Hand Made Leather Belt

For some time I've been looking for a decent leather belt, not just for outdoors stuff but for every day use. Most belts available from your local store these days seem to be made of plastic or reconstituted leather fibre and just don't seem to last. I prefer a leather belt for strength and the ability to strop a knife when out and about if required.

So after some thought I ordered a few parts from leather supplier Le Prevo, a long piece of pre-cut vegetable tanned leather, a 1 1/2 inch buckle and a few Chicago brass screw rivets. I'd recently dyed a sheath with British Tan Fiebings leather dye and the results were impressive so this would be the colour I'd go for. The length was decided with some expansion/contraction ability built in if you know what I mean and I got to work forming the belt keep. It was a bit of trial and error but using a hole punch made life easier and I was surprised how well it turned out. It's finished to a buff sheen with carnuba wax, beeswax and linseed oil.