Anyone else find good pouches harder to pick than good tools?

I found the whole conversation about leather versus nylon a bit of a myth. For someone running a small business and putting heavy strain on a setup, I stick with thick Cordura nylon. Leather looks nice when it's new but once you hit a really hard point on a stud or a piece of rebar, it shreds. My current set of pouches, while they aren't 'forever' pieces, stand up to daily abuse better than I expected, provided I replace the broken ones quickly. I treat them like tools, not furniture. When it comes to organization, the junk drawer issue is real, especially when you are running from one floor to the next. I completely shifted my thinking when I stopped putting everything on the main belt. I bought a pair of stackable tool organizers, about 20 inches long, and mounted them to the wall next to my workbench. The belt only holds the power tools and the essentials for the current task. Pliers, small bits, and measuring tapes are kept right there in designated slots. It kept my workflow clean and I stopped losing things.

Before that, I was constantly digging around, which was frustrating. The belt just gets clogged up with things that aren't being used that day. The wall setup keeps everything accessible without having to keep wrestling with a massive, overstuffed belt. It made a difference in efficiency.

For me, the arguement over leather versus thick nylon doesn't matter half as much as how the load is distributed. It sounds like you are dealing with a standard belt setup that is too linear. My big pain point isn't the pouch tearing, it is the weight shifting wildly as I move. When I swing a hammer, my side leans all this way, and by the time I finish a run on the framing, my shoulder is throbbing.

I ditched the classic belt entirely for a more modular harness style. It allows me to distribute the bulk of the weight across my hips instead of just letting it sit on my waist. For instance, I put my longest items, like the 25-foot tape and my 16-inch pry bar, on the side that faces my dominant working hand. It keeps the center of gravity stable, even if I'm carrying a full set of impact wrenches and drill batteries.

Even if a pouch fails eventually, the physical strain on your spine and neck from an unbalanced setup is something you don't recover from. A few bucks spent on a good rigging system that spreads the load out makes a huge difference in how long I can actually work without needing a break. It’s more about system design than the fabric strength.

The hammer thing alone almost made me quit my belt. Mine used to swing loose every ladder climb untill I got a rigid hammer holder, the kind that locks the head in instead of a floppy loop. That one piece changed the whole setup for me. I also started assigning spots by feel, pliers always on the left, driver bits in the small front pocket, and I stopped searching by lunch. My rule now is if a tool migrates twice, it either gets a dedicated spot or it comes off the belt entirely. Curious if anyone else does the strict spot thing or just keeps a nail apron for fasteners and calls it done.

I just buy the cheap ones and plan on replacing them every year or two. Tried one of the pricey leather rigs once and the stitching still let go where the belt slot rubs, so I quit pretending. One thing that helped more than any pouch was a good suspender setup, takes the weight off the belt so nothing tears as fast either. Curious if anyone else just keeps a backup pouch in the truck for when one dies mid job.