Belts

[aleopold]

riff, that is gorgeous! must spread..

[salaami]

that SC belt has taken on a beautiful patina riff. and it can withstand years of more abuse/love.

[M.O.A]

yeah it looks great.

[krakatu]

@riff - the belt looks great!!!

[riff]

Thanks for the kind words & rep, guys

Kix, my first Tanner is as sweet (in the evo thread somewhere) - now working on Tanner #2.... Will update in a few years!

[ranonranonarat]

this levis belt was given to me around 5-6 years ago. it has held up pretty well, no oiling of any sort. it has worn down pretty much and i wont be replacing it till it falls apart. you can see the paint on the buckle has flaked off considerably.

[aleopold]

must spread ran.. beautiful

[crownzip]

About five years ago RRL produced a cool studded belt.

[TallyHo]

i ordered a 1.5" natural british bridle leather belt, #3 buckle (garrison style) in polished brass. here are some pics:

with flash (most accurate leather color - we all know how natural leather looks new):

^ my LGC belt new. full post here if interested.

my LGC belt now - 1 year on, no treatments:

i may try to take some better shots, but these are a pretty accurate representation of the color. this belt is spectacular and will continue to be my everyday belt for years to come. i wish i could have gotten some more detailed photos of the brass because it is really starting to look great...

[indigo_junkie]

Two belts arrived for me today!

My RHolmes hand tooled belt and my Tender tan belt.

I'm gobsmacked by how awesome the RH belt is. Cheap hardware unfortunately (compared to the solid brass used on the Tender), but that can be remedied very quickly (chicago screws).

[tahonng]

This is my Naked & Famous natural leather belt, I've been wearing it for around 2 months it started like this.

The pictures are a little darker than real life, but for $30 on sale with a coupon code, it was a pretty good price.

This is cool.

I've been looking at it for awhile now, but I don't know what size to get. And it's not gonna be for $30, more like $60. Would you say it was still worth it? Could it work for other styles of pants, and not just jeans?

[M.O.A]

I may be a bit biased but I can't get down on the quality of those N and F belts... They just looked half-assed. At least the tear-drop holes look cool.

[klue]

new style belts http://hartforddenimcompany.com/?page_id=159

[kiya]

I say this with no bias, even though some might think otherwise...

The cheaper belts that we see in this thread don't end up looking as nice as the ones which cost more (which we assume start with a higher quality leather).

Even from my knowledge i would think that all price levels of leathers would start out on an even playing field but from viewing the sixty pages of this thread it seams that is definitely not the case.

[mikecch]

I say this with no bias, even though some might think otherwise...

The cheaper belts that we see in this thread don't end up looking as nice as the ones which cost more (which we assume start with a higher quality leather).

Even from my knowledge i would think that all price levels of leathers would start out on an even playing field but from viewing the sixty pages of this thread it seams that is definitely not the case.

Completely agree. Just spent the last hour or so looking at the first 80 pages - it seems like the quality of the hide from many of the cheaper alternatives are nowhere near the more expensive belts (as evident in the grain peeling, creasing, etc).

Even though sometimes the thickness may be the same, this is no guarantee that the weave of the fibres in the corium will be of similar angle, integrity of density. I also think more attention needs to be paid to the selection of the hide in terms of grain quality & junction integrity, etc if we're going pay big bucks for a simple belt. I definitely don't think all 5mm thick leather are the same.

I'm happy to pay more for the Japanese makes because they obsess about things like the age of the animal, the body portion from which the hide is cut, the proportion of fat in the layers of the hide, and even what the animal feeds on during life, etc - this means the belt I'm getting will always have a high quality hide to start with.

I really like zk's approach to belt design and construction:

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/zk2006/4620670

I've ordered the type II belt and I'm still waiting for it to arrive...

[MikeS]

new style belts http://hartforddenimcompany.com/?page_id=159

Dont ask why, but I really like some of those hideous belts...

[aaronxxx]

does anyone else own a belt from KCs? i have a black belt from them that i've had a for years but i think i'm going to get a natural belt from them before the end of the year.

[MikeS]

I really like zk's approach to belt design and construction:

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/zk2006/4620670

Had an extra piece of scrap strap leather so I decided to bite that design on the key holder. One piece with no stiching, GREAT design...

I made it rather fast since it was a scrap/crappy piece of leather. I may try it again with a good piece of strap since its such a good design.

