Duty gear, sometimes searched as police gear, covers everything an officer wears or carries on a belt or vest during a shift. That includes handcuffs, tourniquets, Tasers, OC spray, radios, flashlights, batons, narcan, and the cases that store and retain them. The complete setup varies by department, but we recommend every officer carries at least a tourniquet in addition to their standard handcuffs, flashlight, and radio.

Duty cases are the belt- or vest-mounted holders built to carry a specific device, like a handcuff, a tourniquet, or a flashlight. This piece of gear is often overlooked, but the method of carrying your equipment determines how fast it can be accessed, and how secure it is on a belt or outer carrier. It also determines an officer's appearance, which matters when trying to maintain a professional and approachable image.

Chain handcuffs connect the two cuffs with a short chain, which makes them faster and more forgiving to apply, especially on someone resisting or in a tight space, while giving the person in cuffs more mobility. Hinged handcuffs use a rigid hinge instead, which limits movement and gives the officer more control at the cost of being a bit slower to get on. Many patrol officers carry chain cuffs for routine, non-violent arrests and reach for hinged cuffs with a combative or high-risk subject. Browse our handcuffs to compare both styles.

Kydex and other injection-molded polymers hold their shape and release equipment consistently, which is why they're becoming more popular for handcuffs, radios, and other hard-sided duty gear — the rigid mold also tends to make reinsertion the easiest of any case material. Rigid cases are also waterproof and maintain and clean appearance longer than nylon pouches. Nylon remains the standard for more tactical environments, and tends to offer adjustable retention and flexibility, so you can dial the fit to your preference or use one pouch for multiple different items rather than relying on a fixed mold. Leather has mostly fallen out of daily use in duty gear, kept around for dress uniforms rather than working shifts. If your agency has an appearance code, basketweave or plain matte finishes on molded Kydex cases meet those standards without giving up modern retention.

Most duty cases and pouches fit 1.5- to 2.25-inch duty belts, the standard width used on patrol and tactical belts alike. Many designs use dedicated mounting options like a Tek-Lok, which allows the user to move and remount a pouch to their case repeatedly without needing to re-weave MOLLE. Velcro One Wraps are also a quick and easy and lightweight way to mount a pouch to a belt. If you're building a belt setup from scratch, check our lineup of duty belts.

Belt mounting keeps cases on the duty belt, typically using a Tek-Lok, and keeps placement consistent for a fast draw. MOLLE mounting allows gear to be mounted onto a vest or outer carrier, usually with a Malice Clip, Molle-Lok, or High Speed Gear clip. MOLLE has become more common as departments shift weight off the duty belt onto an outer vest. The right setup comes down to your department's policy and your own preference for where you carry gear.

Trauma medics and most departments point to the same core items for an officer's individual first aid kit (IFAK): a CoTCCC-approved tourniquet, hemostatic gauze, a chest seal, a pressure bandage, and nitrile gloves. These map to the M.A.R.C.H. priorities (Massive hemorrhage, Airway, Respiration, Circulation, Hypothermia) that TCCC guidelines use to address the most common preventable causes of death in the field. The kit should be mounted somewhere either hand can reach. Browse our IFAKs for pre-built options.