That does look beautifully made! Grats on the new belt.
Fellow lifters,
I purchased a Wahlanders belt from Inner Strength Products. I ordered it Sunday night, and it arrived this afternoon. My review will not be anywhere close to the professional calibre reviews that Cody produces, so please bear with me.
Intro
I needed a new belt as I recently dropped a lot of weight, and my current belt no longer fit me. I was looking for an IPF approved belt, and based on some discussion in these forums, Wahlanders came up as an option. Unfortunately, I couldn't find many reviews on Wahlanders, but from what I read, it was all positive feedback. Since I was considering this price range, the other belt I had in mind was the SBD lever belt. Despite the great things I read about the SBD belt, it was a gut decision to get a Wahlanders Belt.
My belt experience is as follows:
BestBelt - 4" Athlete Cut Single Prong
BestBelt - 2.5" Single Prong
Schiek - 4" Double Prong
For the purpose of this review, I'll only compare the Wahlanders to the BestBelt 4" Athlete cut.
First Impressions
Beautiful.
It looks like it's a very well made belt of good quality leather. It "feels" and looks nicer than my BestBelt. Out of the box, it does feel stiffer than my BestBelt, but from what I remember when I first got my BestBelt, it isn't that much stiffer. The Athlete cut is broken in before they ship it to you.
Craftsmanship
The Wahlanders is hand made in Sweden. It has a smooth suede exterior, with a rough suede interior. It is 10mm thick, and it is a 4" belt. Mine is a medium (27.5" - 35.5"), and it's turquoise with white stitching. The Wahlanders has double stitching on both ends of the belt, with single stitching down the middle. My BestBelt has single stitching on the ends. I don't know or think this has a significant impact on quality.
It's technically just shy of 4" (9.8CM), but it's slightly bigger than my BestBelt which measures at about 9.4CM.
A highlight of this belt is the quick release prong lever system that it uses.
Performance
It uses a quick release "lever system" where you can get it as tight as you desire, and then pop it open quickly when finished. Playing around with it, I was able to get it tight enough on the first try, but struggled to get it a bit tighter. From what I've read, it takes a bit of practice. It seems sturdy and secure, and probably won't pop open during a set of squats because of how the prongs are angled.
When I first got my BestBelt, I found it quite difficult to get it very tight (before it was broken in further), and even worse, struggled to get it off at times. Not fun when you're exhausted after a heavy set of squats.
I put it on and did a handful of bodyweight squats and it felt very supportive. Nothing felt uncomfortable. Unfortunately I'm not scheduled to low bar squat again until next Tuesday, but I will use it for Deadlifts this Friday. As mentioned earlier, it is stiffer than my BestBelt, but I tried to get into position to deadlift and it seemed fine.
A few more notes...
Although I was very happy with my BestBelt, I wanted to try something different.
I was able to purchase the Wahlanders for $230+tax+shipping for a total of $274.90 (Canadian dollars). I plan to sell my other 3 belts to partially offset the cost of the Wahlanders. Had I ordered another BestBelt, it would have cost me about $200 Canadian after the exchange rate, shipping, and unfortunately, duties.
And of course, the Wahlanders comes with a lifetime warranty against any manufacturing defects. Furthermore, ordering it from Innerstrengthproducts.ca was a breeze and the owners were very helpful and responsive. I messaged them on Facebook asking about their opinions on the Wahlanders vs. the SBD (which were both available), and they had great things to say about both. They did say they found it slightly easier to get the SBD belt tighter than the Wahlanders. They also ship the same day (if you order before 10 AM CST), and it would usually arrive by the next business day.
Conclusion
My experience with powerlifting belts is limited, but from what I've seen so far, the Wahlanders looks like it'll be a great belt to use. I believe Mike Tuchscherer uses one, although I haven't read any feedback from him.
The belt is pricey, but I believe it could last for many, many years (probably a life time), and if you look at it that way, I think the cost of it is justifiable. Furthermore, based on the IPF approved list of belts, the only other options I would have considered would have been SBD or BestBelts.
I still think that BestBelts is great (again, based on my limited experience), but another reason I didn't order another one is because of how long it would take. My current belt felt quite loose on me during this mornings squat session, and waiting another 4-6 weeks would have left me training belt-less.
That's all for now. If you do have any questions, I'll try my best to answer them.
Some pictures are below. Thanks for taking the time to read this amateur review.
Cheers!
That does look beautifully made! Grats on the new belt.
it's so pretty.
Also nice to see the prongs are rounded. I've seen a couple of quick release belts where the prongs are sharp - you should have no issues there!
Dang, that is a pretty belt. Though i prefer if a quick release belt has a notched front end. Helps pull the sucker tight if you need to.
Great review, Mahendra! And I'm glad you like it! I've had mine for 2,5 years now, and it just keeps getting better! I also have their dips belt, which is also very nice.
The quick release buckle is great! I purchased two BestBelts last year (3" and 4") and must unfortunately confess that I haven't used them more than two or three times, since they weren't as sturdy as the Wahlander belt, and that the buckle was quite the PITA to get off when winded after a heavy set of squats (though I have absolutely nothing bad to say about BB's build quality or service, which are both second to none).
A tip about tightening it is to not pull the belt tight, but to push it tight, as well as not pushing the belt through the loop when tightening it, but rather closing the belt by pushing hard on the sides (a bit in front of the hips with both hands on the outside of the belt, so that you don't grab around the belt and "trap" your fingers underneath it, as I've noticed that this makes it more difficult to tight it really good) and then closing the buckle before securing the tail end through the loop.
I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do!
Nice!
Very nice looking belt - thanks for the write-up.
Sexy AF. I need* one.
*Even though I already have 3 belts.