Department Store Belts Vs. American Made Belts
What's the difference and why should you care?
Department Store Belts Vs. American Made Belts
What's the difference and why should you care?
I’m sure you have been there… You’re getting ready to head out the door and as you are getting dressed you notice your department store belt is already cracking and coming apart.
“Didn’t I just buy this thing?” you say to yourself. “It’s basically useless already.”
Belts may seem pretty simple, but there are actually a few things to look for which will help you be sure your pants stay where you need them for years to come.
Belts may seem pretty simple, but there are actually a few things to look for which will help you be sure your pants stay where you need them for years to come.
Let's Talk Leather!
First things first, let’s talk about leather. A lot of the belts you will find at your local big box store will be marked “Genuine Leather”.
Sounds like a good thing, right? Wrong. Genuine leather is actually a disingenuous name and one of the cheapest and lowest quality types of leather. It is usually made of leather scraps, leftovers and other filler materials glued together and then painted and textured in an attempt to make it look better.Look for a belt made of Full Grain Leather. This is the highest quality leather you can get. Full Grain Leather comes from the strongest and thickest parts of the hide. Because of this it often shows the natural characteristics of the leather and will eventually develop a unique patina. There is no glue and no filler with Full Grain Leather; just heavy duty hide that is going to last.
One-piece versus two-piece construction
Most belts you find at your local Walmart or department store are going to be two-piece belts. These are made by taking two pieces of thin, cheap leather and sandwiching a piece of plastic or other stiffener in between them. They glue and/or sew the pieces together to create a belt that seems to be stiff and strong when you first pick it up. These belts rarely last. The cheap leather will wear out, the stiffener will crack and the stitching will come apart. You have probably owned a belt that fell apart on you and it was almost certainly a two-piece belt.
One-piece leather belts are naturally stronger. They don’t rely on stiffeners or stitching to keep things together. One solid hunk of leather isn’t going to crack or fall apart. There are no seams; there is no stiffener to crack.
One piece belts will just plain last longer. Period.
American Made Quality
Almost without exception, every belt you see in a big box or a department store is going to be imported, often from China. These cheap imported belts are mass produced, often in some pretty crummy conditions. Workers that are barely paid enough to survive naturally aren’t going to be able to put in the time and care required to make a high quality product. I’m sure you are well aware of the benefits of buying American when it comes to other products and belts are no different. You are going to get a better product, made with more care and attention while supporting your neighbors and our economy.
Lifetime Warranty
This is the icing on the cake. If you can find a belt that meets all of the above criteria and offers a Lifetime Warranty, now you are in business! You can’t go wrong really. If the belt doesn’t live up to your expectations, you can return it and get your money back. Leather is a very strong material that can last forever.
A good craftsman who believes in their product should be backing it up with a Lifetime Warranty and that's what we do here at Main Street Forge. We offer the lifetime warranty on every single product we sell.
If you’re thinking “Yeah but what about the price?” prepare to have your mind blown.
After reading this you might think that an American Made, One-piece Full Grain Leather Belt with a Lifetime Warranty is going to cost you an arm and a leg. I understand why you might think that. I mean who wants to spend a hundred bucks on a belt? Don’t get me wrong, there are some belts that are worth every penny of that and more. But, you can get all of these things for a lot less than $100.
Not $75, Not even $50. Our belts start at $34.99!
- Full Grain Leather
- One Piece Construction
- Made In USA
- Lifetime Warranty
- Starting at $34.99
There you have it. You can have your cake and eat it too! A high quality American Made belt that will last the rest of your life at a price that competes with the imported junk belts that probably won’t last six months. We can offer that because we sell directly to you. We don’t have a storefront to maintain and we pass those savings along to you. If you have ever had a belt fall apart on you, give one of our belts a try and see the difference a quality belt makes.
Ready to ditch your cheap IMPORTED belt and upgrade to an AMERICAN MADE belt you can take pride in?
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If you've made it this far, you have earned a discount!
Use the discount code: USABELT10
Save $10.00 off of your first Belt from Main Street Forge!
Use the discount code: USABELT10
Save $10.00 off of your first Belt from Main Street Forge!
Not quite ready to buy a belt yet? That's ok, we understand. We offer plenty of other American Made products that you might love.
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