WEBVTT 00:00:15.414 --> 00:00:16.474 And welcome to the Concealed Carry 00:00:16.474 --> 00:00:21.054 Podcast, part of the ConcealedCarry.com network, brought to you by HK. 00:00:22.254 --> 00:00:26.694 Today is Wednesday. I don't know what date it is. March something. 00:00:26.894 --> 00:00:28.174 11th? 11th? 11th. 00:00:28.274 --> 00:00:33.474 March 11th. Wednesday, March 11th, 2026. So everyone knows when we recorded 00:00:33.474 --> 00:00:39.414 this, we are live on YouTube and Facebook, as we typically are with these podcasts. 00:00:40.694 --> 00:00:44.354 And you're welcome to always join us live, of course. But for those of you that 00:00:44.354 --> 00:00:46.614 are just listening to us, here we are. 00:00:46.814 --> 00:00:49.054 We're doing the thing. It's Jacob and Riley. 00:00:50.354 --> 00:00:54.154 It's been 10 years. In fact, we already did the whole 10-year episode. 00:00:54.174 --> 00:00:57.174 We are going to talk about some – we're going to do a little follow-up from 00:00:57.174 --> 00:01:02.454 the 10-year giveaway that we did. So we can do that now or we can do a quick sponsor message. 00:01:05.014 --> 00:01:05.874 One than the other. 00:01:06.254 --> 00:01:09.274 Okay. You didn't say which one, though. So, all right. 00:01:09.374 --> 00:01:13.394 Today's episode, it'll become clear. Well, the title of the episode is all about 00:01:13.394 --> 00:01:14.374 belts for concealed carry. 00:01:14.874 --> 00:01:19.994 So, surprise, surprise. Today's episode is sponsored by EDC Belt Company and the Foundation Belt. 00:01:20.634 --> 00:01:26.774 I've been rocking the Foundation Belt for five-ish years, I think, 00:01:26.814 --> 00:01:28.774 at least. I don't know. Maybe even a bit longer. 00:01:29.074 --> 00:01:30.254 Yeah, it feels... 00:01:31.484 --> 00:01:32.384 Yeah somewhere there 00:01:32.384 --> 00:01:38.784 Five five plus years yeah uh i i still have like no complaints really personally 00:01:38.784 --> 00:01:45.124 about the foundation belt um and yes i'm a biased source because we sell them but yeah but. 00:01:45.124 --> 00:01:46.544 We were using them before we started selling 00:01:46.544 --> 00:01:49.264 Oh for sure yeah but my point is is like we're still 00:01:49.264 --> 00:01:52.484 rocking these bad boys uh for you know 00:01:52.484 --> 00:01:55.424 a number of years and still very very happy with 00:01:55.424 --> 00:01:58.544 them we're not going to just talk about the foundation belt today 00:01:58.544 --> 00:02:01.904 we're talking about a lot of different belts and what goes into a good 00:02:01.904 --> 00:02:04.904 quality concealed carry built purpose built belt 00:02:04.904 --> 00:02:07.804 but those of you that are interested in checking out what i 00:02:07.804 --> 00:02:11.084 think is one of the finest concealed carry belts on the market you head 00:02:11.084 --> 00:02:18.544 on over to edc belt co edc belt co.com and you can order your foundation belt 00:02:18.544 --> 00:02:23.564 today you can also order the foundation belt directly on concealed carry.com 00:02:23.564 --> 00:02:28.824 And you can also check out all of the belts we sell on ConcealedCarry.com. 00:02:28.964 --> 00:02:34.064 You just go to the ConcealedCarry.com store and just go to the store and go 00:02:34.064 --> 00:02:40.144 to shop and select belts. And it'll pull up all the different belts that we have in the store. 00:02:40.304 --> 00:02:44.324 We'll talk probably about the Wilderness Tactical making some quality belts 00:02:44.324 --> 00:02:47.904 as well. We sell a number of the Wilderness Tactical models. 00:02:48.264 --> 00:02:51.384 They're excellent too. I've got a couple of them at home. 00:02:52.384 --> 00:02:54.384 Still use them occasionally but 00:02:54.384 --> 00:02:59.784 I do find myself I go right back to the foundation belt for the most part. 00:03:02.244 --> 00:03:02.724 There you go. 00:03:03.104 --> 00:03:08.324 Yeah. That's absolute sponsors. So a few weeks ago, we celebrated the 10-year 00:03:08.324 --> 00:03:12.844 anniversary of the podcast along with a huge giveaway. 00:03:13.064 --> 00:03:15.264 It's one of the bigger giveaways I think we've ever done. 00:03:16.504 --> 00:03:17.524 Yeah. I don't know. 00:03:17.664 --> 00:03:20.364 We've done a few giveaways, but this one was big because we had a couple of. 00:03:20.364 --> 00:03:20.504 – It was a lot of stuff. 