Leather Gun Belt for Heavy Fullsize

[Chuck Whitlock]

I currently use Wilderness Frequent flyer belts 99.9% of the time.

If I dress up with an exposed holster, I use a Magpul Tejas belt. It is too stiff for me to use IWB, but it is certainly more than stiff enough to support OWB gear.

https://magpul.com/apparel-gear/acce...global_size=58

[rob_s]

My favorite leather belts are the ones I have from Andrews Leather
http://andrewsleather.com/

My one complaint is they seem to have shrunk over the 20+ years that I’ve owned them.

My every day belt now is from the Beltman. I’ve never seen a need for the stiffener, even when I carried a full-size steel 1911 and spare mag IWB every day.

Agree with the above about the 3/4” hole spacing being better. No, it won’t always be ideal, but even for me (I have stomach issues that make waistband comfort more of an issue than for most people) I’ve never not been able to find a hole that works.

I also don’t go in for all that overly stiff gun belt business that seems to be the result of too many garage belt makers. Maybe it’s because I never knew that my old Andrews belts and The Wilderness belts weren’t stiff enough, or maybe AIWB somehow requires a stiffer belt than OWB and IWB. Dunno. I’ve found many of the new breed of stiffer belts to be unwearably uncomfortable.

[BehindBlueI's]

I also don’t go in for all that overly stiff gun belt business that seems to be the result of too many garage belt makers.

I used to talk with Red Nichols quite a bit and he always said that a gun belt didn't need to be that stiff for a good holster, that only poorly designed holster relied on the rigidity of the belt. So, perhaps, the stiffness is catering to a crowd wearing less than ideal holsters. Or perhaps it's just marketing, I don't know, but his rely on the geometry of the curves and not rigidity.

[rob_s]

I used to talk with Red Nichols quite a bit and he always said that a gun belt didn't need to be that stiff for a good holster, that only poorly designed holster relied on the rigidity of the belt. So, perhaps, the stiffness is catering to a crowd wearing less than ideal holsters. Or perhaps it's just marketing, I don't know, but his rely on the geometry of the curves and not rigidity.

Not a bad theory.

Mine has long been that as garage makers entered the nylon belt market, and couldn’t replicate the perfect balance of vertical rigidity to horizontal flexibility that The Wilderness and properly made leather could, they were reduced to adding pvc layers and other voodoo to give them the vertical stability at the cost of horizontal flexibility. At some point it went full stupid with people actually praising the negative in some sort of misguided anti-boomer contrarian nonsense. Like people that actually claim to like that over-hopped flavor in beer.

There’s a reason people like Andrews and The Wilderness get this shit so right, and it’s pretty much the fact that they have decades of experience and customer feedback. Sumdood in his garage with an Instagram account thinking “I can do that” just ain’t the same thing.

[equin]

A better belt

I hope you don’t mind me being a copycat when I eventually get a new brown belt, but what color and thread is your belt? Is it the Rustic Brown with the white stitching?

[03RN]

I hope you don’t mind me being a copycat when I eventually get a new brown belt, but what color and thread is your belt? Is it the Rustic Brown with the white stitching?

I hope this helps
http://www.abetterbeltusa.com/ultimate-horse-belt/

[equin]

I hope this helps
http://www.abetterbeltusa.com/ultimate-horse-belt/

Thanks!

[Chuck Whitlock]

My favorite leather belts are the ones I have from Andrews Leather
http://andrewsleather.com/

My one complaint is they seem to have shrunk over the 20+ years that I’ve owned them.

+1!

I had a suede-lined Andrews belt that saw daily wear for ~13 years.

It didn't "fall apart" after that, but I began to notice that loops on holsters were a little looser. the belt had shrunk a little, from 1.5" > closer to 1.25", and the face of the leather was starting to wrinkle. I'm sure it was my lack of proper leather care....all I ever did was hit it with dye and/or Kiwi polish when the black started getting thin. I got far more than my money's worth.

[UNK]

Any local saddle shop also makes belts.

Any belt they make will be as stiff or stiffer than anything you'll buy from a leather 'gunbelt' maker.

They can do any width, taper, hole spacing, tooling, whatever.

That hasnt been my experience. I had a belt made to spec from a local saddle shop. Ill take one from JRC any day of the week . I have several and they are also my first choice for gifts even for people who don’t carry.
He is good people long time gun guy his daughter is a sponsored shooter. He is also a member here. @JRCHolsters

https://www.jrcholsters.com/