Belt and new pouch
The Belt Setup
Together with my shoulder bag, I always wear the same gear belt when I’m out in the woods. The belt itself is old — made back in my school days. I’m planning to make a new one, wider and from heavier leather. When I’m out, the belt is worn on the outside of my wool anorak, shirt, or whatever I happen to be wearing.
It’s just far more convenient to have a dedicated base belt with gear attached, instead of moving things back and forth to my trouser belt each time.
The Belt as It Is Today
There’s always a bit of rotation in my favorite gear, but at the moment the belt looks like this:
A Condor Bushlore knife with a firesteel. The sheath was made by Søren Topholm from ST Leatherworks. I’ve had this knife for many years and used it a lot. The steel is fairly soft — not exactly top quality — but it’s easy to sharpen in the field.
There’s also a spare firesteel, which came with the sheath originally.
Lastly, there’s a double ammo pouch. They’re Serbian, made of quality leather, and quite inexpensive. You can get both single and double versions. I really like the saddle-button closures; they don’t wear out over time.
The pouches are fine for small items, though a bit small overall. I usually keep fire gear in one: lighter, tinder, matches. The other holds small metal tins from Lidl (their mint tins are great). One contains painkillers, the other plasters and bandages.
The New Pouch
I always keep an eye out in thrift stores — especially for leather belts and small leather bags. Often the belts are too short or the bags too worn, but it’s a very cheap way to get leather cords (from braided belts), buckles, D-rings, and clasps — far cheaper than buying new.
This bag cost 15 DKK (~2 EUR). It’s made from thick, dark leather of excellent quality. Inside, there are five compartments, three of them with zippers — absolutely perfect.
Upgrading the bag was simple. I cut a few small straps from an old belt, riveted them together with carabiners. The carabiners are always useful — even if the bag isn’t on the belt, something else can hang from them instead.
The straps got a quick coat of brown leather dye, which really improved the look.
EDC and More
Just for fun, I tried overloading the new pouch — it holds far more than I expected.
In one zippered pocket: tins with plasters, pills, and my car key (always nice to have that zipped in).
In another zippered pocket: fire-starting gear — tinder tin, lighter, matches, and still room to spare.
In the last zippered pocket: a Fällkniven sharpening stone and an Opinel No. 7.
In the open compartments: tins with coffee, tea, sugar, and milk; a spoon; and my Hultafors axe sharpening stone.
That’s more than enough gear. The axe stone rarely comes along (the axe is maintained at home), and the coffee setup usually lives with the small cook kit in the shoulder bag. The point is — there’s a lot of space.
Chaga!
And I was lucky enough to find a good chunk of chaga on a trip with the local nature guide. A fantastic find. I gave half to the guide. I’ve never tried chaga tea before, so I’m looking forward to it.
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