Gatorback B240

My old tool belt needed to be retired because the plastic buckle starting giving way (it would periodically just unclip resulting in my whole tool belt just falling off) and my utility knife, over time, eventually put a rather large hole in one of the pouches and now everything falls out in that pouch. After a bit of searching, I settled on the Gatorback brand of belts for the ratings of comfort and ability to swap out or customize locations of the pouches. I had 3 requirements I was looking for. 1. Easy adjustability of the buckle for spring/fall work for wearing a jacket and taking it off (I don’t want to spend 5 mins adjusting the belt width after taking off my jacket when it warms up in the day). 2. Minimum 3 pouches for parts (screws, staples, marrettes, etc.). 3. Enough space to accommodate a rigid utility knife sheath. I purchased the Electrician’s combo belt (right and left pouches on the pro-comfort back support belt). I finally had some time over the Covid lockdown to transfer my tools out of my old tool belt into this new one and test it out for a while. Some of the positives: COMFORT: Out of the box and used as-is, I noticed right away it was VERY comfortable. I tend to carry about 10-15 lbs of tools in the belt (including cordless drill) which always felt heavy with my old ‘front pouches’ belt and thin belt strap, and I would always need to adjust it. Going an entire day with this belt was not an issue regarding tool weight. Sure, I adjusted the way the belt sat every so often, but not due to pain or heaviness. I was very impressed with it. The waist strap is wide and padded which dissipates the force from the weight nicely. POUCH LOCATIONS: I really like having the pouches on the sides of your body instead of across the front of your waist (like my old belt had). Having the tools on my sides allows me to be able to bend down and work close to the ground without having the tool pouches get in the way. The tape measure clip can also be slid to the side enough to be clear of my stomach while I’m bent over to work on plugs :) SPACE: On the right side, there’s plenty of storage for all my frequently used hand tools and screwdrivers, and there was also enough space that I could add a sheath/holder for my utility knife. For electrical work, I use the utility knife so frequently when cutting in boxes that I don’t like retracting the blade before putting it back into my tool belt (hence why I got the hole in my old belt, my fault). In this new belt, there’s ample space for me to add a sheath for the knife to store it vertically and prevent the blade from hitting the bottom of the sack. I took a cut-off piece of irrigation ABS pipe, cut it to length, heated up one of the sides with a torch, and compressed it in a vise until it cooled so that the knife handle would sit into it and rest on the notch. I also like using a square for box installation, but I cut my square off at 3-1/2" (hard to explain why...but I just usually NEVER use my square beyond 3"). There’s a pocket at the top of both the left and right pouches that is 3-1/2” deep, so my square fits perfectly into this pocket and tucks away. A full size square WILL stick out if you put it into this pocket. I also made a holder for my drill bits out of a 2x4 cutoff, some spare 1/2" EMT conduit, and 3/8” rubber grommets (Gardner Bender). ADJUSTABILITY: Adjusting the buckle position to change the diameter of the belt is very fast. My waist size is about 38" and I got the Large version of the tool belt (36"-40"). I wear it at the 2nd smallest belt clip but there’s still an extra 3 or 4 holes above that which I can use while wearing a jacket. There’s also the ability to fine tune the position of the pouches and hammer clip around the belt, which is nice if you want to “wear the tools” more towards the front or back on your sides. They are held up primarily by the fabric belt loop, but are prevented from moving/sliding from a very sturdy strip of Velcro on the inside. Some of the negatives: These negatives are more specific just to my personal taste of tool location, but shouldn’t be used as a reason to not buy this. HAMMER CLIP: The hammer clip is positioned at your back (you can choose right or left of your back, depending on your handedness), but it’s a position which I just can’t get used to. I like having it on the side of the right pouch which makes for easier access for drawing and replacing. I saw some of the other versions of pouches (Carpenters pouch) has the hammer clip natively on the right side, but the pouch doesn’t have the same screwdriver/hand tool storage which is critical to have for electrical tools. So instead, I removed one of the external pockets for pliers on the right pouch, and riveted the hammer clip onto that spot. I kept the fabric backing that the hammer clip is attached to and it created a pseudo-pocket behind it which I can slip in a small tool. I used Arrow aluminum rivets from Home Depot (the long ones which are ½” long and 3/16” wide). They fit perfectly through the hammer clip hole. I also used a leather/fabric punch to create holes in the fabric (drilling through kind of works but the fabric just shreds instead of leaving a clean hole). I also used a #10 washer on the inside (blind end of the rivet) to allow for better hold of the rivet. I attached it in 4 corners, and so far I’ve had no problems with it coming off or moving. NUMBER OF POUCHES: Unfortunately the electrician’s belt combo only comes with 2 pouches for miscellaneous parts on the left side bag. I trained on my old belt with 3 pouches to individually hold staples, screws, and marrettes, and found it difficult using only 2 pouches when I tested out this new one. I tried for about a week, but I ended up needing to add an extra pouch. To do this, I purchased the B302 Foundations Tie Pouch (also from Gatorback) which has 2 of the small pouches hanging off the big one. I cut the stitching and 2 double-cap rivets that were holding each pouch in place, and attached them to the 2 existing pouches on the left side. I rolled the fabric header (where the stitching used to be) to make it look clean and used 2 rivets underneath in the top corners (per pouch) to hold the pouches. I added a third rivet in the middle to hold the new pouch down and prevent it from bouncing. Yes, it increases the overall “width” of my gear a bit, but I’ll take it so that I can have my extra pouches for space! I could have added them maybe on the front and back sides instead, but hindsight is 20/20. Overall, there’s no way I’m going back to my old belt. I’m impressed with the quality and comfort of the Gatorback design. Even though it’s a bit steep in price on the bell curve for tool belts, I’m not even thinking about that since I can wear this for 8 hours straight without hurting! It took me one evening of customizing the belt to get the modifications done, but anyone who is fairly handy should be able handle it (if you want to do anything of the sort). Who knows, maybe Gatorback will offer different pouch feature combos in the future?? :)