00:03:20.684 --> 00:03:22.904 We had four guns we were giving away. 00:03:23.044 --> 00:03:23.324 Yes. 00:03:23.864 --> 00:03:27.764 A bunch of different products from companies like Palm, CRKT, 00:03:27.904 --> 00:03:35.824 Columbia River Knife and Tool, uh hk there was ammo yeah there was some bad yep some. 00:03:35.824 --> 00:03:39.364 Targets med kit yeah there's a lot of 00:03:39.364 --> 00:03:45.404 Stuff a bunch of stuff uh so the winners have been selected from that 10-year 00:03:45.404 --> 00:03:47.064 anniversary giveaway in. 00:03:47.064 --> 00:03:48.224 Some cases many times over 00:03:48.224 --> 00:03:51.144 Yes and that's one of the things we want to highlight for 00:03:51.144 --> 00:03:54.044 you right now if you signed up for the 00:03:54.044 --> 00:03:56.864 giveaway you want to make sure you check your email 00:03:56.864 --> 00:04:03.004 okay and check your spam folder and all that because we've contacted a few uh 00:04:03.004 --> 00:04:08.384 originally selected winners that have never gotten back to us and we have a 00:04:08.384 --> 00:04:13.324 policy of giving you 72 hour window to reply back or we move on to the next 00:04:13.324 --> 00:04:16.304 winner i think that's more than generous yeah. 00:04:16.304 --> 00:04:19.584 And what we don't want to be is the guys who like well we contacted them all 00:04:19.584 --> 00:04:23.104 if they don't respond i guess they don't get their prizes we want to make sure 00:04:23.104 --> 00:04:26.664 that we actually you know people do win and do receive each of these prizes. 00:04:26.924 --> 00:04:28.684 Absolutely. So we can't wait indefinitely. 00:04:29.024 --> 00:04:32.504 Yeah, 72 hours. That's the deal. So we've already, yeah, we've already moved 00:04:32.504 --> 00:04:35.024 past several people who didn't reply within 72 hours. 00:04:35.184 --> 00:04:39.524 And we have about half of the prizes right now are pending response. 00:04:39.904 --> 00:04:44.524 Yeah. Yeah. So, and it's been actually a couple of weeks. So people are taking 00:04:44.524 --> 00:04:47.204 their time getting back to us. Yeah. That's the point. 00:04:47.344 --> 00:04:49.684 So we're not getting back to us at all. Yeah, that's the problem. 00:04:49.824 --> 00:04:55.124 Right, right. So we've got, hey, just to highlight, we had 15 total prizes. 00:04:55.691 --> 00:04:59.371 Smaller prize winners uh a 00:04:59.371 --> 00:05:03.111 couple of uh well we had a hk g36 22 00:05:03.111 --> 00:05:09.631 long rifle rifle yeah sweet pretty cool um we had a couple of of the brand spanking 00:05:09.631 --> 00:05:16.171 new tx9 handguns from taris um a mantis blackbeard that's pretty cool right 00:05:16.171 --> 00:05:22.231 two knives from hk we had trauma kits from Mountain Medical, Victo Spag, 00:05:22.651 --> 00:05:25.591 a knife from CRKT, 00:05:26.171 --> 00:05:31.211 some glasses from Tactical RX, a KSG Armory holster voucher, EDC belt, 00:05:32.151 --> 00:05:34.971 foundation belt, like we're going to talk about today. 00:05:35.351 --> 00:05:39.431 Some targets from Throom and some palm pepper spray three packs. 00:05:39.731 --> 00:05:41.331 A couple of winners of those. 00:05:41.731 --> 00:05:41.851 Yeah. 00:05:42.271 --> 00:05:45.351 I'm just giving you the kind of the highlights of the prizes. 00:05:45.671 --> 00:05:49.451 Could be an email in your spam folder right now telling you that you won one of those things. Yep. 00:05:49.871 --> 00:05:54.151 So guys, hope that you claim your prizes, those of you that have been selected. 00:05:54.531 --> 00:05:59.291 We've got a lot of you that signed up for the giveaway and it was really cool to select the winners. 00:06:00.051 --> 00:06:04.791 It's less cool when you have to move on from the winners to the next winner. 00:06:04.971 --> 00:06:10.711 I guess it's cool for that person. But, but hey, we have a grand prize winner. 00:06:10.871 --> 00:06:14.331 I wanted to highlight this one a little bit. So the grand prize was actually 00:06:14.331 --> 00:06:22.671 a bundle prize. We had a ticket to the to the Guardian Conference for 2026, a quarter free quarter. 00:06:22.831 --> 00:06:26.631 So three months worth of Guardian Nation membership was included as part of this. 00:06:27.424 --> 00:06:35.784 An HKCC9 gun, okay, and O-Sight SE optic to go on that gun. It fits right on. You know, it's perfect. 00:06:36.344 --> 00:06:39.984 A CRKT definitive crossbar knife, kind of a cool-looking knife. 00:06:40.284 --> 00:06:45.944 A POM home and away bundle. It comes with, like, their usual little POM, 00:06:45.964 --> 00:06:49.484 you know, units, as well as the MK3, which is a larger unit, 00:06:49.604 --> 00:06:53.424 including also a home defense unit, which is, like, you know. 00:06:53.584 --> 00:06:55.904 It looks like riot control level stuff, 00:06:56.104 --> 00:06:56.304 You know. 00:06:56.364 --> 00:07:00.964 Huge old canister. It's like you're running around with a fire extinguisher, but it's pepper spray. 