I have Beltman, Comp-Tac, Wilderness, 5.11, and others.
After a couple of dozen wearings, the Beltman's dye came off the top, load-bearing edge of the belt. No biggie because the belt is still as sturdy as the day it was made, and it isn't on display when I wear it. But it's a cosmetic flaw.
The Comp-Tac is a solid performer. It tapers from 1.5" to 1" in the front--a pseudo Ranger belt--and as such the only gripe I have is that it doesn't have many holes for those of us whose waists go through changes.
But it's "pre-curved" to fit properly with its thin Kydex insert, and is a good-lookin' gun-belt that's not supposed to look like a gun-belt.I think my best-belt wish list would include a 1.5", double-hasp, infinite-hole, Kydex-reinforced, "pre-curved" job. Something like this from Duluth Trading, but with the Kydex and shaping. Somebody should build this (Gregg, you listenin'? <smile>).
The Wilderness/5.11 type fabric sliders handle the changing-waist thing better than leather ever could. With a Kydex or nylon insert, I'd deem these fit for duty. Without an insert, I think you have to cinch them up too tight to compensate for the lack of rigidity. Thousands of trainers who wear them may disagree, I'm sure. But you also have the thickness issue: without an insert and double-layer of fabric, if you use an IWB holster that relies on clips to the belt, the typical trainer's belt isn't thick enough to secure the clips. The 5.11 folks do offer leather belts that I haven't tried, though.
But my confession is that my favorite belt over the past couple of years has been a Rocky leather work-belt I bought at Gander Mountain for under 20 bucks. Model RBM1031. It ain't suitable for office casual dress, but it's stood up to everything I've thrown at it--multiple, thousand-round training courses (in the courses I've taken the past 18-20 months, I've always worn this belt), as well as IDPA--and it's still solid. It gets the nod on most weekends. If I'd been smart, I'd have bought several, including a size up and a size down.
