If you want to carry your EDC gear in a practical, comfortable manner, you’re going to need a good belt. With so many different options on the market, it’s helpful to look at product reviews to get a better understanding of the models you’re looking at. Today, we’re checking out a review of the Groove Life tactical belt. How does the Groove Life Belt stack up to real-world use? Let’s listen to what Mike at Tactical Considerations [YouTube channel] has to say about it.
What do you need your EDC belt to do?
Mike notes that, when you wear a belt every day, you want a belt that will be stiff enough to work and carry what you need on your belt, but you don’t want it so stiff and so thick that it’s uncomfortable or just a bunch of unneeded material. I can certainly vouch for that! Finding the right mix and balance can be a tall order to fill.
Groove Life Belt — Thin and Simple
Mike describes the belt as “ultra-thin” and magnetic. He confesses to being skeptical when he first checked the belt out, having experience with a large number of tactical belts of all kinds, from numerous makers—leather belts, nylon belts, belts of all sorts.
He opines that thin, EDC-style belts, especially when you put a holster or some weight on it, just generally didn’t work out so well.
When Groove Life contacted Mike to test their belt, he was skeptical and didn’t believe it would be anything remarkable. The first reason he gives is that the belt is “Super-thin. Like, paper thin!”
It also has a simple magnetic buckle, and the tag just folds behind the front piece. On most belts, the buckle area is thicker for added strength, which adds more to the waistline. And, as Mike points out, many of us don’t need additional girth added to our waistline (including myself).
The Buckle
Mike begins by addressing the buckle. It has a nice, stainless steel look to it that looks almost “weathered” with a small “Groove Life” logo in the corner of the buckle. The Groove Life logo is also on the retention portion of the belt (it does give it a rather classy appearance). The belt, overall, appears to be black in color.
Upon opening the buckle, we see that there are two teeth on the inside and corresponding holes on the other side of the buckle that the teeth lock into. There is also a slot for the magnet itself. Note that the magnet does not appear to be large at all. As you get the two halves of the buckle near each other, the magnet sucks the other half unto itself and basically buckles itself. To see it happen is just plain neat! Mike notes that it’s so easy, you can do it even if you lack opposable thumbs (I know a few folks who would qualify there!).
Let me just jump in for a second…watching the buckle fasten itself reminded me of when we were little kids and first discovered the magic of magnets. Remember the wonder of it all? How do they do that??? Well, this thing rather reminds me of that.
The replaceable buckle is held on by a few screws. Mike believes it will be interesting to see how long the buckle lasts. From what I’ve seen, it appears that it will last for a good while. He’s used his for a few months and has had no issues so far.
Belt Strap Material
Mike demonstrates that the belt strap material is fairly stretchy by pulling on it. Indeed, it does have a lot of give. He notes that this is especially useful in the event the user eats an entire pizza, followed by a few beers. Obviously, Groove Life was thinking ahead on this one.
As well, the material is substantially stiff, as when Mike tries to pinch it with his fingers to get it to bend, it resists admirably.
Mike then shows us a profile of the material and how thin it is. Let me tell you, it’s amazing how stiff they made that belt because that material is seriously thin!
I’ll jump in again here for a moment and say that, although I haven’t even seen the full review up to this point, I’m having serious thoughts about getting one of these belts. And I’m not one to buy into various gadgets at the outset. That said, I’ve seen enough so far that my interest is piqued in a big way. Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Gear Attachment
Mike attaches several different types of holsters and a knife sheath to the belt. The stiffness of the belt seems to contribute successfully to attaching and holding all of these items.
Wearing the Groove Life Belt
According to Mike, it’s best to feed the belt material through the loops carefully so as not to wear it out. However, Groove Life has a ton of different buckles and materials of all colors and patterns available.
Mike suggests using this belt with compact or sub-compact weapons when carrying inside the waistband (IWB) because “You don’t want to go overloading this thing with weight. Yes, it is pretty stiff. There are much stiffer belts out there, but they are far thicker. So you’re going to have some give and take when you have something as thin as this is and still have the rigidity as something that is literally five times as thick as this is.”
His initial concern was whether the hooks in the buckle would hold up under the weight of a holster with a handgun and some other gear attached to the belt as he put pressure on it, drawing the blade or the handgun from their holsters. The belt performed exactly as it should.
Is the Groove Life belt any good?
Mike believes that if you’re looking for a super-slim EDC belt that’s going to carry most of what you need, the Groove Life belt is a really good option.
He notes that with all of the belts he has tried over the years, each has its positive and negative points, and it really depends on what you’re going to use it for. He says that for what most people will use this belt for, this is a super-sleek option.
This review, as I said, is definitely enough to pique my interest. I need to check one of these out!
I see that they have buckles with all sorts of various logos on them, including NFL teams. Retail at the time of this writing looks like these go for $68.99.
Have you tried one of these belts out yet? If so, leave a comment and let us know what you think.