00:07:01.044 --> 00:07:05.844 Right, right. And then there was also 250 rounds from Mags & Co, 9mm ammo. 00:07:06.344 --> 00:07:12.564 So it was a pretty awesome prize. And the winner did claim that prize. So that was pretty cool. 00:07:12.644 --> 00:07:13.324 It was locked in. 00:07:13.524 --> 00:07:15.444 Yeah. Were you mentioning who that is? 00:07:15.584 --> 00:07:18.284 Yeah. They're from Texas. I mean, give a first name. 00:07:18.464 --> 00:07:18.984 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:07:19.224 --> 00:07:21.784 I think it's cool for people to hear. It's not a super common name. 00:07:21.904 --> 00:07:22.824 I forget. It starts with a W. 00:07:23.804 --> 00:07:26.084 Let's see here. Wayland is his name. 00:07:26.104 --> 00:07:28.204 Wayland. There you go. Wayland from Texas. 00:07:28.384 --> 00:07:33.364 Congrats to Wayland in Texas for the grand prize winner. 00:07:33.644 --> 00:07:39.524 That was awesome to see you get a pretty awesome bundle of prizes there. 00:07:39.684 --> 00:07:41.784 I don't know what that would totally be valued at, but a lot. 00:07:42.564 --> 00:07:43.164 It's muy bueno. 00:07:43.424 --> 00:07:48.924 A couple thousand dollars worth of gear. It was fun to celebrate our 10-year 00:07:48.924 --> 00:07:50.544 anniversary in this fashion. 00:07:51.224 --> 00:07:56.124 Thanks again, everyone, for your support of the podcast for all these years. 00:07:57.264 --> 00:07:59.224 And we'll see where we are in 10 years. 00:08:01.124 --> 00:08:06.264 Don't know if we'll have another opportunity to do a... That just seems unfathomable. 00:08:07.144 --> 00:08:09.624 Will there even be podcasts in 10 years? 00:08:09.644 --> 00:08:09.824 Yeah, right. 00:08:10.564 --> 00:08:11.924 Maybe we will have moved on. 00:08:12.144 --> 00:08:16.744 I don't know. Anyway, guys, again, check your email in case you've been selected 00:08:16.744 --> 00:08:21.264 and we'll look forward to getting more of those winners contacted. 00:08:22.824 --> 00:08:26.904 So we're not announcing everybody here, but there you go, 00:08:27.937 --> 00:08:34.417 Well, let's get back to the podcast topic today, all about belts for concealed carry, Jacob. Yep. 00:08:34.817 --> 00:08:40.057 I suspect that every single concealed carrier listening to this or watching 00:08:40.057 --> 00:08:49.557 this is guilty of having used a non-design-for-the-purpose gun belt to conceal a gun. I have. Oh, sure. 00:08:49.917 --> 00:08:52.537 I just think it's one of those places where you're sort of like, 00:08:52.597 --> 00:08:55.777 well, I got to buy all this stuff that the guy told me to in the class. 00:08:55.777 --> 00:08:58.917 I gotta get a new gun all this stuff and 00:08:58.917 --> 00:09:01.777 yeah he talked about belts but I have a belt 00:09:01.777 --> 00:09:05.977 like at least I should try the belt I have right so I think that's just where 00:09:05.977 --> 00:09:11.217 most of us start is with no gun belt at all let alone maybe an optimal belt 00:09:11.217 --> 00:09:15.577 but yeah no belt oh I shouldn't say no belt I should say not a gun belt yeah 00:09:15.577 --> 00:09:19.417 well I mean a standard kind of traditional it holds up to pants 00:09:20.197 --> 00:09:23.897 If you are if you're new to concealed carry, 00:09:24.557 --> 00:09:30.577 I would say There's a high probability you never even considered that what you 00:09:30.577 --> 00:09:34.157 use for a belt, assuming you're carrying on the waist, which we, 00:09:34.157 --> 00:09:37.497 you know, generally advocate for as being the best practice. 00:09:37.637 --> 00:09:43.377 It's not going to be everybody's solution, but most people are probably carrying on or near the waist. 00:09:43.377 --> 00:09:47.997 And if you're doing so, you might not have considered that, yeah, 00:09:48.137 --> 00:09:55.697 there's a difference in using just a normal belt and using a belt that's purpose-built, 00:09:55.997 --> 00:10:00.697 purpose-designed for supporting concealed carry on the waistband. 00:10:00.797 --> 00:10:03.757 And that's really what we want to share with you here today because we know 00:10:03.757 --> 00:10:06.397 there's going to be some of you out there who have never even thought about it. 00:10:06.937 --> 00:10:08.817 Or maybe you've thought about it, but you just don't know. 00:10:10.095 --> 00:10:13.515 What really matters and what makes a difference. So we'll talk about that. 00:10:13.735 --> 00:10:19.015 We'll talk about what goes into, you know, these optimized for concealed carry belts. 00:10:19.615 --> 00:10:23.935 I think we also need to clarify what they are not and that they are not like a duty belt. 00:10:24.115 --> 00:10:29.295 We're not talking about a duty belt or a battle belt for those of you who your brain might go there. 