Best American-Made Leather Wallets & Belts: Full-Grain Wallets, Dress, Work and Gun Belts Made in the USA

Tanner Goods was founded in Portland, Oregon in 2008 and makes its wallets there by hand from full-grain vegetable-tanned leather from American tanneries. Vegetable-tanned leather darkens and softens with use, and the Journeyman bifold, in natural tooling leather, shows it most: it starts pale and turns amber after months in a pocket. The Utility Bifold is the slim one, with no extra compartments. The Universal Zip Wallet closes with an antique brass zipper, the Workman adds an interior zippered coin pocket, and the Travel Wallet holds a passport, boarding passes and cards. Tanner Goods backs its products with a lifetime guarantee.

American Bench Craft was started in 2014 by brothers Jason and Chris, working out of their parents' garage with one product: a wallet held together with rivets instead of thread, so the seams have nothing to unravel. Its FAQ says its products are "designed, manufactured, and shipped out of our workshop in Wilmington, MA," made by hand on older tools and machinery from full grain leather tanned in the United States. The three wallets we list are all from the riveted line: the Revere slim card wallet, the front pocket minimalist and the slim bifold. We found no imported product lines on the brand's site.

The two brands suit different pockets. Tanner Goods is the choice for a stitched, classic bifold that will age visibly. American Bench Craft is the choice for a thin card wallet built to survive a back pocket and a work site.

Michael Lyons started Rogue Industries in 2007 after deciding his thick back pocket wallet was giving him lower back pain. He earned two patents for a wallet curved to fit a front pants pocket, and the company now works from 650 Cape Road in Standish, Maine, where it says solar power covers all of its energy needs. Rogue is direct that only its Made in Maine Collection is US-made. The bison wallets belong to it: the slim bison wallet, the RFID-blocking bison front pocket wallet and the bison Heritage billfold. Many of its cowhide, nylon and RFID wallets and money clips outside that collection read "Imported," including the Classic front pocket wallet, so look for the Made in Maine line.

Flowfold is the non-leather option from the same state. Founder Charles Friedman was working at a Maine sail loft when his grandfather's leather wallet fell apart, and he sewed a replacement from racing sailcloth scraps. The company launched in 2010 and says all of its products are handmade in Maine with domestic and imported materials. Its minimalist sailcloth card holder holds six cards and weighs 0.4 ounces.

F&L CLASSIC sells long tri-fold and bifold biker wallets on steel chains, with RFID-blocking linings and snap closures. Its About page says it manufactures American made leather belts and wallets from vegetable-tanned top-grain and full-grain hides. The brand is owned by TPP Inc., which gives a Brooklyn, New York mailing address, but the site does not say where the workshop is, and some product pages give no origin.

BullhideBelts.com says all of its products are made in the USA and ship in a day or two from its own leather shops in Indiana and Ohio. It names the states but not the towns. Its belts are handmade from American vegetable-tanned full-grain leather, and since starting in 2010 it says it has become one of the largest men's belt makers in the country. We list its 1.5 inch belts in black, brown and tan. The company does not say where its buckles are made.

Yoder Leather Company began in a small farmhouse shop in Indiana, set up so its Amish craftsmen could sell across the country while keeping a traditional way of life. Its belts are made to order in Indiana; we list an English bridle belt with a stainless steel buckle and a water buffalo leather belt. Nohma Leather started in 2010 in the basement of founder Noah's family home and now cuts, edges and burnishes each belt by hand in a small Ohio workshop. Nohma sells buckles and sling hardware separately and gives no origin for them.

Hanks traces its history to 1949, when Hank went to work at an Army & Navy store in Binghamton, New York. It launched its belt website in 2001 and moved the belt business into a 30,000-square-foot facility in 2011, and it is now based in Endicott, New York. Its belt pages list "Country Of Manufacture: USA." Not everything is: its Tuscany wallets are made in Italy, the Crater Bifold With Zipper is made in Mexico, and The Ivy belt pairs a US strap with an Italian buckle. The Everyday, Crazy Horse and Gunner belts we list are US-made.

