Gatorback B240 Electricians Combo With Pro-Comfort Back Support Belt. Heavy Duty Work Belt (Medium 31-35 Inches)
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Halvy
> 3 dayI’ve had this tool belt for about 6 months now. This is a very comfortable belt. It is sturdy and built to last. I can easily see myself getting at least 3 years usage from it. The smaller pockets do take some time to wear in but they do eventually stretch out a little. Only complaints are 2 of the 3 pockets on the outside of pouch on the right could be a little bigger. The tape measure holder sucks. The Velcro is also pretty low quality, I ended up buying some heavy duty Velcro then super gluing it where I needed it because the Velcro wore off after a couple months. Other than that this is the best electrician tool belt on the market and will last longer than any other non leather took belt.
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Michael Danielak
Greater than one weekMy old tool belt needed to be retired because the plastic buckle starting giving way (it would periodically just unclip resulting in my whole tool belt just falling off) and my utility knife, over time, eventually put a rather large hole in one of the pouches and now everything falls out in that pouch. After a bit of searching, I settled on the Gatorback brand of belts for the ratings of comfort and ability to swap out or customize locations of the pouches. I had 3 requirements I was looking for. 1. Easy adjustability of the buckle for spring/fall work for wearing a jacket and taking it off (I don’t want to spend 5 mins adjusting the belt width after taking off my jacket when it warms up in the day). 2. Minimum 3 pouches for parts (screws, staples, marrettes, etc.). 3. Enough space to accommodate a rigid utility knife sheath. I purchased the Electrician’s combo belt (right and left pouches on the pro-comfort back support belt). I finally had some time over the Covid lockdown to transfer my tools out of my old tool belt into this new one and test it out for a while. Some of the positives: COMFORT: Out of the box and used as-is, I noticed right away it was VERY comfortable. I tend to carry about 10-15 lbs of tools in the belt (including cordless drill) which always felt heavy with my old ‘front pouches’ belt and thin belt strap, and I would always need to adjust it. Going an entire day with this belt was not an issue regarding tool weight. Sure, I adjusted the way the belt sat every so often, but not due to pain or heaviness. I was very impressed with it. The waist strap is wide and padded which dissipates the force from the weight nicely. POUCH LOCATIONS: I really like having the pouches on the sides of your body instead of across the front of your waist (like my old belt had). Having the tools on my sides allows me to be able to bend down and work close to the ground without having the tool pouches get in the way. The tape measure clip can also be slid to the side enough to be clear of my stomach while I’m bent over to work on plugs :) SPACE: On the right side, there’s plenty of storage for all my frequently used hand tools and screwdrivers, and there was also enough space that I could add a sheath/holder for my utility knife. For electrical work, I use the utility knife so frequently when cutting in boxes that I don’t like retracting the blade before putting it back into my tool belt (hence why I got the hole in my old belt, my fault). In this new belt, there’s ample space for me to add a sheath for the knife to store it vertically and prevent the blade from hitting the bottom of the sack. I took a cut-off piece of irrigation ABS pipe, cut it to length, heated up one of the sides with a torch, and compressed it in a vise until it cooled so that the knife handle would sit into it and rest on the notch. I also like using a square for box installation, but I cut my square off at 3-1/2 (hard to explain why...but I just usually NEVER use my square beyond 3). There’s a pocket at the top of both the left and right pouches that is 3-1/2” deep, so my square fits perfectly into this pocket and tucks away. A full size square WILL stick out if you put it into this pocket. I also made a holder for my drill bits out of a 2x4 cutoff, some spare 1/2 EMT conduit, and 3/8” rubber grommets (Gardner Bender). ADJUSTABILITY: Adjusting the buckle position to change the diameter of the belt is very fast. My waist size is about 38 and I got the Large version of the tool belt (36-40). I wear it at the 2nd smallest belt clip but there’s still an extra 3 or 4 holes above that which I can use while wearing a jacket. There’s also the ability to fine tune the position of the pouches and hammer clip around the belt, which is nice if you want to “wear the tools” more towards the front or back on your sides. They are held up primarily by the fabric belt loop, but are prevented from moving/sliding from a very sturdy strip of Velcro on the inside. Some of the negatives: These negatives are more specific just to my personal taste of tool location, but shouldn’t be used as a reason to not buy this. HAMMER CLIP: The hammer clip is positioned at your back (you can choose right or left of your back, depending on your handedness), but it’s a position which I just can’t get used to. I like having it on the side of the right pouch which makes for