00:10:29.875 --> 00:10:32.975 But, you know, some of you have an experience, you know, maybe with law enforcement 00:10:32.975 --> 00:10:36.575 or in private security or, you know, military, whatever it might be. 00:10:36.735 --> 00:10:41.035 And when you think of like a gun belt, you think of something that's a little 00:10:41.035 --> 00:10:43.235 bit more substantial than what we're talking about. 00:10:43.855 --> 00:10:47.635 A big duty belt is going to have 00:10:48.595 --> 00:10:51.735 it's going to be pretty significant because it has to support a lot of gear 00:10:52.275 --> 00:10:56.095 from, I don't know, I'm not a cop, cuffs, radio, I don't know, 00:10:56.295 --> 00:11:01.595 a bunch of M-A-G's and taser and I don't know, whatever other stuff they put on their belts. 00:11:02.095 --> 00:11:02.215 Yep. 00:11:02.615 --> 00:11:05.295 So that's not what we're talking about when we talk about a concealed carry 00:11:05.295 --> 00:11:08.835 belt or if I use the word gun belt, I'm I'm really thinking of something more 00:11:08.835 --> 00:11:10.275 EDC concealed carry focused. 00:11:10.495 --> 00:11:16.615 Right, right. Likewise, there's certainly a place for kind of a duty belt style 00:11:16.615 --> 00:11:21.535 or like a range setup perhaps, you know, that you only put on when you're going 00:11:21.535 --> 00:11:24.495 to the range and you're doing outside waistband work or something. 00:11:25.135 --> 00:11:28.655 Our intent is not to talk about that so much today because this is, 00:11:28.835 --> 00:11:30.075 after all, the concealed carry podcast. 00:11:30.415 --> 00:11:33.555 Yeah, but you need to know what you might run into if you just Google gun belt. 00:11:33.555 --> 00:11:37.575 But another variation of belts that could be in that category would be like a competition rig. 00:11:38.255 --> 00:11:42.835 I don't even own one of those, but you have a few. So a competition rig is designed 00:11:42.835 --> 00:11:47.195 for some sort of competitive shooting sport that holds all sorts of stuff on 00:11:47.195 --> 00:11:49.255 it too, primarily a whole bunch of mags. 00:11:50.218 --> 00:11:52.698 Yeah, and even if we were to look at those, those are, again, 00:11:53.298 --> 00:11:58.178 they're purpose built, purpose designed for that specific use. 00:11:58.458 --> 00:12:04.618 I mean, a competition belt by nature is specific to that sport, 00:12:04.638 --> 00:12:06.398 really, is kind of what we see. 00:12:06.598 --> 00:12:12.718 Because what I use in USPSA isn't even what I would use if I was competing in IDPA, for instance. 00:12:13.078 --> 00:12:15.718 Of course, IDPA is typically done from concealment. 00:12:16.532 --> 00:12:19.352 At the very least having like a concealment vest over top 00:12:19.352 --> 00:12:22.232 of things and and uh the in fact 00:12:22.232 --> 00:12:26.332 by rules you can't even use the you 00:12:26.332 --> 00:12:30.392 know the the belt that goes over our top you know like the competition belt 00:12:30.392 --> 00:12:35.732 that we use in uspsa actually the by rules your belt has to go through your 00:12:35.732 --> 00:12:41.692 belt loops you know in idpa so anyway not not really the intent of this podcast 00:12:41.692 --> 00:12:43.772 but just since you mentioned it Yeah. 00:12:44.092 --> 00:12:48.152 The point is gun belt could refer to a lot of things. 00:12:48.572 --> 00:12:53.392 And I think we're trying to talk in today's episode about this sub niche of 00:12:53.392 --> 00:12:57.352 that, which is a concealed carry belt or an EDC belt, if you prefer. 00:12:57.592 --> 00:13:01.592 So if you're like me or like you, I suspect, in the beginning, 00:13:01.852 --> 00:13:07.852 I mean, I remember I carried for a few years with just kind of a normal leather belt. 00:13:07.852 --> 00:13:12.352 It wasn't uh i wouldn't say it was a weak weather leather belt but it was traditional 00:13:12.352 --> 00:13:15.312 just a normal leather belt walmart. 00:13:15.312 --> 00:13:20.532 Style you know i i bet you today they're probably like 15 bucks on amazon or 00:13:20.532 --> 00:13:21.612 Something sure i. 00:13:21.612 --> 00:13:25.732 Mean yeah it's it's black and it's got a buckle and holes every inch or something 00:13:25.732 --> 00:13:29.692 And yeah yeah i mean it's i think probably one one i the one i used for quite 00:13:29.692 --> 00:13:35.032 a while was uh was just a two-layer stitched leather belt it was a decent belt 00:13:35.032 --> 00:13:36.632 it was it was not just your 00:13:37.072 --> 00:13:40.812 you know cheap off the shelf walmart but it wasn't like a high-end one either 00:13:40.812 --> 00:13:42.672 i think i paid like 40 bucks for it