How Gun Belts Are Produced

To fully understand all the differences between the various gun belts on the market, it's also a good idea to talk a little bit about the production methods used for gun belts.

This section on production methods really only pertains to leather gun belts.

Leather gun belts are typically made one of two ways.  They are made on a production line or they are made by hand one at a time.

Production Line Belts - Belts of this nature are typically produced on a manufacturing line.  The bulk of the work is done by machine and the belt is finished off by hand.  This is a fairly standard method utilized by large commercial holster/gun belt company's like Galco®, DeSantis®, Don Hume®, etc.  In this scenario, the leather is cut by an automated machine, spray dyed in bulk lots, and then finished off in a series of steps on a production line. The actual steps will vary between manufacturers, but the end result is typically about the same.

Custom or Handmade Belts - Like the name implies, these belts are manufactured entirely by hand.  The leather is cut by hand, dip dyed, stitched and edged, and then finished off by hand.  

What are the differences between the two methods?
Actually there are pretty significant differences between the two methods.  Here are a few:

• While spray dyeing works, I've never believed it to be as effective as dip dyeing. Submersing the leather in a dye really gets the pigment into the leather. My past experiences with spray on dye shows that it tends to wear off or fade far sooner than a traditional dip dyeing.

• Production line set-up don't typically utilize as good a grade of leather versus hand made shops. Most custom leather shops are more selective about the grade and cut of the leather that they use in their products.

• Production holster companies generally purchase leather in large bulk loads.  The volume of the leather purchased makes a close inspection of the leather very difficult.  Custom leather shops typically purchase smaller orders of bulk leather and take the time to inspect the leather before it's used for belts. I've actually happened to be in a leather wholesale supplier's shop while a fairly well known holster and belt maker was purchasing a supply of leather.  I actually watched the craftsman personally inspect each and every hide before making his selections.

Don't get me wrong, I think most commercial holster companies produce a nice gun belt product for the money, but, in my humble opinion, the custom belt maker scenario offers a better quality product for the investment. If your wallet can take it, I'd recommend looking at a custom gun belt versus a production one.