Harness - Heaviest Duty Belt
This belt is one of a kind. Cut from full-thickness bull hides, then split down in-house to 16oz for a full 1/4 inch thickness. As thick and hefty as a leather belt can be while still fitting smoothly through standard belt loops.
This leather, made for harnesses and heavy-duty horse tack, began its life in the southern tip of Argentina where the cold weather lends itself to cattle developing the densest, thickest hides possible. This full-grain, veg-tan leather was produced using the traditional method of pit-tanning, where hides are soaked in pits and tannins from wood bark penetrate and tan the hides very, very slowly. Pit-tanning takes much longer than the modern method -- large drums that spin like washing machines to speed up the process -- but it yields the strongest, fullest-bodied leather possible. It yields the best belt leather possible.
After tanning, this leather is fully saturated with oil by being repeatedly dipped in vats of hot tallow, which the leather takes on for added strength and water resistance. This leather then arrives here at Providence and becomes what is truly the most durable, heaviest duty leather belt available.
Made the way they used to, these belts have the following features:
- Belts are 1 1/2 inches wide, cut from full-thickness hides and split down to 16oz thickness. No filler, no thin strips glued together. One solid slab of full-grain leather. Extremely stout and firm in temper, perfect as a gun or utility belt. Cut along the spine, from the strongest part of the hide for maximum strength and durability.
- Hot-stuffed with tallow for superb water resistance.
- Solid brass buckle.
- Edges are beveled and glass burnished.
- Seven oval-shaped holes spaced 1" apart. Oval holes maintain their shape where round holes would stretch out and deform over time.
- USA-made solid brass rivets & burrs are set, cut, and hammer-peened to secure buckles and keepers permanently. No staples on keepers or Chicago screws prone to working themselves loose. These traditional rivets & burrs are much stronger than modern double cap rivets and uniquely beautiful: every rivet turns out subtly unique when finished, bearing marks from hammer strikes that shimmer in the light.
Octagonal buckles are raw brass, made in Japan. The raw brass patinas beautifully when left alone, or it can be polished to restore its luster.
SIZING
Belts fit true to size to the circumference of your waistline. To determine the perfect size, either:
- Add 2" to your pant size (pants are often labeled 2 inches smaller than their actual size, a practice known as "vanity sizing").
- Measure around your waistline where the belt will sit, or
- Measure a belt you already own from the very end of the buckle to the hole you currently use.
These methods will give you the best size to order, and when you receive your Providence belt the middle hole will be at the size you ordered.