i. 00:13:42.672 --> 00:13:47.012 Was the cheaper the better for me that's that's where i was absolutely 00:13:47.012 --> 00:13:51.392 But you know i had that belt for quite a few years it served me well in fact 00:13:51.392 --> 00:13:55.752 i think i still have it somewhere i just it hasn't hasn't been on my waist in 00:13:55.752 --> 00:14:01.672 quite some time but uh so that's that's what i used for a number of years and 00:14:01.672 --> 00:14:06.892 you know so it's non-reinforced um i wouldn't have called it flimsy at the time, 00:14:07.192 --> 00:14:11.212 but I would now knowing what I know and, and, and using different gear now, 00:14:11.212 --> 00:14:13.092 I'd be like, ah, that thing was flimsy. 00:14:13.252 --> 00:14:16.792 Uh, but I thought it was like a pretty stout belt at the time, you know? Sure. 00:14:17.092 --> 00:14:19.812 So at the time I thought that's, that was the right, 00:14:20.529 --> 00:14:25.449 thing that was the right play you know that was just a decent quality um relatively 00:14:25.449 --> 00:14:31.289 thick but not overly so leather belt uh and i at that time i also carried on 00:14:31.289 --> 00:14:35.709 my hip or you know slightly behind the hip like four o'clock four four thirty 00:14:35.709 --> 00:14:40.189 four something like that and it worked okay you know. 00:14:40.649 --> 00:14:43.429 I mean i didn't know what i didn't know right and i think that's the point of 00:14:43.429 --> 00:14:46.849 the kind of where we're starting off this episode is if you've never used anything 00:14:46.849 --> 00:14:50.829 other than a pretty standard traditional belt and as far as you know it's it 00:14:50.829 --> 00:14:54.949 just does what it does yeah and you you don't know what you're missing out on 00:14:54.949 --> 00:14:58.169 Yeah so one thing i i noticed 00:14:58.169 --> 00:15:04.809 after a few years of carrying wearing that belt is that it uh started to sag 00:15:04.809 --> 00:15:11.009 kind of in you know the location where my gun was carried all the time um and 00:15:11.009 --> 00:15:16.989 you know i didn't think that was i just thought that was natural and normal and like to be expected, 00:15:17.309 --> 00:15:19.149 and so I didn't think anything of it. 00:15:19.549 --> 00:15:30.489 I didn't think or realize that the belt was not helping me carry my gear and 00:15:30.489 --> 00:15:34.249 support the gear more effectively than, you know, some of the other options out there. 00:15:34.309 --> 00:15:36.809 So I think the first time I encountered a. 00:15:37.805 --> 00:15:44.585 A reinforced belt of some kind was, oh man, early 2010s, you know, 00:15:44.705 --> 00:15:47.405 I don't know, 2010, 2011, 2012. 00:15:47.625 --> 00:15:52.345 I don't remember, but I remember the first belt I bought, I think I bought it 00:15:52.345 --> 00:15:58.345 from, it was some gun store and it was, uh, it was a, a reinforced belt. 00:15:58.665 --> 00:16:02.685 And I don't know whether it was steel or if it, you know, some are using like a, 00:16:02.805 --> 00:16:06.085 like a, some kind of polymer plastic ribbing inside 00:16:06.085 --> 00:16:08.725 there you know i don't know what it just said it was 00:16:08.725 --> 00:16:11.405 reinforced i'm like all right cool it's reinforced but it was 00:16:11.405 --> 00:16:14.625 definitely noticeably stiffer than what 00:16:14.625 --> 00:16:17.565 i had been previously using and the first thing i noted from 00:16:17.565 --> 00:16:21.385 the moment of putting that on was oh like 00:16:21.385 --> 00:16:26.865 now the belt doesn't flex as much with the weight of the gun and it was notable 00:16:26.865 --> 00:16:30.725 at the time to me and so all of a sudden i'm like oh this is the way to go and 00:16:30.725 --> 00:16:36.805 so then i started using a number of different brands over the years of just 00:16:36.805 --> 00:16:38.525 straight-up reinforced belts. 00:16:39.405 --> 00:16:41.245 So, I mean, what was your experience? 00:16:41.585 --> 00:16:46.745 I remember my first belt was a wilderness instructor belt, like my first, you know, gun-ish belt. 00:16:47.605 --> 00:16:51.365 And it appealed to me, and this is going to sound so silly, but it appealed 00:16:51.365 --> 00:16:56.625 to me because I saw an ad or someone, whoever, whatever the source was that I learned about it, 00:16:57.214 --> 00:17:02.954 It said that you could repel with this thing. Like a helicopter could come and 00:17:02.954 --> 00:17:05.654 pick you up and you could hook in on your belt. 00:17:06.114 --> 00:17:13.474 I was like, that sounds awesome. That just sounds like I will never need that. And it sounds so cool. 00:17:13.894 --> 00:17:18.614 So I was in. I was just like, yeah, I want that. I want the thing that a helicopter 00:17:18.614 --> 00:17:19.914 could come and pick me up with. 00:17:20.494 --> 00:17:23.394 So, yeah, I got the Wilderness Instructor Belt. And I love that belt. 00:17:23.394 --> 00:17:24.594 I wore that belt. I still have that belt. 00:17:25.494 --> 00:17:29.374 I still have. I think all of my gun belts I've ever owned. They have their own 00:17:29.374 --> 00:17:30.534 little section in the closet. 