10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Batman’s Utility Belt
8. It Used To Get Taken… A Lot
Early in his career, several criminals managed to remove Batman's utility belt after capturing him. They were under the mistaken impression that the lack of the belt made the Dark Knight an easy target. They soon found out how wrong they were. In Star-Spangled Comics #89, a group of criminals captured Bruce and took his belt. With the help of scientists, they copied his belt and made similar ones for their own use. Their plan was thwarted by the Dynamic Duo.
In Detective Comics #185, the Dark Knight’s belt was taken a second time, and on this occasion, it passed through several hands. It was first found by a young boy and then passed into the hands of a homeless man, a pawn shop owner, and a leather collector. It finally ends up with some criminals, who Batman was able to lure into a trap and retrieve the belt from. Batman created duplicate utility belts for himself after this incident.
In more modern times, Batman has implemented a number of security measures to make stealing his belt more difficult. The belt is now set to emit an electrical charge to anyone who attempts to open it without the proper sequence. It is also set to fire out a knockout gas if tampered with. The pouches are now encoded, so only Bats or one of his trusted allies can open them.