Utility Belt

[gfish]

My major fashion affectation is my utility belt. It carries, going counterclockwise from the buckle: flashlight, sharpie marker, leatherman (Charge XTi), digital camera, monocular, PDA/cellphone. The exact contents and packaging have changed over the years, slowly being refined. I've put a great deal of thought into optimizing everything about it, mostly because I'm a big dork.

A couple of weeks ago I realized that I had been ignoring an entire component of the belt, leaving it completely useless -- the belt itself! Duh. So what can a belt do? Well, it's like a rope, but too short to be particularly useful. What if it was longer? What if it was a rope, but folded back and forth several times? I figured I could get at least 5, maybe 6 lengths before it got too thick to be comfortable. So I bought parts and started prototyping. This weekend I made the final version, which has a whooping 8 lengths, each 66 cm long, for a none-too-shabby total of 5.3 meters of 6mm climbing rope. Dorky? Certainly. Useful? ...maybe. Removal would be annoying, so I'd have to really need the rope before I did it. But if I ever do need it, I'll have it. So there.

Comments

[ivy]

What you need are two metal (or non-metal) chain links. Then you can wrap the rope back and forth between them, and use the links + a carabiner for a buckle. Easy on, easy off, still a lot of continuous rope.

I envy you having a Sharpie in such proximity. I carry one in my small book bag (purse sized), but that's nowhere near as well done as your belt. Envy of geek.

[gfish.livejournal.com]

I actually only added it because the pouch had an obvious spot for one. I've since come to really appreciate the usefulness of having one at hand, particularly the new clickable retractable tip kind. Anything that can be deployed one-handed is a bonus.