Gunbelts for Ladies - Advice Requested

[Seth Shaw]

Fellow Leather Workers,

I humbly seek your wisdom in an area I am having quite some difficultly with, that of properly shaping gun belts to fit the female figure.

My first attempt at a buscadero style belt for my wife, while marginally successful, did not fully meet my expectations. I think I need to put an even greater degree of curve into the overall shape of the belt so that it will hug her hips instead of riding on top of them. Below is a pic of the belt I had made for her, you can see how it's shifting around, hanging forward and not really contouring to her shape the way I would have liked.



Any words of advice from those of you experienced in crafting belts for the fairer sex?

Many thanks!

[Leo Tanner]

Me an the wife er gonna keep an eye on this thread too.  Thanks fer posin the question Seth.  She has that "shifting" problem as well.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

As you figured, due to the difference in a woman's build, a lady's belt does need more taper to it so it fits her hips better. That'll take care of the issue of the belt hanging out too far in the front. As a solution without needing a new belt, try wet molding more curve into the belt. That can be done by wetting the belt then laying it flat and hand stretching the bottom edge without changing the top edge. You may save yourself some work. After it's dry, it should fit better. In the future, make a belt out of butcher paper first to get the correct taper. For now, you can make a paper belt and then match that curve when you mold the leather one.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Me an the wife er gonna keep an eye on this thread too.  Thanks fer posin the question Seth.  She has that "shifting" problem as well.

     Howdy Seth


            Try this link, it might give you some ideas, seems to work for those women using it. At least you will be able to see the curve that is being used.  http://www.kirkpatrickleather.com/product/h_tq-l.htm


                                                  tEN wOLVES 

[Springfield Slim]

That Kirkpatrick rig confirms something that I had thought before. The curved rigs were originally designed for women police officers.  Some of the ones I worked with used the curved belts and some didn't. But police tend to wear their belt on their waist, much higher than most of us cowboy shooters. So the curve doesn't work as well. My wife has some curve to her hips, but a straight belt works fine on her and most women I have shot with. Kirkpatrick seems to have taken some input and built what will probably work better than the standard curve. Depends on how you are built, I suppose. Also depends on what style of belt you have, the Buscadero being the most problematic, as usual.

[Seth Shaw]

Thanks very much gents, as always the advice is appreciated and of course, incorporated!

I'll try doing a few fabric mock-ups first this time around to find the correct amount of "curve" required and where along the belt they are needed to achieve the desired contour. As we all know, it's the perfect "snugness" we are aiming for with a gun belt so that it move with you, not against you, retaining it's place through a full range of motion during a stage (and still remain comfortable during a day of wearing them fully loaded with pistols and ammo).

This time around she wants a separate gun belt/holsters and a shot shell belt, so that should give me more options as far as form and function, not to mention a lot more area for artistic license

Thanks again fellas.