Occidental Leather

There used to be a time in our country’s past when you could buy many different products made in America, and seeing “Made in the USA” was often a sign of a quality product. Unfortunately, those days are long gone for the most part thanks to big box stores having a race to the bottom for the lowest price. As you might guess, that competition for the lowest price often means a sacrifice in quality and the loss of American jobs to move that production overseas to save money. While it is rare to find American made products anymore, thankfully there are still holdouts making things here in America.

One such holdout is Occidental Leather.

Occidental Leather got their start in 1980 in Sonoma County and ever since, they’ve carved out a name for themselves by making high quality tool belts, vests and suspenders. Not only are they made here in America, they employ professional artisans to make their gear, many of whom have been working at Occidental for 20 years! That’s years of experience going into each Occidental product made by workers who take pride in their work and that’s a sure sign of quality. Occidental so strongly believes in the quality of their artisans that they offer a two-year warranty that covers defects in materials and workmanship. As if that wasn’t enough, they also offer lifetime repair for any stitches or rivets that work their way out of sorts.

Not only does Occidental have a high bar for quality standards they also make their gear with the end user in mind, all Occidental tool belts, tool bags, totes and tool storage attire is designed specifically for a given trade as well as which hand is most likely to reach for a given tool or fastener. A framing toolbelt has different placement than a carpenter’s belt or electrician’s belt, for example. For those of you who’ve travelled down the left-hand path and consider yourself lefties, Occidental designs belts in the same manner for you too and those are denoted with an “LH” in the part number.

This means that every tool belt, SuspendaVest and work vest will help you store your tools, fasteners and more where it feels most natural to reach for them.

Speaking of work vests and SuspendaVests – those are two things that Occidental Leather makes besides tool belts and those have become something of a specialty. The key advantage to wearing a tool vest over a tool belt is that the weight of your tools moves from your waist to a possibly more appropriate loadbearing part of your body – your shoulders – and that weight is more evenly distributed than it would be on your waist. This helps to give your body a break from the traditional belt while keeping your tools close at hand. Occidental touts that the vest system is superior to that of a tool apron and given how popular the vests are and that there does not seem to be an Occidental tool apron, many tool users seem to agree. While the Occidental tool vest is more or less self-explanatory, the SuspendaVest serves as an alternative to suspenders and from there also works similar to the tool vest in concept.

So if you’re tired of tool belts and pining for a different way to carry your tools, checkout Occidental’s vest selection.

Occidental Leather has stayed true to their commitment to quality by keeping production here in America. They also offer so many styles of tool storage and they go to incredible lengths to design their tool belts and vests tailoring them specifically to the job you’re doing and the hand you’ll be using to do your work with that you’ll want to try one out for whatever job you’re working on. Occidental is an American tradition built on American quality and a great investment for anyone needing work gear they can rely on.