OX Tools OX-P263604 Pro Oil Tanned Leather 4 Piece Construction Rig , Blue

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Aweek or two later I arrived home to a massive onslaught of boxes on my doorstep. A “tool belt or two” somehow evolved into a dozen tool belts with the promise of more to come. Finding the best tool belt just got a lot more time-intensive. Overall, my team and I looked at over a dozen different tool belts. Since choosing the right tool belt can make or break your day, we looked at a ton of models—including the following: There is no denying the convenience that a tool belt allows a framer. It ensures that you have all your tools with you at all times, thus boosting your efficiency and overall productivity. We found the DeWalt DG5617 to be the best tool belt you can get your hands on. Thanks to its superior design and build material, it is versatile and durable. Moreover, it comes at an agreeable price point. Tool weight. Consider the type of tools you will carry and how heavy they are. You will want a tool belt made of a rugged material that can carry the weight. But you also want a good distribution of weight.

A tool belt is a requirement for tradespeople to do their job and nice to have around for DIY, but there are other alternatives for DIY’ers. You could use a portable or a Milwaukee rolling tool bag to hold and transport most of your tools, for instance. Following are some quotes we received from actual tradesmen regarding various tool belts we gave them to try out. These may influence you more than what we wrote above! I think choosing the right bag really depends on what type of work you do. Each job could really use its own setup. For that, you need customization and floating bags that move along the belt. Take an impact driver, for example. That’s a tough tool to carry, and some manufacturers like McGuire-Nicholas, AWP, and Style N Craft provide a solution that.” It’s the Weight! A leather tool belt is a perfect choice for most carpenters. It is durable and comfortable, with sufficient weight but not too heavy. Each year, we bring in and review more than 350 individual products. Our team will put our hands on hundreds of additional tools at media events and trade shows throughout the year.

Comfort and practicality are most important. You have to have good suspenders that don’t rub and that take the weight off the hips. It also has to be practical so that you can support and carry a wide variety of tools without it being one big jumbled mess.” That’s not us. We only recommend what we’d actually use, even if we don’t earn a commission from it. It’s all about giving you a legitimate recommendation and our honest opinion of each product. The material used to make a rig determines its ability to withstand wear and tear. Most products are made out of either polyester, nylon, or canvas. I need a quality belt that evenly disperses weight, so I currently run with the Occidental Leather Pro Leather Framer bags. This belt fits my needs perfectly, and I feel lost if I’m working without it.” Comfort & Practicality

Canvas might not be as comfortable as nylon or polyester. However, it is very durable. Unfortunately, the canvas is susceptible to tearing. The good news is that belts that feature this material are usually cheaper. Consider canvas if you do not carry several tools around. Brand. Occidental makes some of the best tool belts on the market. You should also look into an Estwing, Ox Tools, and DeWalt carpenter tool belt, all of which provide excellent value for the money. Customization of the tool belts was also an important topic and one that resonated with my lead carpenter. He’s a lefty and prefers tool bags that offer access from either side. Ambidextrous rigs are simply a great idea and a lot of tool belt manufacturers seem to be going this route for a more universal appeal. Polyester is remarkably resilient, in addition to being exceptionally comfortable. If you love this material, consider going with a rig made out of 1680D polyester. It is a type of polyester that is waterproof yet breathable. It is also durable. Even if I gave a belt to each of my guys, I just didn’t have the time to wear these belts long enough. We wanted to get a real flavor for how they performed and held up. I decided the best way to approach this was to systematically go through each tool rig and cover important features and accessories. Along the way, my crew and I would test out as many as possible. The Best Tool Belts and Rigs We ChoseWe’ll provide more than 750 pieces of new content this year absolutely free for our readers—including objective evaluations of individual tools and products. Personally, I really gravitate toward a belt that offers individual tool holders inside the main compartment. Only two tool belts offered this option: the Klein Tradesman Pro and the AWP 1L-903. The others just had large main compartments where tools tend to settle to the bottom in a cluster. I like organization and want them separated for easy access. Customization is Key The oil-tanned leather rigs were well-constructed and designed for the long haul, but they were also fairly heavy. Their main bag compartments, however, tend to stay wide open and thus maintain their shape—a plus when wearing gloves. Permanently fixed bags like some from AWP, the Klein 42242, and all of the DeWalt and McGuire-Nicholas rigs seemed to be very restrictive and tended to limit the bags to a particular application or body shape. I also shy away from fancy hinged metal hammer holders as they seem somewhat fragile for the long haul. A simple metal or leather hammer loop is preferable—something my entire team agreed on.