Back in college I worked at a sporting good store, in the rock climbing section. I was poor and I climbed a lot back then, and the employee discounts were key to gear accumulation. When it was slow on the sales floor, I used to make belts for myself and for friends out of tubular climbing webbing and fastex buckles. They were super cheap and super durable–just what climbers needed. Of course, now you can buy similar belts in any decent outdoor shop–they’re totally commoditized.

A few months ago Tru needed a belt, and I remembered the ones I used to make. So we took a trip to REI and bought some 3/4″ flat webbing and a couple of plastic buckles. I made a belt for Tru and one for his cousin Benjamin. Benjamin can’t find his, but Tru wears his all the time. He loves it because he looks like a big guy with a belt, and he can buckle and unbuckle it by himself. I like it because it cost around a dollar to make each belt–and that was paying retail for supplies.

This evening I was talking with my sister, Benjamin’s mom, and she was asking me about the belt. She said that she knew a couple of other people who wanted similar belts and jokingly mentioned that I should start selling them. I figured why not? So I’ll try ebay and see what happens. I think Amy and I will make a few during the evenings and drop them off at local shops, just to see what kind of response we get.