May 2025 Gun Show Sales, and More Hardware Woes
Hello, my Vanguard Belt acolytes, fans, friends, and followers.
Another Crown Point Gun & Knife Show is "under my belt" (see what I did there?), and I was happy to see my sales finally return to levels that I used to see regularly in years past. For the last 2-3 years, sales have significantly slowed down at the local gun shows, and it's been disheartening and frustrating. I've been attributing the slump to the fact that the economy had become a mess with all the rising inflation, and I'm presuming that people just don't have as much disposable cash with their budgets being stretched to the limits for this long.
Those who could afford to attend gun shows at all are likely there for two things: guns and ammo. Any accessories beyond that are likely avoided unless they're necessities. That includes a good gun belt. Unless an attendee really has a need for a belt, they're gonna skip my table until they have money to spend on one. I'm not a badgering type of salesman -- I don't annoy every passerby with a sales pitch. I know that's generally considered poor salesmanship, but I'm not a fan of aggressive salesmanship or being badgered myself when walking around a gun show, so I don't like doing that to others.
I am, however, good at reading body language, and I can pretty readily discern doubters from prospective buyers by how much interest they show in my display belts on the table. If they're reading my signage and inspecting/handling the belts, then I'll speak up and offer up some factoids about Vanguard Belts. If their body language is one of sneering disdain at my pricing or the notion of a synthetic belt being of any value, then I let them wander off. I was unlikely to ever sell a belt to someone who has already made up their mind based on their preconceived notions.
People who scoff at my prices have clearly never shopped for a good gun belt online. My pricing is very fair, and often beats out most comparable gun belt products online. Those who scoff at my prices are accustomed to buying themselves flimsy, crappy twenty dollar Chinese-made belts from a local big box store. And then they gripe when those cheap belts don't last beyond a year or two, where they'll drop another twenty dollars on a similar poor quality belt which will fail again in another year. For the price of two of those belts, they could have one of mine which will last a lifetime and never become flimsy like leather. And mine are American-made by yours truly.
People who scoff at synthetic belts have simply never seen the strength and durability that is possible with a Vanguard Belt. There are some who will always believe that an old-school leather belt can never be beat. While my company tagline has always been "Leather Is Dead", it's a tongue-in-cheek phrase meant to elicit curiosity about the message. It's meant to inspire dialogue with me about belts, and to bring forth a chuckle because, technically, leather is made from a dead animal. To be fair, synthetic Vanguard Belts are technically made from dead organisms, too: dinosaurs, prehistoric animals, and plant matter which have been dead for many thousands of years and have become decayed matter in the form of crude oil. From the oil comes modern synthetics, such as the polyester, nylon, and polyurethane from which Vanguard Belts are made. So while no animals were intentionally harmed in the making of Vanguard Belts, the material is still made from long gone critters as opposed to the leather hides made from recently deceased critters.
I love introducing my belts to potential customers who have only recently entertained the idea of concealed carry for the first time, or who may simply need a nice EDC belt to securely carry tools or other accessories or implements. When considering concealed carry, it is important to understand and accept that a gun belt isn't just an attachment point that also holds your pants up. A true, proper gun belt is a PLATFORM, and should be considered as such. While Vanguard Belts can certainly hold your pants up exceptionally well, they're really designed to function as a platform for gun holsters, magazine holsters, and other items such as knife sheaths, flashlights, and even pepper spray devices. They're not quite at the level of rigid duty belts or tactical operator belts, but they're pretty close and are a civilian-appropriate solution that allows the properly supported carry of firearms, light tactical equipment, tools, and other accessories. Your twenty dollar big box store Chinese pleather belt won't be able to do that very well. Vanguard Belts will do that.
In other pertinent product news, I recently had an earlier customer reach out because his Vanguard Belt's buckle and screws were badly rusted and he was requesting replacements. I happily obliged and drove to his home to retrieve the belt to bring home and work on it (and to add some extra punched holes in it for him). Upon seeing the state of his Vanguard Belt, I was mortified at the condition of the metal hardware. The buckle's nickel plating was completely gone, exposing the plain steel beneath to sweat and moisture. The buckle was completely rusted through, to the point that the little roller on it had partially disintegrated away and left a sharp, jagged, rusty edge that could potentially be dangerous to skin if contact was made. That raised a lot of red flags about the old nickel-plated buckles that I used to use. I really didn't realize how badly those old buckles could potentially deteriorate. So again, my legacy customers, I advise you: if you have a nickel-plated belt buckle on your Vanguard Belt, please consider accepting a free buckle upgrade from me to a proper stainless steel buckle. I have been using stainless buckles for a few years now on any newly made belts, but my first 700+ belts that went out to customers likely had the old nickel-plated buckles. I can upgrade that buckle free of charge and will even meet you in public or at your home to do the upgrade for you. Or I can send you a new buckle and you can install it yourself if you prefer. Just reach out to me and I'll happily take care of you.
In the case of this customer, not only was his buckle in dreadful condition, but so were the screws -- and they were the newer black screws that I've been using. His screws were also complete rust and were rusted permanently into place -- as in, the screws won't even separate from their posts. I ended up replacing this customer's entire belt with a whole new belt with all stainless steel hardware (buckle AND screws) under warranty. I couldn't take his old belt apart because I'd have to literally cut away the screws with a power tool to replace them. I may still work on that old belt in my spare time, and I'll refurb his original belt with new hardware if I can and then I'll return it to him later.
The revelation that even the newer black oxide screws are susceptible to badly rusting has led me to order a sample of all stainless steel Chicago screws and posts from a different distributor. I'm going to try those out going forward, and if I like them, then that may become the new Vanguard Belt standard. I don't ever want to see one of my belt products come back to me with all rusted hardware like my prior customer's belt. I've been billing my products as a "lifetime belt", and I need to know I'm installing hardware that can live up to that claim. Of course, the stainless screws cost significantly more, but my belt customers (and my company reputation) matter more than the cost of that hardware. I'll eat the cost and use better hardware if it makes my belts hold up better and last longer. That matters to me, as I'm sure it matters to you.Look for an announcement here on social media soon if those new screws work out and become the new standard. As before with the buckles, I'll offer up free stainless steel screws and posts to any customer that wants them or needs them. Either find me at the gun shows and make your request, or reach out to me on my mobile phone, Facebook Page, or email address, and I'll take care of you. I want your Vanguard Belt to be the belt that I promised you when I sold it to you. I'll make it right, even if I have to replace the whole thing due to badly rusted hardware.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading and thanks for your interest in Vanguard Belts. If you haven't bought one yet, rest assured that my mission is to get you a quality belt that is meant to last. Check out my website for more information and to place an order if you wish:
vanguardbelts.com