“Spend good money on a mattress and shoes. If you aren’t in one, you’re in the other.” That adage makes a lot of sense, especially as we get older. As someone who has worn a toolbelt for 30 years, I would argue that the same wisdom applies to toolbelts.
My first rig was an Occidental leather belt in the ’90s that I inherited when my dad bought new belts for his crew. I wore that for years, then had, successively, an Occidental 9515, a Diamondback Raptor, a Diamondback Denali, and a Diamondback Grande. They all had features I liked or disliked; mostly, I want something lightweight, with no unnecessary pockets but with large open pockets for easy access.
This brings me to Badger toolbelts. Full disclosure: I am now friends with Joel Thomas, the designer and maker of the Badger toolbelts. I had reached out to him in 2015, when he owned Diamondback and I reviewed the Raptor rig. Some time later, I saw on Instagram that he had started Badger and a friend of mine, Joe (@ CanadianCarpenter), was wearing the bags. I talked to Joel about making an “Awesome Framers” version of the bags, but he was so busy making the bags himself and filling orders that it took three years for us to get a rig together. I didn’t know at the time that he had previously made Diamondback bags, and that he was the guy who sewed the Badger bags.
I wanted something minimalist, without extra pockets for tools I don’t need to carry, and I wanted access to fasteners. I had Joel make a few modifications to the Carpenter toolbelt. I went with a 4-inch belt (I’ve never liked the feel of a 6-inch belt). I raised the hammer sleeve to make it easy to pull my Martinez M1 when I’m bent over, and I shortened it, so the hammer never gets hung up. I also asked for a cat’s-paw sleeve on my left. I use it a lot, and in this location, it never gouges the back of my leg. This is a perfect setup for me for framing, foundations, and siding. There is not one thing I would change. It was obvious to me that Joel took what didn’t work at his previous company and fixed it, and then improved the bags. Four years later and my bags look like they have many more years left. The Carpenter setup starts at $400 at badgertoolbelts.com, with many options both in style and layout.
