I was in the market for a brown gun belt that I could wear with dress clothes tucked in, since my black Wilderness Instructor belt just doesn't cut it for that kind of thing. I had heard of the Daltech Force Super Biobelt and a friend had one that I looked at. I liked it. But when I first started looking for a new belt, Daltech only made the Biobelt in black. I liked the concept of the Biobelt but wanted a brown belt. Then they came out with a brown Biobelt. "Sweet!" I thought. Unfortunately I was not satisfied with the look of it from the photos I saw. In my opinion it looks significantly less nice and more synthetic than the black Biobelt, which could pass for a nice belt. Enter The Investigator dress belt.
I was browsing Daltech's website for another option, since they have a 10% INGO discount and better prices on leather belts than other places I've seen. Also, I like supporting local/Indiana companies. I came across the Investigator. It's a 1 1/4" double layer cowhide belt with a stiffener between the layers. I actually didn't realize it was 1 1/4" until I got it. I guess I didn't read correctly. But I'm actually glad it's 1 1/4" and not 1 1/2" since I think it adds to the dressy factor. Anyways, here are my thoughts on this belt with some photos. I tried to hold a lamp in the right place to get decent lighting to show the color. I'm no professional photog, though. Some pics are darker than others.
View attachment 27428
Looks
This belt very nice looking. I got the chrome buckle instead of the gold. I much prefer the look of chrome and this one is nicely polished and is the right size for the belt. Not too big. Not too small.
View attachment 27434
The leather is a nice brown color, as opposed to the brown Biobelt, which looks really strange to me. The pictures are with jeans and a tucked in t-shirt, so it doesn't show what it looks like with dress pants. I was too lazy to change and can't spend all afternoon on this review. Suffice it to say that it looks very nice and I'm very pleased with how well it goes with dress clothes. I would be totally comfortable wearing it with a suit.
Gripes: There are a few spots that have slight discolorations that are sort of blackish. They're not enough to really bug me, but they are there (see pic below).
View attachment 27437
Another gripe is that the finish on the leather scratches easily, which can be seen in a few pictures. I don't know if the leather treatment stuff they recommend (Daltech Gold) can fix that or not. I haven't ordered any yet. But I'm sure that any gun belt is going to get scratched over time, so it's probably not a huge deal. I just want it to look nice when I wear it with dress clothes and not be all scratched up. The annoying part of this is that I feel like I'm walking on eggshells when putting it on, trying not to scratch the belt as I slide it through my OWB mag carrier loops and slide my paddle holster over it.
View attachment 27438
Quality/Stiffness
The leather quality seems to be very good. The belt also has Chicago screws that hold the buckle on, so you can take them off to change buckles etc. I probably won't ever do that, but it's a nice feature. As far as stiffness is concerned, the part with the holes without the stiffener is obviously much less stiff than the part with the stiffener, which starts after the holes, and I don't think the belt would be substantial enough without the stiffener. I don't know what bull hide is like (supposedly stiffer), but this cow hide alone would not be enough being only 1 1/4" wide. Thankfully the stiffener makes this belt very stiff. I was impressed for a 1 1/4" belt. It holds up my full size M&P9 in my Safariland 7TS 7378 paddle holster no problem, and does a better job than my Wilderness belt (the 5-stitch no stiffener one). I usually CC IWB, but have been wearing this under jackets/vests in my OWB Safariland and it's been working just fine. I haven't actually worn an IWB holster with this belt yet, but I assume it will be just fine since it's easier to hold up IWB gear.
View attachment 27432
View attachment 27435
View attachment 27436
Comfort
This belt is very comfortable. Alex Dallas, the owner of Daltech, told me by email that this is the most comfortable of all the stiffener belts since it is not quite as thick as the Bullbelts and is only 1 1/4" wide. I haven't felt it to be bulky at all. I have read that Bullbelts can sometimes be really thick and bulky. But this cowhide belt seems to be right on the money.
Sizing
The Daltech website says to order it 4 sizes larger than your pants size. However, I read in the comments on their site to order 5 sizes larger. I'm a 34 pants size and I ordered a 39 and its just right. The pictures show it with an OWB paddle holster. A 38 probably may have been ok, but if I use an IWB holster I think the 38 may have been a little too short. So I recommend ordering 5 sizes larger than your pants size.
Cost
Thanks to the INGO discount I saved $6.00 and paid $53.95 with free shipping
. I think it's a great price for a quality leather belt.
