I like my best belt a lot. The owner is pretty cool, he gave me custom stitching for free. It’s pretty soft like chobbs said and even with a double prong it’s not hard to adjust at all. If I had to order one again it would probably be a 13 mm single prong best belt or a 13 mm inzer lever.
FWIW, levers seem superior to me, but I’ve never tried one.
[quote]trivium wrote:
[quote]StrengthDawg wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
I really don’t see a problem with drilling 2 or 3 holes if I have to. I don’t think I will ever gain that extra 15 to 20 lbs to get to 240 either.[/quote]
That’s what I said and here I currently sit at 240 lol ( I measure 39" around my waist FWIW)
I think you’d be G2G with that plan. Another thing to consider with going a tad larger is in the winter, you can belt up around a hoodie or something. I lift in my garage and it’s nice to be able to do that when it’s 40 deg in there.
AND should you get lured into the DARKSIDE of PL, and turn into a gear whore, you’ll have room for briefs / suit. lol
[/quote]
BWWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAA!!! thanks man, that made my day! funny stuff right there.
[quote]trivium wrote:
[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
Ok. Bob’s Belts burned down, and they aren’t taking orders anymore until summertime.
It is between the EliteFTS single prong P2, the Best Belts prime cut single prong, and the Inzer Forever Buckle single prong.
All are 13 mm.
Any last advice that you guys can provide?
I am tied between Elite and Best Belts. I fit right in the 32 to 41 range by my estimation. That leaves plenty of room on both sides of the fence.[/quote]
One more place to look, over at titansupport.com, they carry the texas powerlifting belts. To me they are the most bad ass looking belts. Never used one so cant speak to them but Brahma is the 13mm and Longhorn is the 10mm. Everything from snakeskin to bull shoulder.
I did have an exceptional experience with the guys from bestbelts though and I love the belt. It pretty much felt broken in when I got it, its about a year old now and still looks brand new. I got the 10mm though.[/quote]
Those are awesome, but those are hugely expensive compared to the other brands haha. The logo with the bull squatting is pretty cool. I think I will hold off on one of those just yet though. I have to wait until I am strong enough to wear something that flashy haha. I am going to go a bit more utilitarian for now.
I am strongly leaning toward the Best Belt. I just can’t decide though. I do love EliteFTS’s customer service and products. I don’t know why this is such a hard decision haha.[/quote]
Yeah, I’m thinking you better be a 4-5-6 plate lifter minimum to pull off a snake skin accented belt. Maybe more than that haha.
[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
Ok. Bob’s Belts burned down, and they aren’t taking orders anymore until summertime.
It is between the EliteFTS single prong P2, the Best Belts prime cut single prong, and the Inzer Forever Buckle single prong.
All are 13 mm.
Any last advice that you guys can provide?
I am tied between Elite and Best Belts. I fit right in the 32 to 41 range by my estimation. That leaves plenty of room on both sides of the fence.[/quote]
One more place to look, over at titansupport.com, they carry the texas powerlifting belts. To me they are the most bad ass looking belts. Never used one so cant speak to them but Brahma is the 13mm and Longhorn is the 10mm. Everything from snakeskin to bull shoulder.
I did have an exceptional experience with the guys from bestbelts though and I love the belt. It pretty much felt broken in when I got it, its about a year old now and still looks brand new. I got the 10mm though.[/quote]
Those are awesome, but those are hugely expensive compared to the other brands haha. The logo with the bull squatting is pretty cool. I think I will hold off on one of those just yet though. I have to wait until I am strong enough to wear something that flashy haha. I am going to go a bit more utilitarian for now.
I am strongly leaning toward the Best Belt. I just can’t decide though. I do love EliteFTS’s customer service and products. I don’t know why this is such a hard decision haha.[/quote]
Yeah, I’m thinking you better be a 4-5-6 plate lifter minimum to pull off a snake skin accented belt. Maybe more than that haha.
[/quote]
Well I already got the 4 plate thing down pretty good for leg lifts. I’m working on 5 with deadlift.
