Raiders Gun Belt, hand made by me

TheMechanic · Post by **TheMechanic** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 7:58 pm

Hello,
I just finished this tonight, my Raiders gun belt and whip holder.
I made the whole thing by hand. Cut it, dyed it, stitched it, finished it, all that.
The buckle and keeper are from my Keppler belt. The snaps are genuine American made "Pull the Dot" safety snaps from Scovill.
After exhaustive research and staring at screen captures for weeks I believe there were 2 distinct gun belts in Raiders, one for Tunisia, one for Elstree.
This can be evidenced by the fact that throughout the Cairo scenes, Indy's belt keeper is touching the buckle. In the Imam's house, the Well of Souls, and the Chachapoyan temple his keeper is about 2" or so away from the buckle.
I made my belt to reflect the "Imam's House" / "Well of Souls" / "Idol grab" belt with the distanced keeper.
As you can see in the included Imam's House screen caps that there are 2 rivets just behind the buckle and then the keeper. The buckle and keeper are therefore permanently attached.
Let me know what you think.

DVD Connoisseur · Post by **DVD Connoisseur** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 8:09 pm

Great work! That's impressive craftsmanship, Mechanic!

BendingOak · Post by **BendingOak** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 8:17 pm

great job my friend.

TheMechanic · Post by **TheMechanic** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 8:21 pm

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.

Here's 2 more pics.

gwyddion · Post by **gwyddion** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 8:25 pm

Looks great! I wish I was as good with my hands....

Regards, Geert

Post by **Holt** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 8:32 pm

that looks great.

make one for me?

bests
Holt

JimL · Post by **JimL** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 8:41 pm

V E R Y nice!

I might have to join Holt in his request for one!

TheMechanic · Post by **TheMechanic** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 8:50 pm

I just wish I could find a source for the buckles and keepers. I can't find quality buckles anywhere and nobody I found sells keepers either.

Thanks for the kind comments.

JimL · Post by **JimL** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:17 pm

well, SOMEONE makes them! You have them!

I think a bit more digging may be needed...

Worst case scenario: we draw it up and I have them made from billet stainless steel...

They will be HORRIBLY expensive, but what the heck right?

Again, congrats on a fine piece of work!

Kentucky Blues · Post by **Kentucky Blues** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:27 pm

He got them from Lee Keppler's belt. But dude... what's with the grooves?!

-KB

Indiana Jake · Post by **Indiana Jake** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:30 pm

Nice Job Mechanic! What color dye did you use? The edge crease looks great.

Indiana Jake

TheMechanic · Post by **TheMechanic** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:45 pm

Check these Cairo screen caps. Edge creases can be seen at the buckle area out to the bit end. Besides that think they look cool. I beveled the edges and then put the crease in for a more 'finished' look. It's entirely possible that the Elstree belt didn't have creases while the Tunisia belt did. That being the case I may have just created a hybrid belt.

Jake: I used Fiebings Dark Brown which was the only dye I found that seems to be a true brown and not purple. Then I finished both sides with Leather Balm.

I don't know where Lee gets his buckles. Probably had them custom made and probably had to buy 500 of them. I don't have that kind of dough and I doubt anyone could sell that many! I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a nice high quality buckle & keeper though.

Bazza · Post by **Bazza** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 10:06 pm

AWESOME WORK, Jared.....Very impressive to say the least!!!

TheMechanic · Post by **TheMechanic** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 11:28 pm

Thanks Barry. I appreciate it. Someday I'd like to make another in the 'Tunisia" style.

I found a really nice stainless buckle from a company in Canada but they never return my e-mails.

Oh well, they don't have keepers anyway.

The search continues...

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 2:36 am

Very, very nice Jared.

Makes absolutely sense with having more than one gunbelt during the movie!

As for the groves, we've got the confirmation from the very guy who made the belts for Raiders back then (working for NH) that both the belt, bagstrap and the whip holder HAD groves. He put them in there himself, so Jared has done the only right thing here

We'll soon have the buckles and keepers from the original supplier Jared. Only a question of a few weeks yet IMO.

Regards,

Marc

JimL · Post by **JimL** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:35 am

Hello Marc.

I have not chatted with you yet, but if you will be offering the correct buckles & kepers and/or complete (Raiders) belts of the caliber of Mechanic's here, I'd certainly be interested...

Do keep me in mind as you move forward!

TheMechanic · Post by **TheMechanic** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:09 am

Here's some captures of the "Elstree" belt, (Well of Souls & Idol Grab) that I based my belt on and the "Tunisia" Belt, (Streets of Cairo). Very different buckle/keeper placement.

The Elstree belt also has a much longer end bit than the Tunisia belt.

Also not the difference in holsters. Darker and very shiney and less distressing at Elstree, very dull and rough areas of wear in Tunisia.

indyfyfe · Post by **indyfyfe** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:00 pm

Nice belt and great research. Will you be offering these for sale?

Brad

TheMechanic · Post by **TheMechanic** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 2:41 pm

If I could get buckles and keepers, maybe I would but I don't see that happening.

IndianaBogart · Post by **IndianaBogart** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 4:13 pm

Great work! That belt looks awesome!

TheMechanic · Post by **TheMechanic** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 4:26 pm

Well look at this, the Elstree belt makes an appearance in Tunisia. Note the keeper to buckle placement and the long bit end.

They obviously were interchanged here and there.

Post by **Holt** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:05 pm

I dont think there were different belts in the movie..there could be though..but I dont think so....

but the reason for why I think that the keeper is further away from the buckle sometimes,...is that I think the loop that holds the keeper in place is a bit lose.....so it moves sometimes closer to the buckle and sometimes far away from it..

I have a casual belt that is pretty much the same as the gunbelt and it has a wider and loser keeper loop...and it does the same thing as the raiders gunbelt....

just my thougths
Holt

TheMechanic · Post by **TheMechanic** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:08 pm

That's possible on some belts but if you see the screen caps of Indy's belt lying on the table in the Imam's house you'll see that just behind the buckle is 2 rivets and then the keeper, just like I made mine. This makes it impossible for the keeper to touch the buckle as the rivets keep it away.

Also the length of the belt changes from long to short depending on what buckle you see. When the keeper is away from the buckle, the belt end is long. When the keeper is touching the buckle, the the belt end is short.

For those reasons I believe there were 2 distinct belts.

Travner Ravenweird · Post by **Travner Ravenweird** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 12:25 am

First of all, great work!
Okay, I have a question. I have fairly recently made my own belt, but I've made it too long. Once upon a time I had found something that mentioned numbers but I'll be danged if I can find it after an hour or so of hunting and I need to get to bed, so I pose the question; For a Raiders belt, when buckled around my hips while wearing with a holster, from the hole that the belt buckle tongue (?) is going through to the tip, how much belt should I have left over in inches approximately?

Thank you in advance to any and all who can help me out.

Indiana Jake · Post by **Indiana Jake** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 9:38 am

Marc,

Please letus know when Raiders gunbelt buckle and keepers become available.

Jake