Guppy
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 4,286
- Location
- Cleveland, OH
I'm looking forward to enjoying the belt. It's certainly going to be one of the better values in my closet, that's for sure.
I know that businesses have other expenses to consider: advertising, taxes, insurance, and all kinds of other things. So it's not surprising that a hobbyist/craftsman can undercut what a company can charge. It does help to know what something costs to know what the value proposition of buying it is.
I've owned a lot of cheap belts, and they've held up decently and served well for the time that I had them. I never thought all that much about them. Most of the ones I owned were decent quality, especially for the price, and were made out of a single piece of real leather, probably produced with great economies of scale by a large factory employing dirt cheap labor. But they weren't total junk; they held up for years of daily wear, and didn't split on me or fail. I mostly changed them out due to my waist size changing or because of my style preference changing, not because it wore out or failed.
Then About 12 years ago, a small business opened up a block from my house that made custom gun holsters and they also happened to sell leather belts. I bought one, and it was amazing. A good 1/4" thick solid strap, 1.5 inch wide, stiff as heck, but broke in quick and was my daily wear for a good 8-9 years, every single day. Sadly the shop went out of business a few years ago.
In the last 4-5 years I've bought a bunch of different belts, because I'm spoiled frankly, not because I needed another belt, but because I wanted to re-experience that break-in process with other super thick belts, just in different colors than black.
My best quality belts, without question, are Dal-Tech Bull Belts and Hanks Belts.
Dal-Tech belts are generally under $45-55 and up, although they have some exotics that are quite a bit more than that. They will last you for life, and then some. The leather they use is something like 17-19oz. thickness -- a quarter of an inch thick.
Hanks are $70-140, depending on the model and the material, and aren't any thicker or sturdier, but they're just as well made and they have a few different styles that Dal-Tech doesn't. They top out at 17oz, as well. It's certainly overkill unless you're wearing it as a utility or duty belt. 8-9oz leather is plenty sturdy enough for holding up your pants.
Hanks boast a 100 year warranty, which I don't expect to ever need, but they proudly stand behind their product. Both Dal-Tech and Hanks are made in the USA.
I don't know the tannage of the leather they use, and for the most part I don't care. It doesn't matter, other than to satisfy curiosity. They're plenty sturdy, and they look nice. They do everything I need a belt to do, except maybe go with a business suit or tuxedo.
Now, If I want a natural CXL or Color #8 CXL belt to go with a particular pair of shoes/boots, or jacket, they're not going to have that, and I'll be willing to pay the going rate. On the other hand, if I don't need to pay more to get something particular like that, why would I? So I was really happy to jump on @Maxwell Von Chesapeake's mighty generous offer when I saw it.
I'm sure with some brands you're paying more for the name. I find that the value and quality of Dal-Tech products especially to be excellent.
Other makers I've looked at: Nicks Boots, Langlitz, Vanson... they're purely making money with accessories that match exactly with the material that they make their main product out of, and they seem to pad a good profit margin into them for that reason. If you want to spend $800 on a pair of boots, or $1200 on a leather jacket, and you want a belt to match it, where else are you going to go?
I guess if I could make top belts all day for $40 and sell them for $100+, I probably would. It seems like it'd be a pretty good business to get into with that kind of margin. It doesn't seem like you'd need a lot of tooling to get set up, a small basement workshop, relatively cheap web hosting and advertising budget, a little bit of advertising, and you could have a nice little side hustle.
