Occidental Leather 8098 Stronghold Beltless Bag System

 (11 customer reviews)

Whats good:1. The bag is made of very durable materials and should stand up to many years of jobs site use. 2. There are plenty of pockets to hold small items such as tape, pencil, knife, screw drivers, etc. at very convenient reach. 3. Slips on and off in seconds. 4. Allows the user to bend at different angles with out being confined by a belt around the waist. 5. Pouches are less likely to spill contents when working at different bent over positions. 6. Two large pockets to hold larger sized tools.Whats not so good:1. The system is difficult to adjust for use the first time out of the box. (Set up is done only once so this is a minor pain only) 2. The shoulder pads, although very comfortable, will get dreanched with sweat if you work in the heat. (I need to think of something for the odor?) 3. The system does not remove weight from your lower back as I had thought it might. You can carry a ton of tools with this system, but you will feel it by the end of the day.I...Read more

I bought this rig after nine years of cinching my waist with an old fasioned tool belt. It sounded like a good idea, but once I put it on I had a terrible sinking feeling. In fact, I felt like I was going to suffocate. The suspenders are too bulky and you can't move without being very aware of them. The bags don't hold their shape and move away from you when you reach across your body for the opposite bag. The bags are too big and I kept losing my Vise Grips horizontally at the bottom of them. The tape measure holder on the bag is too small to hold my regular 25 foot tape. The whole rig is just way too cumbersome and irritating to wear. I put it away after two weeks and got out my old 11 pocket belt. I will happily wear it and put up with the dents in my waist, all the wiser for the experience.

I purchased this belt set last January and I was impressed with how it relieved the stress on my lower back. I was also relieved of waist rot from conventional tool belts. The suspenders were easy to set up with the instructions included. Break in takes about a full week. Pouches do hold lots of tools.
As hotter weather came along, the suspenders hold a lot of sweat (later they began to smell). But I also noticed it was very uncomfortable when the suspenders wouldn't allow for your upper body to cool off. My shoulders also began to chaf.
As for movement, the system doesn't cling to you. But working in very close quarters, (i.e. lifts, steel joists, some scaffolding,etc.) it was easy to get hung up and scrape against walls.
I am considering selling my suspension belt, but pondering the fact that its not a bad set to own if you switch between this system and the belt a few times a year. That way I wouldn't wear out body parts to quickly.