Best carpenter’s tool belt, belts for electricians, ironworkers and others

Tool belts are needed for professional workers to help them when they are working away from their tool box of tools. For example, an electrician may work at a height, the ironworker may work on the floor which is too narrow to place anything, etc. In our article, we will help you to choose the best carpenter’s tool belt, as well as offer options that are convenient for electricians, ironworkers. We’ll also review roofing, scaffold and framing tool belts.

Best Carpenter’s Tool Belt

I prefer to use leather belts with canvas bags and suspenders. They are more convenient and comfortable, soft and compact. And even the belt may be nylon. That’s my opinion. Moreover, they don’t cost as much. Yes, they may wear out faster than leather, but their more frequent replacement is fully compensated for by a lower price. With a carpenter’s tool belt you just go with what you like the best.

I for some reason like the Occidental Leather tool belts, as well as their tool bags and buckets. Just a personal preference, I’ve used others as well, but like I said, it’s your preference that matters most.

My favorite is Occidental Leather 9855 Fat Lip Tool Bag Set. It is equipped with 10″ deep industrial nylon bags with leather-reinforced bottom and corners. There are a lot of multiple tool holders and a tool with hammer holder in the rear. The belt in my opinion is a good balance of durable vs light. The weight is evenly spreaded around the hips and the begs won’t shift out of position because they’re fixed. There will be no more bags sliding off the belt and dumping all nails out.

I also like the large pockets and how they stay open. The hammer handle fits good and doesn’t bang against the back the knee when I walking. There are also D Rings for use with suspenders. Tool belt suspenders doesn’t allow the tool belt to slide off the ass 🙂 When paired with the suspenders it becomes very comfortable even overloaded. And my advice is made in USA Occidental Leather 1546 – light industrial nylon suspenders with even weight distribution and fully adjustable front and rear

The Occidental leather are absolutely amazing, durable  and exceptionally well crafted. It is not all-leather material, an I like it, as I said before. Yes, it is expensive. But worth it absolutely, and will last very long

One of my friends hates tool belts, the wear him out and his pants slip down alot. His choice is a 2500 SuspendaVest and a couple oxy light bags. I’ve tried it. It was pretty comfy. I also like that with it you can remove the bags and use the 2500 as a lightweight tool vest. You can take off the whole rig in 2 seconds if needing to get in a tight space.

I’ve also tried a Occidental Leather  2580 SuspendaVest. It was comfortable too, but the larger compartments on the upper section are too much for me. If I were an electrician who needed big electrical devices it might be ok.

Best Framing, Roofing and Scaffold Tool Belts

When finding a tool belt and tool set, you should consider that lighter is better and  the less is more. Most of professional workers sooner or later come to a standard framer or carpenter belt with a fixed bags.

Typical compact set is 3 inch belt with electricians pouch on a right side, and standard nail pouch with hammer loop on the left. If there is real need, you can always buy a bag or even two.

With this minimalistic set the suspenders are not necessary, but you will be able to get the suspenders as well. In this case you can load up and the belt itself will actually loose at the waist!

The main concerns here are:

• If using suspenders, all the sweat from the back follows the suspender bearing points
• It takes a little patience, you need some time to get used to the set

Size, belt material and brand are personal choices. My favorite belts are pretty small and with suspenders. I also have a bucket boss full of tools. It easier for me to carry the bucket and only most used stuff in the belt. I have only two bags on it: a big a smaller ones.  My hammer is near the front, other tools I organize by their job.

On the right side there are “sharp tools” (chisel, utility blade, tin snips, sawzall blade, etc) and on the left there are all the measuring tools (speed and bevel square, torpedo level, needle-nose pliers, a chalk line, etc.). In the smaller pouches I put nails and screws when needed.

Do not carry useless tools 70% of the time, especially wrestling to get yourself and your big old belt through a 16 on center bay in a wall.

Best Electrician Tool Belt

Best electrician tool belt is the lightest one. Electricians are going up and down their ladders pretty often and they are not meant to be pack mules.

Tape holder and a pouch like Klein 5119 on the other side is often more than enough. You can carry all you need with it. Small belt bag that holds a multitool, wire strippers, a beater, linesman and dikes – there are all that is needed for 90% of electrical jobs.

Insead the belt you can even wear a small leather pouch when doing a repetitive task like wiring lights. It can successfully hold four or five tools and some parts that you really need.

But if you really need more tools, compact and pretty cheap model is CLC 3 Piece Electrical Combo

It is a good reliable belt with all parts interchangeable and removable. You can easily swap the bags or remove/add a pouch. 2-layer ballistic polyester fabric made it is heavy duty, the metal clip will hold any measuring tape.

The bags are deep enough so tools stay in, they are roomy and the handles are useful, and you can take the bag off when don’t want to wear both.

The belt’s price is about $75 and the quality it is good for a budget tool. It isn’t $300 organizer and you shouldn’t expect it’ll last forever. Expect 6-8 months of work and it will start ripping. Not so bad to test the idea and buy new one.

Ironworker Tool Belt

Structural tools may vary from project to project, so before choosing ironworker tool belt you need to know what tools you’ll need. Another thing you can do is ask your fellows if they’ve got tool belt for sale. It can’t hurt.

Some ironworkers may prefer belts with holders, fixed with rivets. Some prefer deeper and heavier pouches worn in reverse for working on a ladder. In any case you definitely need a tough and reliable belt with some bolt bags, a scabbard or two for pins/sleever/spuds, etc.

I recommend to purchase a work belt with tool pouch or bolt bag, pockets for pencil/soap stone, at least 25’tape measure, 12″ adjustable wrench and utility knife. If it’s within your budget, you can add markers, flint striker, torpedo level, duct and electrical tape, a multi tool.

Ironworkers, and other elevated trades working at trigger heights of of 15 feet, 10 feet or 6 feet above are required to wear a full body harness to comply with OSHA’s 29CFR.

Whether you wear a harness which incorporates an integrated removable tongue-and-buckle waist belt, or use a separate one, you may install aftermarket pouches and tool hangers.

A good example of tough holder is a Double Barrel Bull Pin/Wrench one.

This is a great top quality product made in the USA. It fits well and rides easily on the belt. With it, you won’t have any imbalance in your bags and it will easily last up to five years. Highly recommended for iron workers.

Occidental Leather 5520 Tool Holder is another great example.

It is made of sturdy american leather and may be worn on any belt up to 3 inches wide. With its sturdy stitching and nice leather you can be sure nothing will be bent, broken or deformed. The weight of tools won’t take a toll on this product, it is a highly recommended holder for anyone in the steel or construction industry.

Conclusions

For professional workers you can’t beat Occidental in almost any model or type. These are a little expensive, but these are worth every penny. And they will last 5 years and steel be in great shape. Their beltless systems SuspendaVest are great too. They are extremely comfortable, however, sometimes hot.

From the DIYer’s point of view, buying these expensive belts is questionable. If you wear the belt twice a month, any $10 one from HD or Amazon will do pretty much the same job. And at this pace, they will also last for years. Everyone is different, look for tools which suit your needs. To each their own.