00:17:31.094 --> 00:17:34.554 But, yeah, I wore that belt for years. And, yes, it made a huge difference. 00:17:34.674 --> 00:17:39.674 Immediately you can notice, because that's the first thing, the primary objective of the belt, 00:17:40.114 --> 00:17:42.834 when we're talking about the CDC concealed carry application, 00:17:43.034 --> 00:17:48.254 is that it's supposed to spread out the weight of the gun around the waist so 00:17:48.254 --> 00:17:51.994 that you don't have – if all the weight is centered in one spot, 00:17:52.134 --> 00:17:54.454 then you really have potential health issues. 00:17:55.394 --> 00:18:00.174 It's not good for you, for your body, to be supporting all the weight in one place. 00:18:00.274 --> 00:18:05.414 So the belt is distributing the weight of the gun around the body. 00:18:05.634 --> 00:18:08.074 And it needs a certain amount of rigidity in order to do that. 00:18:08.174 --> 00:18:16.754 And so, yes, going from almost no rigidity to suddenly serious rigidity, that was notable. 00:18:17.094 --> 00:18:20.294 Because when all you're doing is holding up your pants, it really doesn't matter. 00:18:20.874 --> 00:18:25.034 You can take some string or a rope and tie up your pants through the belt loops. 00:18:25.154 --> 00:18:26.774 It'll keep your pants from falling down. 00:18:27.834 --> 00:18:30.754 But when you put the gun on there, all of a sudden, that holster on there, 00:18:30.974 --> 00:18:35.454 now you have an issue where you have that weight, a couple pounds. 00:18:35.854 --> 00:18:39.414 And so, yes, a belt is distributing that, and it made an immediate difference. 00:18:40.803 --> 00:18:45.663 So, yeah, likewise, all that, what you said, I noticed that right away is that 00:18:45.663 --> 00:18:51.163 all of a sudden that reinforced belt was supporting the load of the gun much 00:18:51.163 --> 00:18:54.723 better and it felt better, you know. 00:18:54.823 --> 00:18:58.423 And so that became kind of my new norm for a few years. 00:18:58.863 --> 00:19:03.503 So I think that's probably the first place I wanted to start with is just pointing 00:19:03.503 --> 00:19:08.383 out, first of all, to carry a gun concealed on your waist. 00:19:08.383 --> 00:19:11.123 Uh ideally it's to you want to have a belt 00:19:11.123 --> 00:19:14.963 that has reinforcement of some kind ideally reinforced 00:19:14.963 --> 00:19:17.703 uh mostly in this kind 00:19:17.703 --> 00:19:21.043 of up and down you know plane uh supporting 00:19:21.043 --> 00:19:24.463 the so the belt's not sagging so much uh 00:19:24.463 --> 00:19:27.063 downward towards the guys gravity is going to 00:19:27.063 --> 00:19:29.963 do its thing right you got a gun on your waist yeah and so obviously 00:19:29.963 --> 00:19:33.943 gravity is going to want to pull that down and so i mean the belt can still 00:19:33.943 --> 00:19:40.303 be flexible uh you know kind of the side to side plane if you will or but you 00:19:40.303 --> 00:19:44.803 want in the vertical plane along the face of that belt to be ideally fairly 00:19:44.803 --> 00:19:49.903 stiff to support that gun weight so yeah. 00:19:49.903 --> 00:19:53.603 And i think this this is one of those things that we've talked about before 00:19:53.603 --> 00:19:59.183 where you you kind of end up sometimes in extremes and without balance 00:19:59.183 --> 00:19:59.903 Yep and. 00:19:59.903 --> 00:20:04.943 That's probably the first like the first big aha for me after the obvious one 00:20:04.943 --> 00:20:08.923 of just like no gun belt, two gun belt, you know, that, that was like, 00:20:08.983 --> 00:20:10.943 Oh Jesus, way more comfortable distributing the weight. 00:20:11.103 --> 00:20:17.703 But then the first big, big aha came when I realized that more stiff is not equal, more better. 