Alternative Belts

[24VApvt]

I've heard several reenactors over the last few months mention they have seen where men would use old gun slings as a belt? Has anyone found any documentation that this method was used? I'm looking to lose the braces I've been wearing, but want to do something that has been documented of the men in the field, instead of doing the old, "he said this, so it must be true" of so many in this hobby.

I'm sorry if this thread is in the wrong section of the site. I'm pretty new on here and still feeling my way around.

Thanks in advance for any knowledge you may have.

Ryan Minter

[D.W. Butcher]

Re: Alternative Belts

Ryan,

I'm not sure what your goal is. If you don't want to wear braces, why not wear a belt instead of a rifle sling? If you really need to improvise a belt, because you broke or lost or forgot yours, using a sling seems like a good idea. But setting out to make or buy a "sling-belt" strikes me as odd... It seems like recreating the exception rather than the rule. Or maybe I'm just missing something. I realize I have a lot to learn, and would welcome the advice of those who have studied the period more than I have.

[D.W. Butcher]

Re: Alternative Belts

Hope I didn't seem like a jerk in my last reply. To actually answer your question, rather than ask my own, take a look at Jim Mayo's excellent site.

http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/j_mayo/relics.html

Take a look at the accouterments of Seldon Sikes, 211th Pa. He had a belt like you were asking about, as well as a saddlebag half for a haversack, and was charged with losing a belt plate. Now I'm wondering if the 211th had supply problems, or if Sikes was just a screw up. Can anyone shed any light on this? Where is the belt that used to have the plate? After losing the belt plate, he lost the belt, and replaced it with a cartridge box sling, and some knapsack hardwear? If those were his sling and knapsack, it seems like he made his situation even more difficult. If the sling and knap sack belonged to someone, why not just steal their belt? I've heard that the army only has one thief, everyone else is just trying to get their own **** back.

Now, IMHO only,just because this was done doesn't mean it should be done. Unless you are portraying Seldon Sikes, 211th Pa. Infantry.

[24VApvt]

Re: Alternative Belts

For a lot of our living history events, I'm looking to have more of an "on campaign" type impression. I'm aiming to have the "improvised" look, but I want do something aside from the standard old, twine or rope. But to still do something that has been documented. I just haven't been able to find anything.

No worries, looking back, I didn't make it that clear. I guess what it comes down to is that I'm looking to do something historically accurate, but sort of out of the ordinary, and trying to find some sort of documentation to help back it up.

Thanks for that link. It's got some good ideas to do some different things from time to time.

Ryan Minter

[bAcK88]

Re: Alternative Belts

I don't want to be a stick in the mud, but I'd suggest keeping your suspenders. I know that the majority of us wear belts in our modern lives, but if you look at the photographs of soldiers and civilians from the Civil War-era time period, suspenders seem to be used more often than belts. Yes belts were used during the mid-19th century, but not to the percentage that are used today.

[Coatsy]

Re: Alternative Belts

Bill makes a good point. Study the photos of the Civil War solider. Check the Library of Congress website for ACW images, check books that have a period images, etc.