I have only owned the tool belt for a few days but from the feel and sturdiness I can tell you they will last much longer than my previous Klein bags which were full of holes and held together by zip ties a year and a half later. Very comfortable and breathable. The material is pretty thick and appears durable. The stitching and riveting around all the side pockets is well done and not just some thin canvas with a plastic insert behind for support. 4 pouches on the left for material and plenty of pockets on the right for hand tools. It came with a tape measure holder on the belt along with the hammer holder. I was surprised to see that the top portion of each pouch with the gator logo was also another slim pocket I use for miscellaneous bits, sockets or pens. I am 6’2” with a 31” waist. I like my bags above the hips and for me I had the medium size belt maxed all the way to the smallest holes and it still felt like once I put a screwdriver in them they would fall right off. I contacted the company to let them know of the issue. The next business day they sent me a tracking number for a new belt the next size down without hesitation. Unbelievable customer service this is the type of company I want to buy from again in the future.

I recently ordered this tool belt a size too big, and was happy to see that you can exchange sizes for free. I was expecting to have to go through the annoying process of having to return the original belt and waiting for the smaller one to come in, but after contacting them they said they would send me a smaller belt (not a whole new pouch, just the leather belt), and let me keep the bigger one free of charge. I haven’t gotten the chance to use the belt yet, but I’ve tried it on and it’s the most comfortable belt I’ve ever worn by a mile (and that’s saying something considering I’ve used the Denali 2.0 by diamondback tools in the past). If you’re looking for a general electrician tool belt and don’t want to spend a fortune, I would 100% recommend buying from this company. Not only do they sell quality products, they also know how to take care of their customers. This is a smaller company that makes good quality products for a low price, which seems to be a hard thing to come by these days.

Great pouch,made for electricians

I started out my electrical career with the basic Klein belt you can get at Home Depot. Super uncomfortable, fragile is probably a good description. The Gatorback is an amazing bag. Comfortable, durable, overall just a good fitting tool to make a long day a little bit easier on you. If your like me you will question whether or not to bother buying the suspenders. After a week you will wish you had bought them to start with. Go ahead and spend the extra money, it really does make a big difference in comfort and they won’t be as much trouble as they look. My only complaint is the tool pouches on the outside of the bag on the right hand side. The middle pouch is as long as the bag is while the two other pouches only reach half way down. This may not seem like a big deal but once your using the bag for 12+ hours a day it will get annoying that the two shorter pockets can only hold onto the few short tools you may have. Most electrical tools are long. Screw drivers, levels, strippers, etc. making the two other pouches run the depth of the bag would be an excellent idea. With that being said though I’m sold on this bag.

It’s a nice tool bag

Realmente estoy impresionado con la calidad del producto, viene en su caja de Amazon y aparte en su empaque original, no duden en comprarlo, es un producto americano y de una excelente calidad, vale cada centavo, gracias Amazon por traer este tipo de productos a México.

30 years as an electrician, and I have finally found a toolbelt that has enough space to hold all my tools, as well as fixings etc, and still have room to spare. Trust me when I say to buy the braces ( I bought the TradeGear Electrician's Belt & Bag Combo with magnetic wristband ) as they make it feel like you aren't even wearing a belt full of tools.

Mon fils l adore