Overall
Overall I would highly recommend this belt to someone looking for a dress gun belt at a decent price. I think it will last a long time and serve me well. Despite a few minor issues like easy scratching and a few minor discolorations, I have no other qualms with this belt.
******************************************************************************************************************************************k Link To Original Thread: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...tech-force-investigator-dress-belt-brown.html
I was browsing Daltech's website for another option, since they have a 10% INGO discount and better prices on leather belts than other places I've seen. Also, I like supporting local/Indiana companies. I came across the Investigator. It's a 1 1/4" double layer cowhide belt with a stiffener between the layers. I actually didn't realize it was 1 1/4" until I got it. I guess I didn't read correctly. But I'm actually glad it's 1 1/4" and not 1 1/2" since I think it adds to the dressy factor. Anyways, here are my thoughts on this belt with some photos. I tried to hold a lamp in the right place to get decent lighting to show the color. I'm no professional photog, though. Some pics are darker than others.
View attachment 27428
Looks
This belt very nice looking. I got the chrome buckle instead of the gold. I much prefer the look of chrome and this one is nicely polished and is the right size for the belt. Not too big. Not too small.
View attachment 27434
The leather is a nice brown color, as opposed to the brown Biobelt, which looks really strange to me. The pictures are with jeans and a tucked in t-shirt, so it doesn't show what it looks like with dress pants. I was too lazy to change and can't spend all afternoon on this review. Suffice it to say that it looks very nice and I'm very pleased with how well it goes with dress clothes. I would be totally comfortable wearing it with a suit.
Gripes: There are a few spots that have slight discolorations that are sort of blackish. They're not enough to really bug me, but they are there (see pic below).
View attachment 27437
Another gripe is that the finish on the leather scratches easily, which can be seen in a few pictures. I don't know if the leather treatment stuff they recommend (Daltech Gold) can fix that or not. I haven't ordered any yet. But I'm sure that any gun belt is going to get scratched over time, so it's probably not a huge deal. I just want it to look nice when I wear it with dress clothes and not be all scratched up. The annoying part of this is that I feel like I'm walking on eggshells when putting it on, trying not to scratch the belt as I slide it through my OWB mag carrier loops and slide my paddle holster over it.
View attachment 27438
Quality/Stiffness
The leather quality seems to be very good. The belt also has Chicago screws that hold the buckle on, so you can take them off to change buckles etc. I probably won't ever do that, but it's a nice feature. As far as stiffness is concerned, the part with the holes without the stiffener is obviously much less stiff than the part with the stiffener, which starts after the holes, and I don't think the belt would be substantial enough without the stiffener. I don't know what bull hide is like (supposedly stiffer), but this cow hide alone would not be enough being only 1 1/4" wide. Thankfully the stiffener makes this belt very stiff. I was impressed for a 1 1/4" belt. It holds up my full size M&P9 in my Safariland 7TS 7378 paddle holster no problem, and does a better job than my Wilderness belt (the 5-stitch no stiffener one). I usually CC IWB, but have been wearing this under jackets/vests in my OWB Safariland and it's been working just fine. I haven't actually worn an IWB holster with this belt yet, but I assume it will be just fine since it's easier to hold up IWB gear.
View attachment 27432
View attachment 27435
View attachment 27436
Comfort
This belt is very comfortable. Alex Dallas, the owner of Daltech, told me by email that this is the most comfortable of all the stiffener belts since it is not quite as thick as the Bullbelts and is only 1 1/4" wide. I haven't felt it to be bulky at all. I have read that Bullbelts can sometimes be really thick and bulky. But this cowhide belt seems to be right on the money.
Sizing
The Daltech website says to order it 4 sizes larger than your pants size. However, I read in the comments on their site to order 5 sizes larger. I'm a 34 pants size and I ordered a 39 and its just right. The pictures show it with an OWB paddle holster. A 38 probably may have been ok, but if I use an IWB holster I think the 38 may have been a little too short. So I recommend ordering 5 sizes larger than your pants size.
Cost
Thanks to the INGO discount I saved $6.00 and paid $53.95 with free shipping
. I think it's a great price for a quality leather belt. Overall
Overall I would highly recommend this belt to someone looking for a dress gun belt at a decent price. I think it will last a long time and serve me well. Despite a few minor issues like easy scratching and a few minor discolorations, I have no other qualms with this belt.
******************************************************************************************************************************************k Link To Original Thread: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...tech-force-investigator-dress-belt-brown.html
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