case I have the Equinox attached inside of the flap of the rear bag on the FirstSpear Strandhogg v3. Looks unconventional at first glance, but any cummerbund attached with velcro to the V3 (including the FS native options) attaches in the same manner. AXL has a whole list of compatible carriers on their site, and basically any modern design you might want to use will either be natively compatible, or is easily made so with the simple addition of a Tubes adapter in many cases.
The headline feature of the Equinox is a very sturdy core of a thick thermoplastic, resulting in one of the most rigid assemblies of any cummerbund on the market. If maximum strength is your goal, then the AXL offering should be high on your list of possible purchases. I don’t know whether they use Tegris or Curv for this, but both of those are sold in different thicknesses and AXL have clearly used one of the thickest variants that money can buy.
As with all considerations when it comes to kit, everything is a sliding scale. Greater stiffness in the cummerbund won’t necessarily be the ideal for everyone and every different gear configuration. Generally speaking however, having at least some structure to your cummerbund is beneficial for most users. Also don’t mistake the vertical stiffness here for lack of ability to curve around the torso.
Combining this sturdy construction with the FirstSpear Tubes for super quick and easy donning and removal of your carrier is an excellent overall proposition. Personally I have been an advocate of Tubes since even before they were ever sold, and once they were available back in 2012 I bought the first ever commercial Strandhogg with the specific wish of having the QD cummerbund it provided.
While metal rivets or grommets have become steadily more prevalent in gear manufacture in line with the introduction of materials like Tegris and Curv, I remain sceptical of them to some extent when compared to stitching with a proper thread. They are not inherently a bad thing and there are lot of them out there since many modern designs use them at important junctions; so I think it would be fair to say that they are proven in usage. With that said, I have seen a couple of examples online of very well used Equinox cummerbunds where the rivets holding the Tube in place have failed, either from snapping or being pulled through their mounting surfaces.
AXL do a good job with construction, this is not any sort of great issue and such problems are clearly extremely rare, but this is one small criticism I have of the design. The upside to it of course is that the Tube is locked in to place with utmost solidarity, so if the Tube on your front plate is also firmly secured then the join will be very solid overall, while also having the almost-instant QD ability.
Whether you have a Tube directly attached to your front plate bag or to the sides of your placard, the hardware is really well tucked away. The provided pull tabs use just the right amount of posi-lock cordage and small tabs of thermoplastic for a high level of grip.
One other very small criticism I do have, that is not at all specific to the Equinox but an issue with all 3-row cummerbunds, is that most munition pouches need 4-5 rows of PALS to be fully and properly secured. In the circumstance where you have a flapped pouch with velcro closure (which is most mag/grenade pouches), you can often be prevented from opening the flap with one hand as the bottom of the pouch is not supported and it will simply bend before the velcro separates. Only an issue with empty pouches and easily mitigated by raising the pouch (where pouch attachment permits) or by only using part of the surface area of velcro to close the flap. Personally however, I must admit, I will stick to 5-row cummerbunds that slim down to 3 rows at the back for future purchases to avoid this.
A bonus feature of the Equinox is the ability to mount Crye SPS products using their built-in channels with hook velcro rather than threading the PALS. The hook on the Crye pouches will mesh with the loop inside this cummerbund in the same way as on the horizontal side struts of the AVS harness.
Unfortunately when it comes to SPS style attachment, the very first column inside this cummerbund is blocked by the 2″ Tube, but there’s really no way around that. For most users, it would not be worth opening up the useless air gap between the sides of the front plate and the start of the cummerbund by moving the Tube further out on to the leading edge of the cummerbund. This is the right design choice overall.
Wrapped around the sturdy plastic core is a layer of laminated (i.e. 2 bonded layers) of your typical cordura fabric that is the standard for tactical equipment.
Interestingly, the plastic core is so thick that if you try and wrap your pouch PALS attachment straps over it, you will not be able to mount the pouch. This is not a negative at all, as you thread pouches outside of the core but over the cordura laminate and a secure mounting is easily achieved. But this nicely illustrates how thickly-constructed the Equinox actually is.
AXL offers the Equinox in 2 different sizes that will accommodate most people and in a wide range of colours/camos to suit all uniform requirements and/or private preferences.
Made in America, though where exactly is not stated so I am unable to comment on that. Pricing is right within the range of all the other US-made structural cummerbunds with Tubes included. Feel free to compare the AXL to feature-matched offerings from the likes of FirstSpear, Spiritus, Shaw and others and see which one suits your needs most closely.
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