Money belt ?

[Major 2]

 Having an oval stand of wheat Buckle I just got from Will Gormally
I decided to make folded money belt out of about 7 oz. piece pebble grain brown hide Johnny McCrae gave me.

Wanting a loopless style to carry a Slim Jim for a Conversion and a pouch... I gleaned Paching Iron for an idea.
I seem to see lots of folded belts however all have loops....

I know folded leather belts pre- date the cartridge loop era ... but does a loopless Money belt style ?
The era I want the rig to emulate is 1870-2.

[St. George]

A money belt of some variety likely came about with the advent of coinage, when a pouch became unwieldy or a greater sense of security was desired by the owner of said coinage who wanted his money kept close at hand.

The fact that you could make a dual-purpose belt by adding cartridge loops was a bonus.

The thing to consider might be the fact that a 'money belt' is neccessarily made of soft leather.

Making the wider style used to support both cartridges and a revolver allows the weight to be distributed equally over a wider surface.

Making 'just' a moneybelt may not provide the support for the revolver that's given by a thicker, one-piece belt that's about the same size as the saber belt.

Plus, coins of the time were a bit on the large size - the Silver Dollar, especially - and the smaller belt, when stitched - won't allow for your coins to be easily extracted.

Makers of the era came to a standard width for a reason.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Major 2]

The leather is rather soft 7oz  but folded glued along the edge and at 2 1/2"  it seems it may work

The blank is made I still have to sew it  that's going to take awhile....
so you think I should add loops  ?

[St. George]

Your call.

At the time that you want to represent, the self-contained cartridge was in wide use.

Makes sense to factor that into the mix as you design your rig.

One nice thing about moneybelt rigs is the fact that most have minimal tooling - the leather being somewhat soft, and all.

A nice, clean border-stamped edge, with a more decorative stamping near the billet looks very 'period'.

Good Luck.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Major 2]

No tooling.. this is a pebble grain sorta deep crease finish hide simlar to pg. 142-3 Packing Iron

which has loops 
the holster does have tooling based on pg. 76 Packing Iron

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Nice holster, Major. It'll look good with a matching belt, with or without loops. Remember, the cartridge/money belt gained popularity in the 1880's. That seems to be right after cartridge belts came into being. Remember, though, Packing Iron is a book on carrying your guns. No consideration would be given to money belts that weren't for this purpose. I think if you researched money belts, you'd find that they were used long before cartridge loops were considered. I had a money belt that was my grandfather's and it was made solely for carrying money. It was probably worn under the clothing, out of sight. Looking at the idea logically, it's possible that a belt without cartridge loops could have been used for a pistol before the cartridge era. That would take some research to verify, but it certainly wouldn't be out of the question. You may get some indications from old photos but I'd suspect old catalogs would be more indicative of what was available for money-only belts.

[Major 2]

DOH ! you know I never thought of that...research money belts themselves !
I've been looking at gun belts only.. sometimes it takes a friend to state the obvious...

Googling Money belts now

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

If it is glued & sewn before the loops are on , it won;t be a moneybelt.  All you will have is a folded gunbelt!

Majortwo;  I love your rendition of that California holster.  I will be examining it closely for tips on how to do one for myownself.

[Major 2]

Hmmm ...folded gunbelt

looking for Money belts on Google just took me to cool antique leather site and Cabela's...
not what I was thinking...
I'm going to need to research this further.

[Ace Lungger]

  Magor, man that is AWESOME, deep rich color. love the style and lines! I am having a brain freeze, I have a holster to build for a Pard, and he doesn't want anything but Plain My luck, got the itch to do something to get the juices flowing, it is for a colt 1849 , Cali Slim Jim, doesn't even want a border

Real nice Holster Magor!

Ace

[Forty Rod]

Mine will carry a pair of 1860 Colt army clones and 25 loops for my Henry or '66 in .44-40. 

Just a thought.

[Ace Lungger]

Forty Rod, In a box of stuff i got the other day, i got me another rawhide mallet, it don't hold a candle to the Forty Rod mallet

Later
ACE

[springfield]

I like my personal money belt without loops, I just don't use them. And that way i can put my pouch and knife anywhere on the belt and the loops aren't in the way.

[Major 2]

Got a photo of your belt Springfield ?  I have fringed deer hide Pouch I use instead of loops.

I think I should have titled this a folded belt or folded gun belts.

[Forty Rod]

Forty Rod, In a box of stuff i got the other day, i got me another rawhide mallet, it don't hold a candle to the Forty Rod mallet

Later
ACE

Use the new one for everyday stuff and save the one I sent for holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and other special days.         

[springfield]

Here is a pic of my old rig, I have made a new one with longer holsters I use now. Belt is the same, just a little darker leather.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Looks good, Slim. It really is nice. The dark brown works nicely with the main belt. I'll have to catch you at one of our matches to take a look at it.