Ever since I left white belt I’ve only used Koral belts, I prefer them over the others because of their slim design and they seem to last forever.

via Propaganda

I ordered a light blue War belt. The belt arrived and as I unpacked it the stitching on the belt was horrible. The main thing was the WAR patch was already falling off before I took it out of the plastic sleeve.

Subculture belt sucks, it’s slim and cuts into your hips when its new, when it gets worn down and becomes softer over time it’s too flimsy. Atama belt is decent, before they used to make them real thick. The one I have now is soft and actually feels nice on your hips, however it’s not as thick as I want it to be. My Koral belt was by far the best one, perfect combination of thickness and super soft which gave it the best feel for me.

I have had a dark blue War belt for the past two and half year and it’s held up very well. I’m thinking about getting a Killer Bee Ligustica HD belt for my purple. The War purple belt is a odd color.

I have used HCK, Koral, Atama, and War.

Out of all three of those the War is acually my least favorite. I don’t like how they attached the rank bar with one line of stitching up the middle it just looks a little funny. The stitching on it is kinda wonky to. Not worth the money IMO.

The HCK is a really nice belt, not to thick not to thin, takes quite a bit of breaking in, they will never hang straight down no matter what you do to it so if you don’t like the “Kung Fu belt” look this ones for you. The ranking bar is by far the best one I’ve ever seen on a belt, Its not a piece of fabric that wraps around the belt like most BJJ belts out there, its like its 2 different colors on the same piece of fabric, only thing that sticks out a bit is the white bars, some people like them, some don’t I think they add a nice little bit or flair to the belt.

The Atama belt is another really good belt, nice and thick, feels like your wearing a belt, but its not heavy feeling like the War belt, so if you like that sort of thing this is the one for you. My only qualm is once again the wrap around fabric on the belt is just to wonky for me and a couple other guys at my gym have them and the length of the bar varies as well as the distance between the tip of the belt and the start of the bar, some are very far away from the tip which looks funny and some are super close which also looks funny. I actually removed the black bar on my Atama belt and added my own with some very thin red fabric with a fabric adhesive, it looks alot better and looks (like the HCK) like the bar is just part of the belt not a separate piece of fabric, takes a little patience but its worth it. It also gets a nice “worn out” look to it after 6 months to a year of hard use, it frays around the knot, so if your into that looks go with this one. I liked it added a big of character to the belt. (HCK, Koral and War do not wear out like this.)

The Koral belt is a bit thinner than the Atama, feels very flimsy, not much heft to it. I really dislike the stitching on the rank bar, the contrast is super noticable (i.e. the koral brown belt has a row of brown stitching thought the black bar) not a fan of that. The more expensive Koral Black belt though with the Kanji on it is well worth the money, you see alot of top level guys with this belt and it is definitely a step above the cheaper ones in terms of quality and heft. So if you are a black belt Koral is nice, if not I’d avoid it.

So for me if your getting a new belt, HCK is the best value, Only problem is they are not as easy as people think to find. Atama is a close second, but your rolling the dice of the kind of rank bar your going to get. HCK is consistent with their belts which is nice.

I had a Fushida belt when I was a white belt that was my favorite. It’s pretty wide, and thick, softens up nicely and stays tied well. Check the sizes when ordering though, as I believe their belts are way longer than others. Or maybe it was way shorter…I can’t remember, just check! I have since had JJPG and OTM and I don’t care much for either of those. Incidentally, the JJPG blue belt looks a little purple, which caused some major confusion and gentle teasing.

I’m getting the belt from X-Guard. It looks good on the site, and a couple of buddies love them.

Here’s what I have so far- Tatami, Atama, WAR, Koral, Scramble, and a Vulkan. I have a Kataaro/Meerkatsu/Modern Flow collaboration and a Fushida on order. Why so many? I’m on a search for the best quality belt that has the color scheme I like. I come from a karate background, and am not a huge fan of the pastel coloring (I like dark blues and even darker purples). However, I’m willing to put that aside if it means I get a good quality belt. (Disclaimer- I’m a white belt. But really, what does it matter? I’m also a solid A1 waist at 5’9″ and 140 lbs.)

Here’s my breakdown:

Tatami- Love the color scheme, not a fan of the quality. It felt rather thick and rubbery, where it was twisting on itself when I would tie it. Kept coming undone during rolls. Never broke in. Eventually removed this from my rotation.

Atama- Nice and soft, but the rank bar was sewn on rather flimsily. Took this one out of the rotation, too. Gave it to my instructor so he could have one available for the next person that started and didn’t have one.

WAR- Love the quality, but I’ve heard of so many variances in quality, I don’t know what to say. The rank bar on mine wasn’t perfect, but was sewn on well. I really like the thought of using single weave material, and it held up very well. Took a while to break in, but it stayed tied after that point. My issue came when I washed it. It shrank at least 2 inches, to the point where it was a bit too small for me. Eventually gave it to my girlfriend since she started, and has a smaller waist than me. It’ll fit her great.

Koral/Vulkan- I’m bundling these two because I feel they’re very similar. Great quality. Nice and soft. Even the stitching is very similar. Didn’t take nearly as long to break in as the WAR. Stay tied when rolling about 90% of the time. However, I’m not a fan of the color scheme (too pastel for me). However, I feel they’re solid belts that would make lots of people happy.

Scramble: I love the extra Kanji they put on the belt. Plus the color scheme is pretty close to what I want. However, it’s super, super stiff. I had a hard time tying it straight out of the box. I’m curious to see if it will even break in. It’s been coming untied in drills, let alone during rolls.

Also, I’m on the lookout for a Fokai. If anyone knows where to get one, please let me know. One of my buddies swears by them, but he doesn’t even know where to get one (he was awarded with his when he was promoted to Blue).

X-Guard belts are the best belt so far in the market., I had atama, gameness before .,.. X-guard belt is thick and a solid belt I’m very happy with my brown belt ,,,, I already ordered a black belt from xguard with instructor stripes!!! I give xguard 5 stars for the belt ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I always use Vulkan belts. They are pretty much the same as Koral. Super soft and last forever. My blue and purple faded because I wash them and dry them all the time. I would recommend them.

I wore my M.A.R martial arts blue belt for every competition and training session for almost 3 years, for 10 euros, there is no better belt.

I have a killer bee gi material belt that I really like. Slightly different than the norm. I want to try a green gi belt, however, but ill wait til blue for that.

i love my moya brand belt. its really thick, but stays tied really well. the blue color is also really nice. really deep and rich

I’ve used Fuji belts as that’s what they give out at our school (though they’ve recently changed to some custom embroidery shop up the road). It doesn’t stay tied, and the edges are starting to fray out, even though it’s only seen 9 months of wear (daily, with daily washings tho). Their blue fades to what looks like “you washed a white belt with a non-colorfast blue gi”.
If I had all the money to spend, I’d get an Eosin Panther belt. My other belts are from from there, and everyone who’s got one of his colored (and black) BJJ belts seem to love them.

DOM belts are pretty awesome, as are their gis. They shrink a lot but solid.