00:20:19.198 --> 00:20:24.518 Well, more stiff, you could argue, is better for supporting the gun. 00:20:24.598 --> 00:20:25.338 Oh, sure, sure, sure. 00:20:25.358 --> 00:20:27.418 But there's a downside, I think, is what you're trying to point out. 00:20:27.458 --> 00:20:29.618 Right, right. It comes with a cost. 00:20:29.738 --> 00:20:33.818 Yeah, so I remember there was a belt in particular that I had at one point that 00:20:33.818 --> 00:20:39.558 I was like, man, this is the jam, you know, because it was a really stiff belt, 00:20:39.558 --> 00:20:42.298 which meant it supported the gun really well. 00:20:43.118 --> 00:20:47.778 But you know i i'd only make it three quarters of the way through the day before 00:20:47.778 --> 00:20:51.158 i'm like oh man you know it's just uncomfortable dig. 00:20:51.158 --> 00:20:52.378 It on the side a little bit 00:20:52.378 --> 00:20:55.178 What you're saying is a stiff we can go really stiff 00:20:55.178 --> 00:20:58.478 with a belt but then it's going to start impacting our 00:20:58.478 --> 00:21:01.318 comfort uh and i remember 00:21:01.318 --> 00:21:04.498 the first time we had a conversation about this with 00:21:04.498 --> 00:21:07.538 uh brian eastridge a few years ago he's he's actually the creator 00:21:07.538 --> 00:21:10.378 of the foundation belt and he was just talking 00:21:10.378 --> 00:21:13.598 about how our torsos are shaped our 00:21:13.598 --> 00:21:16.538 waists are shaped and i don't remember the exact terminology he 00:21:16.538 --> 00:21:19.498 used at the time but i remember in my mind the way i made sense 00:21:19.498 --> 00:21:22.558 of it is you know that that our bodies are oval 00:21:22.558 --> 00:21:25.578 or you know in some cross sections almost like 00:21:25.578 --> 00:21:28.218 a jelly bean in shape you know if we were to do a 00:21:28.218 --> 00:21:31.118 cross section right through your through your belly or through your 00:21:31.118 --> 00:21:33.838 midsection there look at your waist i mean you're kind 00:21:33.838 --> 00:21:37.378 of either an oval or almost like a jelly bean and 00:21:37.378 --> 00:21:40.458 well when you take a belt and particularly that a 00:21:40.458 --> 00:21:45.378 belt that is stiffly reinforced and especially when it's reinforced in a uniform 00:21:45.378 --> 00:21:51.158 fashion okay from in other words from you know north to east to south to west 00:21:51.158 --> 00:21:58.178 and back to north again right then what that really means is that reinforced belt wants to be a circle. 00:21:59.411 --> 00:22:02.611 Right. And this is, I remember this was a conversation I had with Brian and 00:22:02.611 --> 00:22:05.231 he's just like, Hey, you know, a standard belt, it's just like, 00:22:05.231 --> 00:22:10.811 it's a circle and you're trying to fit, you know, a jelly bean or oval into a circle. 00:22:11.191 --> 00:22:14.971 And like, yeah, you could do that. And over time, the belt will settle in and 00:22:14.971 --> 00:22:18.731 break in a little bit too, but you still kind of end up with these like almost 00:22:18.731 --> 00:22:23.891 pinchy points. And for me, it's like right sort of in the back corners of my hips. 00:22:24.151 --> 00:22:26.691 Just almost right behind the center of the side of his. Yeah. 00:22:27.311 --> 00:22:30.251 You know, I'd feel like this extra pressure back there and stuff. 00:22:30.431 --> 00:22:33.931 And so that's, that's when I realized, okay, 00:22:34.131 --> 00:22:38.891 you know, that stiff belt was, was great to a point, but you can go so stiff, 00:22:39.031 --> 00:22:43.051 especially that now, and especially where it's uniformly stiff like that, 00:22:43.171 --> 00:22:47.431 that now it's going to start kind of compressing in on those corners a little bit more. 00:22:48.275 --> 00:22:52.935 And you see advertising for, you know, can still carry belts where, 00:22:53.235 --> 00:22:55.995 the one that sticks out in my mind that I'll just never forget is these guys 00:22:55.995 --> 00:23:00.615 were, the ad basically said, it's so stiff you can stand on it. 00:23:00.715 --> 00:23:02.375 Yes. Yes. Right? 00:23:02.675 --> 00:23:08.375 You could stand on our belt and it will not sag or bend or fold. Like, you know. 00:23:08.715 --> 00:23:12.535 They made a big deal of that to the point that people were taking pictures of 00:23:12.535 --> 00:23:14.015 themselves standing on their belts. 00:23:14.255 --> 00:23:17.915 Yeah, probably it was great viral marketing. Right? Like, check out my new belt. 00:23:17.915 --> 00:23:19.195 This is me standing on it. 00:23:21.775 --> 00:23:25.775 But, yeah, there was that huge aha moment for me where I was like, 00:23:25.835 --> 00:23:29.035 man, if you wear a hula hoop, it's going to be a problem. 00:23:29.255 --> 00:23:32.675 Yes, yes. And I'm going to talk about hula hoops again here in a minute. 00:23:32.795 --> 00:23:36.815 Yeah, we're going to have to come back to it. But, yeah, so there's this balance 00:23:36.815 --> 00:23:41.575 of stiffness where we need the belt to be stiff enough to support the gun, 00:23:41.815 --> 00:23:42.955 to distribute the weight of the 00:23:42.955 --> 00:23:47.035 gun, and to prevent sagging of the gun wherever it is on the waistline. 