How do you cope?

[docwithaglock]

Here is a subject I have battled with over the summer (new to the concealed carry environment).  I no longer have the narrow waist of my youth and with my IWB holsters even tho I pull them as tight as I am able, as the day wears on my trousers start to droop and I have to keep hitching them up when I stand up or as I am walking.  How do you cope with this problem? 

[JTH]

Here is a subject I have battled with over the summer (new to the concealed carry environment).  I no longer have the narrow waist of my youth and with my IWB holsters even tho I pull them as tight as I am able, as the day wears on my trousers start to droop and I have to keep hitching them up when I stand up or as I am walking.  How do you cope with this problem? 

What belt are you wearing, would be my question.

Having a belt specifically made for CCW (stiffened leather, or nylon with insert, or some combination) that holds its own shape and doesn't deform under stress---this is what makes the most difference for a lot of people.  It won't sag as the day goes on, it won't let the edge of the belt curl over time, nor will it stretch.

If you are already using a quality gunbelt, well, then that isn't the problem.    If you aren't, though---I bet that'll fix your problem. 

For me personally, for dress belts, I'm partial to the Matrix belt by Galco, and for casual wear I like the Wilderness Tactical instructor belts.    There are plenty of other good-quality gunbelts out there.

[docwithaglock]

Have a 1.75" very stiff Levi belt, even made more holes to pull tighter.

[Kendahl]

When wearing a belt, it's your hips rather than your waist that keeps your pants up as well as anything attached. Once your waist gets bigger than your hips, it's a losing battle. It's a problem for me, too. I have seen guys wearing both belt and suspenders. For CCW IWB, the belt carries the gun and holster and the suspenders keep everything from sagging. The other alternative, which you have probably considered and rejected, is a shoulder holster.

[JTH]

Have a 1.75" very stiff Levi belt, even made more holes to pull tighter.

That a specifically made gunbelt, or just a wide leather belt?  The reason I ask (because I don't recognize the name as a gunbelt-maker) is because gun belts don't have to be particularly tight to be fully supportive.  (Matter of fact, I don't like my gun belt to be cinched to my body.  My holster holds the gun securely, butt tucked in to me, without having to crank it on so it is considerably more comfortable.)

Most gunbelts are double-thickness, with additional leather support, or a nylon insert.  (For example, Comp-Tac's gunbelt, one version at least, has two layers of solid thick leather along with a nylon insert sewn in between them.)  The belt itself is normally hard to twist, and it flat-out won't fold or roll up in a small fashion.  If you took the belt, fastened it, and held it out in the air, it wouldn't sag or bend.

Here's something from a different forum regarding gun belts.  (Oddly enough, the author starts with a Levi belt, too.) 

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=282496

[jdredskinsfan]

That a specifically made gunbelt, or just a wide leather belt?  The reason I ask (because I don't recognize the name as a gunbelt-maker) is because gun belts don't have to be particularly tight to be fully supportive.  (Matter of fact, I don't like my gun belt to be cinched to my body.  My holster holds the gun securely, butt tucked in to me, without having to crank it on so it is considerably more comfortable.)

Most gunbelts are double-thickness, with additional leather support, or a nylon insert.  (For example, Comp-Tac's gunbelt, one version at least, has two layers of solid thick leather along with a nylon insert sewn in between them.)  The belt itself is normally hard to twist, and it flat-out won't fold or roll up in a small fashion.  If you took the belt, fastened it, and held it out in the air, it wouldn't sag or bend.

Here's something from a different forum regarding gun belts.  (Oddly enough, the author starts with a Levi belt, too.) 

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=282496

Agreed. Luckily, I don't have this problem (yet, at least) but I do have a good belt anyways. My other (non-gun) belts all flop around but my gun belt that I got back in Texas pretty much stands on its own. I frequently carry a full-sized 1911 and was amazed by the difference that a good belt can make.

[JTH]

Someone else just wrote about this, actually:

http://www.balloongoesup.com/blog/belts/

How do you know when you have a bad belt?

You know you have a bad belt if you need to adjust your pistol back up onto your hip or that you need to cinch it tighter that you would if you weren’t carrying.

[bullit]

Eat portions no larger than the gun you carry 2 x a day.....

[Chris C]

I was one that didn’t believe a true gun belt made a difference.  After 4 years broke down and bought a 5.11 Operators belt (not the cheap flimsy one was like $42).  Not only does it support the holster better but your sagging problem won’t happen anymore.   

[David Hineline]

Buy a gun belt, my father wore bib overhauls every day. You could arm a battle with the weapons he could have hidden in those.

[Ronvandyn]

I have the same issue and I wear a "gun belt", IWB or OWB.  Personally, I like to think that as the day progresses I get thinner, but then my rational side shows itself and I realize that I am just as old and fat as always.  I have yet to put another hole in the belt for another notch, but its coming.  Fortunately in my youth I was silly enough to think that I could learn to work leather and purchased the tools. 

Ron