Boston Leather began in Chicago in 1938 as Boston Novelty Company. The Valentino family bought it in 1991 and moved it in 1999 to 1801 Eastwood Drive in Sterling, Illinois, where it makes leather duty gear for police, fire and EMS personnel, plus belts for casual wear. Its stated mission is to manufacture quality products in the USA. We list its 1.5 inch Truckman's belt in drum-dyed bridle leather, a no-scratch work belt that closes with hook and loop instead of a buckle, police and firefighter suspenders, and radio straps.

Occidental Leather started around 1980 in Occidental, a small Sonoma County town, and moved to Santa Rosa, California in 2019. It says every tool belt is designed, cut, stitched and riveted in-house. Its 2-inch leather work belt is bridle leather custom tanned in the USA, and its FatLip tool bags and Stronghold suspension system are made in Santa Rosa too. The exception is footwear: the Occidental Moc Toe Work Boot is made in Mexico, while the similarly named Occidental USA Moc Toe Boot is described as handcrafted in Oregon.

For carry, a gun belt is stiffer and thicker than a dress belt so it does not sag under a holster. Hanks' Gunner belt says it is made in the USA, and BullhideBelts.com sells a 1.5 inch brown leather gun belt from its Indiana and Ohio shops. A 2-inch tool belt like Occidental's is built to carry pouches, not to go through jean loops.

Not every belt needs to be leather. Brian Kelleghan founded Bison Designs in 1987 in Longmont, Colorado to make belts from climbing webbing, and the company says it originated the process for weaving patterns into webbing. Its homepage says every Bison belt is made in its Longmont factory. That covers the 38mm light duty webbing belt, the Crescent Money travel belt with a hidden money pocket, the Flat Iron double-stitched active belt and the Subtle Clinch, and it also covers Bison's Cast Away leather belt, with US-tanned leather and solid brass Chicago screws for swapping buckles. Bison also sells pet gear, key chains and carabiners, and its site gives no separate origin for those, so read the Longmont statement as a claim about belts.

GRIP6 founder BJ Minson designed a no-hole belt simple enough to make in his garage, then took 10,000 orders in 30 days on Kickstarter. When US suppliers pointed him to factories in China, he built the belts himself and later brought production in-house. GRIP6 says it makes all of its products in Midvale, Utah, with its own lasers, CNC mills and tumblers. The nylon strap feeds through an aluminum buckle and holds at any length, across its casual, work, women's and kids belts. We found no imported GRIP6 line.

Webbing belts are lighter than leather, shrug off water and sweat, and adjust to any length, which suits travel, hiking and work under a harness.

Start with the grade of leather. Full-grain leather keeps the whole outer surface of the hide, which makes it the strongest and the most likely to develop a patina. Top-grain has that surface sanded or corrected, so it looks more even but wears less well. "Genuine leather" on a label usually means a lower layer of the hide, and it is the grade that cracks and peels on cheap belts. Bridle leather is full-grain leather stuffed with oils and waxes for stiffness and water resistance.

Then the tannage. Vegetable-tanned leather, the kind Tanner Goods and BullhideBelts.com use, starts firm and pale and darkens with handling. Chrome-tanned leather is softer from day one and holds its color, but it does not age the same way.

Size a belt by measurement, not by pant size. The simplest method is to measure a belt you already own from the fold at the buckle to the hole you use most; BullhideBelts.com's own listings warn buyers not to guess. For width, 1.25 inches suits dress trousers, 1.5 inches suits jeans and most casual and gun belts, and 1.75 to 2 inches is for work and tool belts. Check that the width you pick fits your belt loops.

For wallets, think about which pocket it lives in. A front pocket wallet or card holder carries a few cards and folded bills and keeps you from sitting on a thick billfold. A riveted wallet, like American Bench Craft's, has no thread to wear through at the edges.