Belts are not paid too much attention until your favorite one disintegrates. Then you are stuck with your pants slowly sliding down over the course of the day, or that belt you never wore because it just did not look, or feel quite right. Of course it has been so long since you bought a belt that your now deceased go to is no longer made, or it is still made in which case it disintegrated much too quickly to be worth buying again. I ran into this problem a few years ago, bought a fantastic belt and, unless the Orion Leather Company goes under in my lifetime, it is unlikely I will buy a belt from anywhere else.

Belts are a simple accessory, but somehow finding the right belt has been a project and cost at least one bad belt in my experience. Maybe their simplicity and durability is their undoing in this time when everyone is trying to differentiate their product and get you to buy more of it, or maybe I just did not know where to look. My criteria for a good belt are simple. A durable, supple piece of leather with a buckle that is easy to manipulate and, of course, durable. If the leather is too thin, or, even worse, two pieces of leather fused together, or the buckle is finicky and needs appeasing before the prong will go through the holes it is a problem.

I have had my Orion Leather Company belt for a few years now and have not run into any of these issues. It is a good, thick, piece of leather that is stiff enough to easily thread through belt loops, but not uncomfortably restrictive to move in. The only issue I have had with wear is the silver of the buckle wearing away to brass in a few places. Fortunately it is not very noticeable and all buckles are replaceable if it really starts to become an issue. The leather of the belt seems to only have gotten better with the time, remembering my favorite belt hole and becoming a little more supple.

The only potential problem with buying a belt online is figuring out what size you are. I wear size 32 pants and I wear a size 36 belt from Orion Leather Company. That has been enough to comfortably tuck the end of the belt and adjust in both directions as my waist fluctuates over time.

I have not had a thought of replacing this belt since I bought it and it is hard to foresee a time where I will have to. If I do, though, I will go right back to the Orion Leather Company for my next one.