The Last Belt You’ll Ever Own: The Trakline Men’s Belt

Many years ago I backed a Kickstarter campaign for a men’s belt that offered belt stops every 1/4 inch or so rather than the standard 1-inch or even 1.25-inch belt holes. From a company called Trakline, I was psyched when the belt arrived and wore it as my daily belt immediately. Which proved to be a problem, because the buckle ended up digging a hole into my pants, a stress point that they hadn’t realized would be a problem in their design. Ended up switching back to more more traditional belt, though with some disappointment.

A few weeks ago the company reached out to me and offered to send along a belt from their “version 2” redesign and it’s what I’m wearing right now. And it’s great, a much smarter and more sleek design that again offers dozens of belt stop options to reflect both those days when I’m “cinching my belt” and those when I’m post-Thanksgiving feast and need a few extra millimeters to breath comfortably.

But enough words. Let me show you how it works, because it’s pretty darn smart.

That’s the back of the buckle. The leather strap is coming off the right, and you trim it to your preferred size and simply clip it into the side. The left side is where the “nose” (is that the right word?) goes, and there’s a space above the right side of the buckle for the leather to slip through.

The belt is where the magic is, though. Here’s a closeup:

You can see the notches sewn into the inner element, and how close they are together. A lot closer than those belt holes!

Put them together and here’s how it works:

To loosen the belt, you push on the tiny element on the top left and either pull the belt to make it tighter or push it to loosen the belt. Easily and comfortably — and subtly! — done even while you’re wearing it.

The company offers a bunch of different buckles and a couple of belt colors too. So far, I’ve been showing you the Intrepid buckle with a dark brown belt, but they also sent me the Epic buckle and a black leather belt too:

Really nice. Like toss-out-all-your-other-belts nice. And here’s perhaps the biggest surprise: They’re not ridiculously expensive. The Epic buckle + belt pair is only $49.95. If you’ve gone belt shopping, you know that’s not bad at all, and for an innovative design like this ratchet belt that’ll fit you perfectly, good day or bad, it’s a solid deal.

So if you’re the kind of person who wears belts, check it out! From Kore: Trakline Fashion Belts. And if you’re someone who totes a gun they have a whole line of gun belts too.

Disclosure: Kore sent me two Trakline belts & buckles in return for my review. Which was darn nice of them.