Elastic ALWAYS breaks down and is made from polymers and nylon crap.
Horrible advice. Buy good quality leather and it lasts decades.
Shit advice OP.
this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2026
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Buy it for Life
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Buy good quality leather and it lasts decades.
Where can I find these? Every time a belt wears out I buy a more expensive leather one looking for one that will last. I have not yet found one that stays in good enough shape to wear to work after a year of use. I'm buying new belts every year and moving last years belts to my home/rough jeans use.
A flea market. Find a local leather worker and they can make one super fast with good quality leather. "Genuine Leather" is one of the lowest quality leathers out there.
You'll probably need to take care of it if you want it for work. Cleaning and conditioning it.
Personally, I avoid belts that are narrow, like 1" wide, as I think they like to twist more if they have to do a lot of lifting.
I bought mine at artisan fairs, from leatherworkers. Been wearing it for more than five years now every day. It shows a bit of wear, but I think it will last at least another five
Best advice is to learn how to identify real leather vs laminated shit. Once you can tell by sight, smell, feel you can thrift great items. Also going to markets and craft fairs, you can stumble across artisan leather makers (but even then you gotta make sure they are using quality products)
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I bought a traditional leather belt a few years ago from Hank's Belts. They have a lifetime warranty on their belts, and so far is shows no sign of wear despite daily use. Most of your "department store" belts are made from leather "sawdust" glued together and they will not last since the glue breaks down. Leather itself will last a lifetime. There are several other small companies that make belts with a lifetime warranty. Often local "art fairs" will have some local craftsman who makes/sells belts that are also made of quality leather and will list a lifetime (but you need to know what to look for as some of them use the cheap "sawdust and glue" leather that won't last.
I got tired of having to replace my daily wear belt every year and eventually I went to a local leather shop and bought a belt from them. It cost the exact same as the department store crappy belt, but it's now been 18 years and I still have the same belt.
In fact, the belt outlasted the leather shop. I don't know what I'll do if something happens to my belt or my waist gets much larger.
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Second Hanks
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Idk about this, dog. Elastic always seems to be the first thing to wear out on my clothes so I'm not excited to try it on a belt. My leather belts seem to be immortal, are you using good leather belts or cheap ones?
I usually recommend seatbelt belts to friends because they are highly adjustable and very long lasting. I picked up the black GM one over 20 years ago, it stayed with me when my weight fluctuated 50lbs up and back down again. It was extremely useful in my old physically active job, I can catch the corner of a box on the buckle and hold heavier weight a lot easier.
I love it so much, I bought the TMNT belt as soon as I saw it and because I looooove ninja turtles 😬
That turtles belt is radical.
It’s turned into my every day wear belt lol
Doesn't the elastic eventually perish? I think I had one that died.
I was going to say... I've had an elastic belt that basically disintegrated when I pulled it out of the closet after not having worn it in 15 years (wore it for 5 years before that).
"For life"? No. Pretty long time? Probably.
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I'm still wearing the fabric belt I thrifted when I went vegan in college over twenty years ago. Elastic isn't necessary, get a durable cotton or wool belt.
Elastic belts have rubber cores which very quickly degrade like the elastic in underwear.
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I have one that has lost elasticity and has become warped, but I do think they're better than traditional belts.
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These loose their elasticity over time, which is rather rapid in hot weather. I had a couple for summer, each lasted 2 seasons.
Real thick and plain leather lasts much longer (I have a hand - me - down I got 25 years ago that has distended and become ugly but works as intended), unless in wet weather where leather the requires a shitload of maintenance not to rot. Quality vegan leather lasts long from what I heard, but I have yet to go through the one I already own.
Quality "nylon" belts last rather long too if the metal parts are thick, but tend to either slip a bit or bite hard but damage the fabric. The ones that close over are the best, ones with the roller slip more. I prefer the ones made from cotton over nylon personally, as they are more confortable but last less.
Crap "leather" belts made of two thin leather strips with a padding inside don't last very long, even higher quality ones.
Real jeans last long, but thick fabric with no elasthane whatsoever is dissapearing from usual stores as thinner with elasthane is easier to manufacture and fits "better".
Elastic wears out.
Not BIFL.
Beware. It is hard to tell from pictures, but my guess is the leather that holds the buckle part on is a low quality leather that will not last for a lifetime. To make this a lifetime belt you may have to replace the buckle a few times.
Yep. That part tears all the time. When that happens you can still use the belt by tying it, if you have enough length, but really you need to re-affix the buckle or buy a new belt.
Or buy a belt with a better buckle. They exist, but you have to know what you are looking for.
Do you have any recommendations? Cause I go through one of these probably every two or three years.
As I said elsewhere, I bought my last belt from Hank's belts. 100 year warranty leather belt. That is a different style belt from the one in this topic though and so perhaps not what you want.
If you are looking for the style of this picture a web search for "lifetime warranty belt" finds several options that are this style - but since I've never heard of the company until they showed up in a search I cannot recommend any. Do some investigation on the company and decide which one to risk buying from.
I do think these are preferable to normal belts, but every one I've worn with regularity has torn rather dramatically in the middle of the workday. One of them I had to replace with a power cable.
"He's raggin on your cord, dude."
I bought one of these a few years ago and it's still in great shape despite frequent use.
Way better, and more comfortable, than a traditional belt.
Obviously it'd be better if they were made from sustainable materials but the fact that these outlast traditional belts by a wide margin is good.
I just started making my own belts. Most leather belts are made of thin veneer of leather. It might even be marketed as 'top grain leather" to make it seem special. Get whole grain leather.
I bought parts from one of the last Tandy Leather retail locations. Brought them home and used my hole punches I picked up at Harbor Freight for a different project and some grommets I got for a different project and made a belt. Out of pocket cost was maybe $16. That belt will last me decades.
In theory I could knit some belts with any number of sturdy materials like leftover metal cables but I have never felt the need.
Foolish.
Cant remember when I last wore a belt. But isn't the entire point of them is to be adjustable.
It is but traditional belts are only adjustable by increments set by the manufacturer. Elastic belts allow total control by the user.
As someone who does need to wear a belt with most of my pants, it makes a huge difference.
There are ratchet belts now that have much finer control of sizing than ones with holes.
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How does a belt like the one in the image work? There are no holes, which I guess is a point of them, but do you just cram the metal of the buckle through the weave there or how does it hold?
through the weave.
Yes, exactly. The buckle pin goes through wherever you choose, so the sizing of it is also more adaptable. I have one and use it daily, very happy with the type.
i've been using the same cargo strap as a belt for the past 15+ years and it's still going strong. infinitely adjustable, too.
That just feels like giving up. My belt is the first indicator that I need to lose a couple of pounds.
I bought two Grip6 belts like a decade ago, and they still show very little wear.
It's a very simple design: a durable strap (no holes), and a buckle that's just a solid chunk of metal (no moving parts).
I would highly recommend them at the prices I paid back then... But holy shit their prices have increased a lot. Still might be worth it as a BIFL, but still hard to justify for such simple parts.
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