[laxlife1234]

Unless anyone didn't know, they are having a sale at corter, I just purchased a belt from there from $75->$61. Good deal

[coleslawyum]

does anyone else own a belt from KCs? i have a black belt from them that i've had a for years but i think i'm going to get a natural belt from them before the end of the year.

Yeah, quality is pretty nice. They also do some stuff for other companies, so you might have come across them already without knowing. Definitely recommended.

[mdngnd]

Made from a Tandy belt blank for maybe $12. This is it after a couple months of wear on and off (I have a cinch, so it's redundant):

Oiled it because I was sick of getting water stains:

The result:

[hollowsleather]

Xposted from PYC. Shows some good belt evo.

Made a new wallet today to match my Clint Eastwood belt. I've been wearing this belt more lately, and it's been ages since I made anything for myself!

[mikecch]

Oiling & waxing my Dolce Vita x Clever belt today:

6 mm thick US steer hide

[corter]

I say this with no bias, even though some might think otherwise...

The cheaper belts that we see in this thread don't end up looking as nice as the ones which cost more (which we assume start with a higher quality leather).

Even from my knowledge i would think that all price levels of leathers would start out on an even playing field but from viewing the sixty pages of this thread it seams that is definitely not the case.

I think that it's a combination. A bad hide is a bad hide, however I think a lot of people buying less expensive belts aren't very sure how to take care of them. I also think people buying $200 belts try to justify the expense, when a lot of times you just can't, besides taking into account hammered and hand made buckles. For example, this was the first belt I ever made- a $6 Tandy belt blank. Sure, it's thin. But I tanned it properly, wore it normal, and oiled it every few months, and this was the result when I moved on after about a year of wear...pretty nice I think:

This is the belt I posted a couple pages back after about a month, some tanning, but no oil yet- I wanted to get it dipped in salt water first to try something out. It looks pretty good, but once I oil it and slick the edges back it'll be ready to go.

[kiya]

I don't really agree with that, you shouldn't have to oil or condition a belt for it to age well. Really high quality hides have a certain cell make-up which allows them to age without cracking even under extreme conditions and requires no tanning or oiling whatsoever by the owner.

[mikecch]

I don't really agree with that, you shouldn't have to oil or condition a belt for it to age well. Really high quality hides have a certain cell make-up which allows them to age without cracking even under extreme conditions and requires no tanning or oiling whatsoever by the owner.

You mean differences in the cellular organisation of the three principle layers and the extracellular collagen matrix, or the leather treatment processes?

Actually, I would be very interested in knowing exactly what the differences are between the Dolce Vita belt shown above (which cost me around $100) and the $200 TFH belts or the $300+ Red Moon belts?

To be honest, for belting purposes I did not notice any advantages which my RM belt offered over my Dolce Vita belt - and at more than twice the price, I was expecting something tangible.

[Guest I LOVE LFC]

Pics of your RM belt please next too the dolce vita if poss.

[corter]

Kiya I think you're right in a sense that belts, when worn normally, will be exposed to sun and oil (from hands and body) to stay hydrated. That post should have been more focused on saying that most any natural belt can look good, and will tan- it just might take some oil to prevent cracking or extra sun to get a nice color. I don't particularly like having flesh toned leather things for the first 4 months of owning em, so I tan my stuff. But it is personal preference.

However regardless of the animal's cell makeup or the quality of the leather, vegetable-tanning as a process is completely natural. Converting skin to leather in veg tanning involves lowering the pH levels of the collagen so that the cells accepts the enzymes in the Tannin, which in turn bond with and stabilize proteins- basically creating a skin that won't decompose. Since the collagen has now been converted and the cells are no longer alive , I don't see how a completely natural, self hydrating vegetable tanned leather is possible without a synthetic addition, which would no longer make it veg- tanned to start with. From my understanding of the process, and because of the lack of collagen and living cells, veg tanned leather of any quality would crack when completely dry because chemically it can't do anything to mend itself. Do you have any further information on it?

[corter]

You mean differences in the cellular organisation of the three principle layers and the extracellular collagen matrix, or the leather treatment processes?

.

This confuses the hell out of me. I want to know, please.

I've always thought a lot of the difference in price is exchange rate-based kinda? I don't really know, it'd be interesting to find out.

[yo_mj]

Mikecch: Organization*.

Excuse my pet peeve.