I have a heavy leather belt with a brass navy buckle that I bought in the Harvard Square leather shop 60 years ago. I’ve pretty much worn it every day of my life.

Every decade or so it needs a new strap. For a while, I was able to have one made by a young man at a leather shop in Camden ME - the old shop having disappeared from Harvard Square with the 70s.

Finally, the now old man in Camden retired and passed the business on to his son. The son doesn’t know how to work leather - he just brings in finished goods from offshore.

The current method is to find a belt in Camden that is sufficiently heavy and has a removable buckle. Throw away the trashy buckle and snap in my old one.

I’ve probably got one more strap in me.

You might find a suitable buckle at an Army-Navy store. If there still is such a place.

Just wanted to say, thanks for the tips. A cursory search seems to show that there are a few Army-Navy type stores nearby, so I might be searching for a buckle there.

You have at least two straps in you! I believe in you :)

Take care.

If you like the idea of buying things for life, check out https://old.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/

That subreddit has mostly turned into people showing off their grandma's frying pan or grandpa's old Thermos. At least, it was the last time I read it and decided it was no longer worth reading because actual product recommendations were few and far between.