Belts
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so, here is my current rotation:
somehow I developed the spleen having a belt from the same brand to go with the jeans (if available in a satisfying quality/design).
Studio D'Artisan - probably my favorite belts at the moment…
Pherrow's - the best leather (IMO), so far…
Fjällräven - actually not a denim brand, but it has aged fairly well…
Iron Heart - very nice indeed, I have ordered another one in tan - the leather is very "elastic"…
Pike Place Market / Seattle - a nice souvenir - like the buckle - a cheap alternative to the above…
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I only wear 2" belts.
wow that limits your choices quite substantially.
Trying to get a sense of the heft of the IH belt since I'm in middle America and can't hold one in my hands without buying one…
I have a Tanner heavy duty 13 oz. belt (http://ow.ly/3uflT) which I like, and I'm shopping for a black belt. I purchased a black Tanner belt in 11 oz. (they don't offer a 13 oz. in black) but it seemed plainly thin compared to the heavy duty.
Can anyone provide opinions on the IH belt compared to either Tanner's 11 or 13 oz. offerings… Of course either belt could stand up to anything I could put it through, but when you can go heavy duty, well why not?
I'll answer my own question here. I acquired an IHB-02 in brown. It's a little thinner than the Tanner heavy duty I own, and the Tanner is much stiffer and has virtually no stretch to it; the IHB-02, on the other hand, certainly has a little stretch to it. The Tanner leather feels a bit denser than the Iron Heart.
The Tanner heavy duty is advertised as a 13 oz, with their regular belts offered as 11 oz, but the Tanner folks will actually tell you the HD leather is often closer to 15 oz. I'd guess the Iron Heart is around a 13 oz leather.
Both very nice belts. I'll keep and enjoy them both.
thanks that helps alot.
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So even though he didn't have to Giles got me a new brown IHB-02 leather, and the new one is very different than the one I had. Stiff with zero stretch, perfect, and just a hair thinner than my Tanner heavy belt. A great belt, it now lives on my SR's.
do you know the reason behind the difference? change of leather stock or a one off?
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The leather on my belt was soft and the edges were fraying and bleeding color terribly. I took it to a repair shop that tried to burnish and wax the edges but it didn't help.
I contacted Giles and was going to send it to him to check out and see what he thought, but he just straight up replaced it for me. He really was under no obligation to me. The replacement leather he sent me was very different, stiff, smooth shaved edges, no problems.
The impression I got was that the belt I had was too soft for such a thick belt, as if it were treated (oiled?) a bit too much but I don't know. I still have it, it's just sitting in a drawer…
Giles stood behind a product I didn't even buy from him. He's earned my business for life. I'm gradually trying to repay him by buying way too much Iron Heart from him...
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Brand Belts vs. Custom belts
Hello guys,
I have a couple of belts from Unlucky, now looking at photos of samurai, Ih and strike gold belts, japanese brands in general, they seem more refined in the edges. I dont know if this may be a photo effect, any experience comparing brand belts vs. custom like unlucky, hollows etc? do brand belts maybe have a factory machine that cut them cleaner?
cheers!
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Brand Belts vs. Custom belts
Hello guys,
I have a couple of belts from Unlucky, now looking at photos of samurai, Ih and strike gold belts, japanese brands in general, they seem more refined in the edges. I dont know if this may be a photo effect, any experience comparing brand belts vs. custom like unlucky, hollows etc? do brand belts maybe have a factory machine that cut them cleaner?
cheers!
Do you mean that they bevel the edge?
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Wow, that's a good looking albeit pricey belt. If Scott Willis is the same person I have dealt with, the price of the belt would be much, much cheaper.
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i ordered one in tan
the reason for me to get this belt-Heavy duty stainless steel roller buckle made from 316 marine grade steel.(not cheap and rattling die-cast buckles
like most belt….expensive IH, DRY BONES,SHUGAR CANE or Samurai belts too-(1/ 3/4 inch) 44mm bull hide...particular the 44mm
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Good reasons enough. I agree, heavy duty buckles are very hard to find.
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Ive been busy and haven't taken the time to switch over these buckles yet… turns out the hardware on these things wont accommodate my tanner belts because the metal loop that swings down that you slide the belt through tapers inward up towards the buckle so... its too tight a fit. Won't even insert past an inch or so. I spoke to the guy that created them and he said he had some ideas that would work, but i havent heard back from him in awhile now.. he told me he has to keep going out of town (my buckles even initially shipped way way later than they were supposed to)
Does anyone have experience making modification to belt buckle hardware? I feel like if i got some pliers and pulled that little swing bar apart and put a bigger one on it, they would be fine? But i dont really know how to do it or a good place to get the parts?
Ok… super belated update on this hardware issue. Mark Joiner apologized that the hardware wouldn't fit even though he told me they definitely would prior to ordering... after i contacted him and explained everything he asked me to send photos showing him the issue then turned around and said he could fix it no problem... he had me send back a brand new tanner belt i had along with both of his buckles so he could fix it for me. It took him FOREVER to reply... several months. Finally he replied and said that he couldn't fix it with the hardware he had and that he would figure something out. Several months more passed before i heard from him again and that was only after i eventually emailed him again after getting tired of waiting. Finally after like a year and a half he said he was embarassed and that he would send back my belt and issue me a refund ASAP. It took him an extremely long time to ship back the belt and he forgot to ship back the roller buckle with it... never issued me a refund. Kept promising me the refund. Never came. Now his e-mail and phone numbers he gave me recently do not work. Even he admitted that i had been very patient and that he had been unprofessional. I am extremely disappointed in this guy and i only bring it up now so it doesnt happen to any other forum members that might see this thread and think... "whoa, those are cool buckles!" haha