easier access for drawing and replacing. I saw some of the other versions of pouches (Carpenters pouch) has the hammer clip natively on the right side, but the pouch doesn’t have the same screwdriver/hand tool storage which is critical to have for electrical tools. So instead, I removed one of the external pockets for pliers on the right pouch, and riveted the hammer clip onto that spot. I kept the fabric backing that the hammer clip is attached to and it created a pseudo-pocket behind it which I can slip in a small tool. I used Arrow aluminum rivets from Home Depot (the long ones which are ½” long and 3/16” wide). They fit perfectly through the hammer clip hole. I also used a leather/fabric punch to create holes in the fabric (drilling through kind of works but the fabric just shreds instead of leaving a clean hole). I also used a #10 washer on the inside (blind end of the rivet) to allow for better hold of the rivet. I attached it in 4 corners, and so far I’ve had no problems with it coming off or moving. NUMBER OF POUCHES: Unfortunately the electrician’s belt combo only comes with 2 pouches for miscellaneous parts on the left side bag. I trained on my old belt with 3 pouches to individually hold staples, screws, and marrettes, and found it difficult using only 2 pouches when I tested out this new one. I tried for about a week, but I ended up needing to add an extra pouch. To do this, I purchased the B302 Foundations Tie Pouch (also from Gatorback) which has 2 of the small pouches hanging off the big one. I cut the stitching and 2 double-cap rivets that were holding each pouch in place, and attached them to the 2 existing pouches on the left side. I rolled the fabric header (where the stitching used to be) to make it look clean and used 2 rivets underneath in the top corners (per pouch) to hold the pouches. I added a third rivet in the middle to hold the new pouch down and prevent it from bouncing. Yes, it increases the overall “width” of my gear a bit, but I’ll take it so that I can have my extra pouches for space! I could have added them maybe on the front and back sides instead, but hindsight is 20/20. Overall, there’s no way I’m going back to my old belt. I’m impressed with the quality and comfort of the Gatorback design. Even though it’s a bit steep in price on the bell curve for tool belts, I’m not even thinking about that since I can wear this for 8 hours straight without hurting! It took me one evening of customizing the belt to get the modifications done, but anyone who is fairly handy should be able handle it (if you want to do anything of the sort). Who knows, maybe Gatorback will offer different pouch feature combos in the future?? :)
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Taryn Myers
> 3 dayBest bags Ive ever had! Im 510 175lbs. waist size 32. I wear them tight which puts the buckle on the smallest setting. Very durable
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Kaitlyn
> 3 dayAbsolutely the wrong size chart. I measured my waist to a 37, and I wear 38 pants. So by GatorBacks standards a Large would fit me with an inch or two of wiggle room. Yeah, that was nowhere near the case. I paid $100 for something that was not advertised correctly. The belt they give you does NOT factor in the size of the waistband portion, which adds 3-4 easy. So buyer beware, when purchasing this belt, add ~4 to your waistline. I plan on returning these ASAP, and most likely wont even bother buying the XL. Not worth the wait for how poorly this is advertised and how unfortunate this purchase was.
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Trey
> 3 dayThis toolbeltbis awesome. Its comfortable, light, and holds everything an electrician needs. Get the shoulder straps too, they are worth it. Note it suggested to buy the tape holder separately but it came with it so dont do that.
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A W
> 3 dayCant rate sturdiness or durability, havent had it long enough. Although it seems like it will hold up for quite a while. Very comfortable to wear and not nearly as hot as others.
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Chris
> 3 dayThis is a wonderfully made belt. The pouches are made of sturdy material, and the pockets are thoughtfully arranged so that I can carry my most used tools easily. The belt is very comfortable around the waist. I got some suspenders with it as it gets fairly heavy with all the tools packed in and everything fits great. You can rearrange the placement of your clips and pouches for a bit of customization too. Id like to shout out to the support team for their timely assistance. I had initially ordered the wrong size belt. But at my request they sent me a new one of the proper size at no extra cost and it came very quickly to my door. Thanks again, Gatorback for the wonderful belt. I would definitely buy again.
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Dan3208
> 3 dayExcellent tool belt! Excellent customer service also
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Deena
> 3 dayMy son is a youth apprentice electrician and thought this was just amazing. He said it made life so much easier having this tool belt.
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Ernesto Fernando
> 3 dayExcellent, tough, comfortable and sold at a reasonable price