I’m thinking of starting a blog trying out smaller companies’ products that I find on social media. This is me trying the style to see how I like it.

I found myself in need of a new belt recently. Usually this is because I’ve gained too much weight, but this time I was just getting tired of my old brown leather belts: I had 2, and both had aged and hardened to the point of cracking. They had those weird multi-colored bends on the notch you use all the time. It was time for a change.

At the same time, I was trolling Facebook and saw an advertisement for Grip6. If you haven’t seen these ads (not everyone gets the same ones), check out their website, you’ll get the vibe. They’re advertised as minimalist belts, and come in a variety of colors. I’m a guy that’s willing to take a chance, so I clicked the link.

The site gets right to the point. They know you’re there to look at belts to buy, so they show you the belts you can buy. That’s a great design. You’re given a mix and match option, pick a strap, pick a buckle color, pay, and you’re on your way. For an online store of this type, I can’t think of a better way to shop. They also have a few different ways to pick specific belt combos, and (new since I bought mine), you can buy the straps and buckles separately. The belt itself is modular, you can mix and match buckles and straps, so the ability to buy them separately is fantastic.

A full belt runs around 35 dollars. Considering its a minimalist belt, I originally scoffed at this price: it seemed high to me. But then I thought about all the belts I’ve bought throughout my life, and they all hover around that price. 35 dollars is how much a belt costs, and we need to come to terms with that fact. It’s not changing.

Shipping is through USPS. I received my belt (shipped out of their Utah factory) to Austin, TX in about 3 days, which is pretty good.

A small rant: For clothing, I think it’s preferred that companies ship directly rather than using something like FedEx SmartPost. SmartPost takes forever, and if I’m buying clothes, I want to know if I like the thing ASAP. If you consider your product high end, don’t use SmartPost.

So the belt itself. It’s design is very simple, just a hunk of metal:

and a strap:

Slide them together, and the belt holds together with friction, and the extra strap length hides behind the the buckle/strap for a clean look.

So, that’s simple and easy to manage.

I’ve been wearing this for a couple months now, and I actually liked it so much that I bought a second belt with different colors. The mixing and matching works perfectly. I can say that the black strap that I bought second feels slightly less stiff than the grey you see above. It’s not really a problem, the belt works exactly the same, just seems like the materials are *slightly* different. Your Mileage May Vary.

Another issue with this belt is coming out of the bathroom. It is just slightly more awkward to tighten, because of the way it works. You need to reach under the belt and hold the buckle perpendicular to your waist, then pull the strap through. I don’t know how to describe this, other than to say it’s less “fluid” than a normal belt tightening. Getting dressed in the morning is no big deal, but with a line behind you at the urinal you’re going to find yourself taking slightly longer than normal to adjust your pants, feeling awkward, and then possibly running away crying with loose pants.

…Not that that happened to me. But I have found it awkward sometimes to tighten the belt as tight as I would like. It takes some getting used to.

I’m not going to do a rating system on these posts. The next post is going to be on a pair of jeans I bought, and if I give this belt a 7 and those pants a 5, how do I quantify that difference? How much better is 2 when comparing a belt to pants? So I’ll just say that I absolutely recommend this belt if you’re looking for one.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think by replying to wherever you found this link!