Easy-Fit Original Instructor Belt

Description

“Endorsed by Gunsite…
the belt of choice of Gunsite staff.”

– Owen “Buz” Mills, President,
Gunsite Academy, Inc.

Belt History and Use

Wilderness founder Ralph Holzhaus developed the Original Instructor Belt during his time commanding and training a high-angle mountain rescue unit in central Arizona.

The Original Instructor Belt was developed in 1983 and has been refined ever since. It is a very strong belt using a specially designed carbon steel V-ring buckle with a tough, non-glare black nitrided finish which is highly corrosion-resistant and will not chip like painted coatings. The belt was originally designed to clip into a secure system while “instructing” others in high places during mountain rescue training, although they can be used for emergency rappelling with proper training. However, it has also proven to be a fantastic everyday pants belt and great for outdoor sports, military, and concealed-carry use.

Although not intended to replace a rappelling harness or to absorb a fall, the Instructor Belt provides peace of mind over the alternative — no protection at all. We strongly recommend it for anyone involved in law enforcement, special warfare, or rescue operations where there is a risk of falling out of a helicopter. It has been standard operating procedure for decades within the Phoenix Special Assignments Unit (SWAT) to clip into a Wilderness Original Instructor Belt during airborne or skid-riding ops. It has also been used by many professionals who like the safety of being clipped in when working in cherry pickers (the belt’s first “save”) or other tall structures.

This belt is not intended to replace a standard rappelling harness with leg straps in normal operations. It is intended as an emergency option to clip into when there is a risk of falling, or for emergency rappelling when no other option is available. It will be very uncomfortable to rappel with, but it may save your life — which is what we intended. The Instructor Belt must be used in conjunction with a harness or rope seat during any non-emergency situation or rappel training. These are inherently dangerous operations which can result in death or serious injury; proper training in these skills is absolutely required.

The Original Instructor Belt is designed to be a serious piece of rescue/safety equipment that you may have to bet your life on. In lab testing, our Original Instructor Belt has withstood a minimum of 5,900 lbs. of static stress without failing, to more than 8,000 lbs. of static stress without failing. Results vary with model. See testing data. Ask those who try to copy us if they continually refine the construction and materials they use? Or do they use inferior materials and designs, like heat-sealing or flimsy metal tabs on the end that tear off and shred your belt within a year or two? Our proprietary polymer treatment on the belt tab actually soaks into the core of our nylon and bonds with it, providing permanent protection from fraying. With proper use, your Original Instructor Belt should give you literally years of faithful service.

*Our Original Instructor Belt buckles are carbon steel for extreme strength, and thermochemically surface-treated to reduce metal fatigue, increase wear-resistance, and resist corrosion from moisture. However, after maritime use or if you have a high volume of salty or acidic sweat, we strongly recommend rinsing your Instructor Belt buckle with fresh, hot water. Long-term exposure to sweat or seawater without cleaning can result in minor surface rust.

You don’t have to ask us if our gear is top quality; we stand behind our products and include documentation of these results with every Original Instructor Belt, and we post them here on our website.

If it’s not a Wilderness Original Instructor Belt, it’s just a copy. While we occasionally make co-branded signature models with select industry partners like Gunsite, you will always find our label as well as theirs. This way you can be guaranteed you are getting our quality, not a cheap substitute.

Belt Sizing

*We strongly recommend using a measuring tape to check your correct size. Your pants size is not your correct belt size and is usually off by at least 2″, and we have found that the markings on other belts are not always accurate. Please read and use our belt sizing guide.

If your measured belt size is over 50″ we strongly encourage you to check out the Easy-Fit belts. Their simplified sizing offers extra range of adjustment which makes correct sizing easier. This is important both to the belt doing its job for you and because the higher size ranges are custom and non-returnable.

Custom Size Notes: 46″-49″ add $5.00, 50″-59″ add $10.00, 60″-69″ add $15.00, 70″-79″ add $20.00 on all belts (please call for 60″+ orders for advice on belt style); 46″ and larger, or 32″ and smaller, are custom made and non-returnable.

CLICK HERE FOR IMPORTANT BELT SIZING INSTRUCTIONS

What is Easy-Fit Sizing?