When I get to 1300 I’ll pick one up haha.
Ok guys. I made up my mind.
Tomorrow I am going to put in an order for a 36.5 inch single prong Prime Cut Best Belt.
I am either going with forest green or turquoise.
I am choosing it over the EliteFTS belt because it is custom made, and I look at EliteFTS as being more of an equipment company (racks, bars, etc.) than a gear company (belts, briefs, etc.). The Best Belt also seems to be one piece of leather (which one person said was more durable), and the colored belts look pretty cool. Also, I think that I got 5 people in here who said that they had an awesome experience with them (all the cool kids are doing it).
The only disadvantage seems to be that it will take 18 to 21 days to deliver, as stated by their website.
The titan belts are awesome but a bit too much for me at the moment. Maybe when I get more cash flow and a larger total.
The Inzer belts came in too many sizes and didn’t cover a wide range of waistlines in comparison to the other two. If I were to bloat up, or gain weight I would jump sizes and need a new belt.
Bob’s belts burnt down. Plus some people claim that they take literally forever to break in, but they apparently last forever as well.
Thanks for all the help. I really do appreciate that a lot of the guy’s I follow and have looked up to since my lurking in 2006 bothered to stop in and give their two cents. I would also like to thank you all for being polite and helpful. I know that this shouldn’t be a hard topic to figure out so your patience was appreciated. I hope you all get good karma and hit PRs for your help in here.
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of reviews out there on this stuff that I could find, so if I do a review on the belt I will throw it up in here after a few months of use.
[quote]trivium wrote:
The Inzer belts came in too many sizes and didn’t cover a wide range of waistlines in comparison to the other two. If I were to bloat up, or gain weight I would jump sizes and need a new belt.
[/quote]
I’m not trying to talk you out of your decision, but if this is what’s driving it, I don’t think this is accurate. I have fit into my current Inzer 13mm Lever belt with a 42 waist (that was about it as far as the outer limit on its last setting and it was a squeeze for sure),but I’m currently a size 34 waist with more notches left to go if by some miracle I got skinnier. That’s a pretty big fluctuation.
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
The Inzer belts came in too many sizes and didn’t cover a wide range of waistlines in comparison to the other two. If I were to bloat up, or gain weight I would jump sizes and need a new belt.
[/quote]
I’m not trying to talk you out of your decision, but if this is what’s driving it, I don’t think this is accurate. I have fit into my current Inzer 13mm Lever belt with a 42 waist (that was about it as far as the outer limit on its last setting and it was a squeeze for sure),but I’m currently a size 34 waist with more notches left to go if by some miracle I got skinnier. That’s a pretty big fluctuation. [/quote]
That is much larger than what they have listed on their website for buckles. They seem to be in the 3 to 4 inch range on variation in sizing. Perhaps I read that wrong?
[quote]trivium wrote:
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
The Inzer belts came in too many sizes and didn’t cover a wide range of waistlines in comparison to the other two. If I were to bloat up, or gain weight I would jump sizes and need a new belt.
[/quote]
I’m not trying to talk you out of your decision, but if this is what’s driving it, I don’t think this is accurate. I have fit into my current Inzer 13mm Lever belt with a 42 waist (that was about it as far as the outer limit on its last setting and it was a squeeze for sure),but I’m currently a size 34 waist with more notches left to go if by some miracle I got skinnier. That’s a pretty big fluctuation. [/quote]
That is much larger than what they have listed on their website for buckles. They seem to be in the 3 to 4 inch range on variation in sizing. Perhaps I read that wrong?[/quote]
I am not sure what they list as sizes, as I haven’t looked at belts since 2007. I’d be surprised if the sizes changed, however.
As a point of reference, I am a raw lifter, 5"10, and I have used my belt to compete in both the 220 and 242 classes and I have trained in my belt at around 250 pounds, at which point I was really testing the belt’s outer-design limits, if you know what I mean, and my waist was around 41-42 inches, i.e., I was fat. I weighed in this morning at 201 and I have a 34 inch waist and the belt fits me just fine and I have have more holes to go to make it smaller. I’d bet the sizing is conservatively listed to accommodate geared lifters and to make sure everyone comfortably fits within the size parameters.*
Again, I’m not trying to change your mind, I just want you to make your decision based on accurate information.
