I don’t like belts. I understand their purpose, and I’ve certainly come to appreciate their utility as my middle-aged waist has expanded and butt has shrunk. But as a backpacker, I can’t tolerate a bulky belt wedged beneath my hipbelt. And as a guitarist, I constantly live in fear of gouging the back of a prized instrument with a sharp buckle. As for concern about fashion … forget it. For me, the perfect belt is a 1-inch strip of nylon webbing with a couple of small D-rings to secure it. Amazingly, this utilitarian approach to pants support seems to be growing scarcer, as manufacturers have moved to wider belts and scrambled to adorn them with commando-style utility buckles that include bottle openers and even knife blades. Fortunately, Strapworks.com, a family-owned, Oregon-based company that started life supplying the whitewater rafting industry, still makes narrow, straightforward D-ring web belts (along with just about every kind of strap, tie-down, and rope you could ever need). Prices are shockingly reasonable. They sell some of their products on Amazon, but for the widest selection, check out the company website.
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