The Easy-Fit belts offer simplified sizing for those who don’t mind an extra length of belt tongue on their dominant side. Note that the extra tongue length my interfere with strongside holsters. However, the belts have no incorrect orientation and the tongue may be run either right or left-facing to deconflict with belt-mounted gear.

Some competing belts achieve a wider, more generic sizing range just by adding more hook-and-loop fastener to the belt body. However, this makes you pull hook fastener through the buckle at the smaller size. We didn’t like that and engineered ours to avoid it.

Available in Medium-15X, the Easy-Fit Instructor Belt still has all of the quality features of the standard version, such as double-layer construction and heavy-duty sewing. The Easy-Fit system also makes sizing for gifts much easier.

Standard belt properly fitted:

• 38″ size: 36″ – 39.5″ range of adjustment
• 11″ of tongue (at the min. length) / 9″ of tongue (when properly fitted)
• 3.5″ of adjustment range

Easy-Fit:

• Large: 36″ – 41″ range of adjustment
• 13″ of tongue (at min. length) / 10″ of tongue (at the median when properly fitted)
• 5″ of adjustment range

Why don’t we size all of our belts that way? All of our regular belts are designed to be compatible with holsters and accessories with proper fitting. When the belts are precisely sized for a given waist measurement, the tongue of the belt goes to the center of the 10″ loop fastener on the belt, leaving room on the belt for holsters or other gear. The Easy-Fit model has a longer tongue and more hook-and-loop fastener, so it may overlap the belt to the extent that it limits things that can be put on that side of the belt where the tongue overlaps. While the Easy-Fit is just as capable of load carrying, it does not offer as much dominant-side area as the precise-sized belts, which are our personal preference when practical. This may or may not be a problem for you depending upon your holster or personal preference, but we want our customers to know the potential conflict when making their choice.

Choose Your Flavor

The standard 3-stitch model offers very good load-bearing and comfort with inside-the-pants holster carry. The 5-stitch model is our favorite and most popular. It offers two additional stitch lines along the length of the belt which significantly stiffen it and enhance load bearing. It’s vertical rigidity is similar to a high-quality leather gunbelt, yet it is horizontally and rotationally flexible for comfort. We think this is the best one for most gun-carrying operations, both inside-the-pants and belt holsters. The Combat Shooters Model (C.S.M.) adds a polyethylene insert which adds even more vertical rigidity. This model is slightly thicker than the 3- or 5-stitch models. We recommend it for action shooters and security work where numerous items such as duty holsters will be worn on the belt.

Click here for a .PDF guide to proper Instructor Belt use.

Comparison of the classic 1.75″ and our proprietary 1.5″ steel Instructor buckles.

Our original 1¾” belts fit most jeans and BDUs very well (please measure belt loops to be sure! We have found many off-brands have odd sizes that may not be correct). Due to overwhelming demand we also produce 1½” Original Instructor Belts that will fit a wider variety of pants and shorts.

Why did it take so long to make the smaller one? Because our proprietary 1½” buckles, just like our 1¾” versions, were put through rigorous laboratory testing to prove their merit.

Click here for Original Instructor Belt lab test ratings

Instructor Belts are available in Black, Wolf Grey, Coyote Brown, and Ranger, 1½” or 1¾”. We offer standard stiffness 3-stitch, stiffer 5-stitch, and a Combat Shooter’s Model (C.S.M.) with a more rigid polymer insert. They have corrosion-resistant buckles with a black nitrided finish (which will not chip like painted coatings found on many Instructor Belt copies), and all the quality you expect from a Wilderness product. Remember, if it’s not a Wilderness Original Instructor Belt, it’s just a copy.

Added Hook and Loop Options

We now offer the option of adding hook or loop fastener to the inside or outside of most of our belts. This helps to secure many hook or loop fastener-lined duty belts and warbelts in place when using ours as an underbelt. When used on the inside, it can help lock our belt into place when using it over a hook or loop fastener-lined underbelt on your pants. Some pouches also feature hook or loop inside of their belt loops to aid in keeping them in place.

*Note that this option makes the belt a custom order which is non-returnable. Correct sizing is even more vital than usual, so please look at our sizing guide videos for proper fitment here. **The slight added thickness and stiffness of the hook or loop fastener may not allow the belt body to fit through very tight belt channels on some holsters and accessory pouches.