The best brand toolbelts on the market can set you back a few £100's.

Why are they so expensive?

There are a few reasons why the best toolbelts cost so much, it comes down to a few key factors.

• Longevity 

The good news is when you invest in a high quality brand such as DiamondBack Toolbelts, Occidental Leather, Badger Toolbelts you will get excellent after sales care and warranty should you need it. These toolbelts, when look after will last year's, we have seen customers with toolbelts ranging from 10 to 15 years old.

You do get what you pay for. If you buy a cheap, imported tool belt or tool pouches, these are often mass produced with low Quality Control standards and inferior materials.

These items just won't last. Simple as.

You might only spend £40-60 on it but you will be damn sure you'll be buying a new one every 9 months best case.

That's also a big impact on waste and landfill too.

The cheaper designs also won't have the structure, rigidity and support that is a major feature of a well made and supportive toolbelt system for back support and weight distribution.

• R&D innovative design

It takes years of collaboration, by an experienced trade with a toolbelt designer to create tool carrying solutions that work on the job site.

This process takes time, expertise, prototyping which all costs money.

Many toolbelts, tool vests, tool bags and tool pouches go through several iterations of their initial designs after being tested on site. Each series of improvements requires further samples to be made and tested.

• Materials

High grade materials are essential, durability is the core purpose of a high end toolbelt system. It has to last well and look good too.

Whether it is high grade denier nylon as with DiamondBack Toolbelts or Badger Toolbelts, or hand selected graded leather at Occidental Leather you can rest assured these suppliers have stringent standards.

On our recent visit to the Occidental Leather site, Michael talked us through the combination of QC checks the leather hides went through before passing through to cutting stages for the belts and pouches.

His knowledge of the leather was expansive and showed how much thought went into the selection of each hide for different elements of a belt to tool pouch.

• Labour

When products are Made in the USA they attract a higher labour costs than when they are made in some other countries.

The teams we met who manufacture the toolbelts at Occidental Leather are extremely experienced, many of the sewing team have been there for over 10 years. This team is now fully trained for manufacturing the Badger Toolbelts

Higher paid labour costs, not only mean a fairer wage, they also mean that the sewing teams have experience and specific skillset to make high quality items. The team automatically QC's their own and their colleagues work as each item runs through the production process.

The result is minimal to no warranty queries by our customers.