Utility Belt Prototype

So, aside from hydro, I've been working on designing my own bags and utility belts. Back in July I finished my first prototype, but never blogged it.

The utility belt I designed and created in July was created specifically to allow me to carry a few specific items around with me easily while working:

• Phone (sized for the iPhone 5 carried horizontally)
• Flashlight (AAA size)
• Knife (specifcally the Leatherman CS4)
• Pen (of some sort)
• Pack of 3x5 index cards for notes
• Something else (undesignated pouch)

There were a bunch of other items I had that I was playing around with but those were the most important. You can see some of my design ideas here.

The second from the top was chosen to be the first design I made.

I also spent a lot of time trying to decide on and then acquire the appropriate materials. I settled on waxed cotton canvas and wool as my main two materials. Waxed cotton ended up being very difficult to find in small quantities. Eventually I found someone on Etsy who was willing to sell me two yards of grey waxed cotton, which I'm not even close to being done with.

So it took me a good deal of time and experimentation, but back in July I produced my first prototype. I've been wearing it nearly every day since and I'm happy to say that my design was sound. My technique has continued to improve but ultimately it was a wild success as a prototype.

Prototype utility belt after six months of use. 

You can see the finished product here after I've been wearing it for about six months. I wasn't very good about finishing the edges so there's some fraying but all the seams are currently still solid.

So the design I came up with started with the belt. The belt is made from a backing of 1/16" industrial wool felt with 1.5" seatbelt nylon as a middle layer. A 1" nylon top layer holds the Cobra brand 1.5" buckle. These buckles are really sweet but quite expensive. They're technically overkill but I was set on using them and they're great. This belt is solid and doesn't slide around because of the extra friction offered by the wool bottom layer. It is somewhat adjustable (~4") allowing me to wear it over jeans or over insulated coveralls.

The pouches here are the same shown in the drawing and worked out quite well. At the time of construction I added another small pouch for soap stone (used to draw on metal). I used waxed canvas for just about everything but added on some grippy black material I found at Ragged Mountain onto the pockets and a contrasting yellow to the inside. I decided to use strong magnetic clasps in the smallest size I could find. I got them from ... and they ended up being perfect. I didn't do a good job of reinforcing the flaps so I added extra stitching later which looks strange, but it works. The trick with the pouches was to use the industrial wool felt as the backing for them. The belt goes through the pouch between the felt and the canvas so the felt of the belt is against the felt of the pouch providing excellent friction. The keeps the pouches from sliding around your body in general use without making them hard to move it you want to move them. It was an idea I had that ended up working perfect.

One idea that didn't really work well was the universal pouch that I added. The idea was to have a pouch that could hold a variety of things but ultimately it couldn't. I even added an extra long flap with a second magnetic snap so you could fasten it looser or tighter. It was a good idea, but the pocket itself was not well constructed. I didn't know how to make good pockets and things like falling out of it. Additionally it was just the wrong size. Nothing really fit in it well other than a granola bar. Oh well.

Ultimately I learned a lot and I'll post some of the other bags I've made since.

Prototype in progress.