00:23:48.075 --> 00:23:53.595 But if it, you know, the stiffer that belt gets, we start to jeopardize comfort. 00:23:53.675 --> 00:23:57.755 And there's some other practical application things beyond just comfort too. 00:23:57.995 --> 00:24:03.195 Like if you, if the body, if the belt is not conformed to the body's shape, 00:24:03.415 --> 00:24:07.975 then as you move, you cause other problems beyond comfort. 00:24:08.495 --> 00:24:12.715 I mean, comfort continues to be an issue as you move, let alone when you stand still or sit still. 00:24:13.015 --> 00:24:16.675 But we also effectively start to print the belt. 00:24:18.001 --> 00:24:21.421 Yeah, so that's kind of what I mentioned. I was going to talk about hula hoops. 00:24:23.861 --> 00:24:28.021 And I have experienced this. I have felt this. So you can get to a point that 00:24:28.021 --> 00:24:30.241 your belt is so stiff on your waist. 00:24:30.861 --> 00:24:35.761 And it becomes especially noticeable if you carry forward of the hips. 00:24:36.001 --> 00:24:37.581 So like appendix style carry. 00:24:38.241 --> 00:24:42.521 You'll feel this a bit more because of just where that gun is sitting. 00:24:42.521 --> 00:24:45.281 But um in other words like where 00:24:45.281 --> 00:24:48.381 the belt is tightest on you is going to be at you 00:24:48.381 --> 00:24:51.521 know kind of where your hips are right right and where it has 00:24:51.521 --> 00:24:55.401 a little bit less pressure is in the in the front and back um 00:24:55.401 --> 00:25:02.981 and so when you have a really stiff belt it can be like a hula hoop and you 00:25:02.981 --> 00:25:07.241 stick your waist inside that and you can have belts that are so stiff that like 00:25:07.241 --> 00:25:12.721 It almost feels like there's a hula hoop on your waist to the point where it's 00:25:12.721 --> 00:25:14.641 almost moving independent of your body. 00:25:15.661 --> 00:25:22.421 And that can cause some printing issues. And also, it just feels strange, 00:25:22.661 --> 00:25:29.501 actually, because I like my gun to feel close to my body and that it's moving 00:25:29.501 --> 00:25:32.441 with me and not independent of me. 00:25:32.541 --> 00:25:36.161 And so I had that belt I was referencing a minute ago that was really stiff. 00:25:36.161 --> 00:25:39.441 Like there would be times like I would, I would twist and I'd, 00:25:39.581 --> 00:25:44.641 I'd feel like my torso moving separate from like everything else. 00:25:44.661 --> 00:25:47.121 And that was just like a really strange feeling. 00:25:47.821 --> 00:25:54.521 So I did want to talk about concealment a little bit because I think this is 00:25:54.521 --> 00:26:00.101 important, an important distinction to also make in this discussion that, um. 00:26:01.140 --> 00:26:07.640 When you go to a stiff reinforced belt, particularly a more traditional one, 00:26:07.840 --> 00:26:09.980 like, you know, they've made these for a number of years now. 00:26:10.780 --> 00:26:13.820 It works pretty well, I think, if you're carrying on the hip. 00:26:14.700 --> 00:26:18.340 You know, you might have some comfort issues. And we're going to talk about, 00:26:18.440 --> 00:26:22.760 you know, the alternative to having a uniformly stiff belt. 00:26:22.760 --> 00:26:28.740 But I think that system works pretty well if you're carrying on or behind the 00:26:28.740 --> 00:26:33.340 hip, having that style of stiff, reinforced belt. 00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:39.599 Uh, when, one thing I remember noticing with a stiff belt is that it actually 00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:43.279 made my wing or claw on my holster more effective. 00:26:43.939 --> 00:26:48.039 And that's something, you know, we can go down that rabbit hole a little bit 00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:53.179 here, but for those that aren't familiar, the claw or wing on your holster, 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:56.599 uh, this is a more recent development in holster technology. 00:26:56.599 --> 00:26:59.979 You know, it's become really a thing in the last decade or so. 00:26:59.979 --> 00:27:06.579 They've been around for a while, but for a long time, holsters didn't use this technology, right? 00:27:06.779 --> 00:27:12.719 But once we started adding that claw or wing to the holster, it helps tuck the grip. 00:27:12.899 --> 00:27:17.019 It basically helps orient the grip in towards the body. 00:27:17.339 --> 00:27:23.719 And that's dependent upon the belt actually applying pressure to that wing. 00:27:23.719 --> 00:27:24.119