One of the most important pieces of concealed carry gear is a proper gun belt. The gun belt also happens to be the most overlooked piece of gear because it’s not as fun as buying ammo, a holster, or the gun itself. The thing is, if you don’t have a good gun belt, none of the other stuff may really matter.
The fact is, when I’m teaching one of my defensive pistol courses I can determine within the first few minutes the people who need to go out and buy a gun belt. How? Well, I see their holster shifting all over the place, I see them constantly moving it around after they’ve drawn and fired a few rounds, and it’s constantly giving them problems in one way or another.
A proper gun belt doesn’t cause your holster to shift or cant when you draw the gun. In other words, it should allow for a smooth draw and when you go back to re-holster it should be right where you left it so you can holster without having to look down at your side. (Again, if you go to holster the gun and it takes you a bit of effort then you need a gun belt.)
Another critical reason you need a gun belt is for the life or death situation that you and I pray we never find ourselves in. Just imagine that you’re out and about one evening when a man tries to attack you with a knife. You go to draw your gun but it isn’t in the place you thought it was because it had moved around because of a cheap belt. That split second it takes you to locate the gun could be a split second you don’t have.
So now that I’ve hopefully pointed out the reasons to get a good gun belt, which one do I like?
Well, I recently got a gun belt from Disse Outdoor Gear, called the Amerihide “Any-Day”. When I picked up the belt for the first time, I noticed that it was extremely solid and stiff. The leather belt is one-fourth inches thick and it looks like it will (hopefully) last me forever.
One of the best parts of this one-fourth inch thick belt is that it won’t stretch out. If you’ve ever purchased a cheap leather belt at Walmart then you know that it quickly stretches out and those cheap belts would be terrible for concealed carry.
Of course, the true test of any gear is how it performs. I put the Amerihide belt to the test using a variety of holsters and guns, including my heavy, full-size 1911. The belt kept the holster tight to my body and it didn’t shift or cause me any problems at all, which is what I expected from such a thick and stiff belt. It also kept my 1911 from dragging my pants down, which is a real problem if you have a heavy gun and poor belt.
Another benefit of this belt is that it doesn’t look tactical or Rambo-ish or anything like that. I can wear the belt to church with my suit and tie and also with my regular clothes of jeans and a T-Shirt.
Are there any negatives about the Amerihide gun belt?
None really. The belt comes in several versions. One version is the “Any-Day” with the roller buckle and costs about $60. This is the one I got, but as I just mentioned, it comes with a roller buckle. When putting on my pants the roller jingles and slightly annoys me, but once the belt is on it doesn’t make a sound. (But with this belt you can remove the buckle and put on another one.)
The other Amerihide “Any-Day” has a square belt buckle and costs $70. If I ever have to get another belt, this is the version I would get. But getting such a solid gun belt for either $60 or $70 is a great deal and worth every penny.
Also, the belts are all custom made so there is a wait time of 2 or more weeks to get one, which isn’t that bad and not a big deal to me.
The bottom line is, if you don’t own a gun belt yet, do yourself a favor and check out the Disse Amerihide belts today. You’ll be amazed at how much better it feels to have a solid belt when you carry concealed, plus, this should be the only gun belt you’ll ever need.
You can find Amerihide Gun Belts for sale at Disse Gear’s website and the USA Carry Store.
