Carrick to Calgary

Just before they left for home, Mel & Stephen managed to solve a mystery that's been bugging me for a few weeks. Having bought a nice new pair of jeans around the time of Stampede, I also got hold of a few belt buckles but I was unable to figure out how to get them on my belt from home. I looked everywhere on the Internet, but nowhere seemed to offer an answer. So now that Mel has found the solution, I thought I'd put it on the web to help other confused wanna-be cowboys.


A New Belt Buckle

The back of the buckle has a latch (through which the belt runs, presumably) and a mysterious projecting 'spike' (which presumably goes through a hole in the belt)


Back of the buckle

So, a nice new buckle, but how to fit it on my belt?


The belt

I tried it several ways, and although it would fit over the existing buckle, it wouldn't sit securely and kept falling off.


On the belt - how does it go?

Anyway, Mel finally found the answer by going in and asking in a western wear shop at the airport. And it's blindingly simple - I've been using the wrong belt! It turns out you need a western belt which allows you to remove one buckle and replace it with another. So yesterday I got a new belt from Lammle's and it works like a treat!


New Western Belt - pretty gaudy, eh?

The back of my old belt is like this, with the end sewn in place over the buckle:



But the back of the new belt is like this, with 2 'pop-studs' which allow the belt to open up:



like this...



and let you hook up the new belt buckle like this:



and this:





And so, Bob's your uncle!



So I can now use all three of my cool buckles!





So there you go, the J&P guide to Western Belt Wear. Next week - how to do up a bolo tie!