*It is also possible I have a high tolerance for compressing fat down to avoid spending coin on a bigger belt.
I get about 60lb with a belt.
Maybe because i disregarded abs for a long time, i hiy my core harder and use a belt to always push heavy with my legs
[quote]trivium wrote:
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of reviews out there on this stuff that I could find, so if I do a review on the belt I will throw it up in here after a few months of use.[/quote]
I know, I looked for days on the internet trying to find as many opinions as I could about different companies and there just wasn’t a lot to find. That would be great if you did write a review. You have a much higher level of strength to really put one through its paces than I do so your review would hold a lot more water. My best did break in really quickly though. It actually felt half broken in compared to other belts I had used in the past right when I got it.
It will not take 21 days. Call Dean at the # listed on the Website. Don’t just order from the website, call him. Like everyone said, I probably had the best customer service experience of my life with Best Belts. I called to tell him what I wanted, and ended up talking to him for about an hour, lol, about powerlifting.
He wanted to know what kind of lifter I was, what I liked and disliked about my current belt to figure out what would work for me. I had an Inzer and hated it. I had it for 3 years and could never break the damn thing in. Best’s come broken in. I told him I didn’t like 13mm because it really cuts into my ribs, but was unsure about 10mm, he made me a damn, 11.5 - and it is freaking awesome.
I told him I was an FSU grad, and he got into a story about how several years ago he provided their athletic department with a bunch of belts and may have a couple of scraps of leather left lying around from that order. He wanted to know if he could find them, if I wanted him to use those. I was like hell yea. So he made me a garnet belt with gold stitching. I also had a 33.5" waist. He put the center hold at exactly 33.5.
With all this customization - I still got the belt in like 7 days. Can’t recommend them enough.
[quote]DRice311 wrote:
It will not take 21 days. Call Dean at the # listed on the Website. Don’t just order from the website, call him. Like everyone said, I probably had the best customer service experience of my life with Best Belts. I called to tell him what I wanted, and ended up talking to him for about an hour, lol, about powerlifting.
He wanted to know what kind of lifter I was, what I liked and disliked about my current belt to figure out what would work for me. I had an Inzer and hated it. I had it for 3 years and could never break the damn thing in. Best’s come broken in. I told him I didn’t like 13mm because it really cuts into my ribs, but was unsure about 10mm, he made me a damn, 11.5 - and it is freaking awesome.
I told him I was an FSU grad, and he got into a story about how several years ago he provided their athletic department with a bunch of belts and may have a couple of scraps of leather left lying around from that order. He wanted to know if he could find them, if I wanted him to use those. I was like hell yea. So he made me a garnet belt with gold stitching. I also had a 33.5" waist. He put the center hold at exactly 33.5.
With all this customization - I still got the belt in like 7 days. Can’t recommend them enough.[/quote]
Damn that is a sweet story. I am glad I made the right choice. Unfortunately I already ordered off the site haha.
Looks like I made the right choice though. I am glad to hear that customer service is that good. I love when I can tell that it is more than just a job for some people. I will always pay for quality/service, especially if it means supporting a small company that is doing it right.
Just wanted to say that my belt shipped yesterday by priority mail, and should arrive on Monday or Tuesday.
In the mean time, I have gotten to use a Cardillo belt. It was great. Kept my back from rounding, and kept me upright under what I would consider to be a heavy attempt status post strain.
I also used a Valeo foam/velcro belt. It worked, but I definitely was at the outer limits of its usefulness. The velcro pulled off and the clasp slipped a bit on my 10th rep. It worked though, but I was only using 280, which is not real heavy.
I am seeing benefits of my stretching and form work though.
I will do an unboxing, provide a form video with a short review, and then a while later do a review when I can.