Our belt for all your adventures

It was time for me to finally introduce you to this accessory that was so dear to my heart!

Indeed, when I discovered the Cobra® buckle belts 5 years earlier, I immediately fell in love with this incredibly reliable and terribly pleasant buckle to use, particularly because of its famous “click” when it is engaged.

So I've been wanting to offer our interpretation of the Cobra® buckle belt for a while, because I now only wear it every day, including with formal outfits.

Indeed, once you have tasted the Cobra® loop, it is very difficult to go back…

The genesis

It all started in 1996, the year of birth of Austrialpin, an Austrian company nestled in Fulpmes in the Stubaital valley, and specializing in climbing equipment: carabiners, ice axes, crampons, etc. Their great mastery of aluminum machining gives them more and more visibility among the informed public.

In the constant search for innovation, Austrialpin engineers find themselves faced with an existential problem:
“How can we create a system that allows two straps to be joined, in the most secure way in the world, while being extremely simple to handle?” This is how the Cobra® buckle was born.

Military brands realize the value of this indestructible buckle and will use it to make combat belts , which are easily adjusted thanks to the sliding system and which support the weight of multiple pouches filled with magazines, grenades, radio or medical kit.

A unique manufacturing process, the secret of its reliability

Even though manufacturing is an industrial secret, Austrialpin is proud to be able to develop each loop end-to-end in Fulpmes (Tyrol region), from raw material to final product. Each loop is checked before leaving the factory.

What they are most proud of is their patented closing system, extremely reliable, giving them a great competitive advantage.

Notable features of the loop include:

• You must press both latches at the same time to open the buckle. It is - almost - impossible to open it by pressing just one.
• Opening when the loop is under tension is impossible.
• It is almost impossible to close the buckle if the two latches are not perfectly aligned.

A striking design

The design of the Cobra® belt made it famous.

It is so successful that Hollywood action cinema will regularly feature it in its costumes.

Many anecdotes surround the loop, starting with its name itself: “COBRA®” comes from the fact that the design is in fact inspired by the shape of the animal, but also by its strength and agility.

Beyond its use for climbing in an industrial setting or for rescue interventions, the loop is very popular with national armies. The American army rightly uses it to equip its soldiers.

Intermittent in the show

We find this legendary loop almost everywhere in popular culture, such as at the Circle of the Sun or at halftime of the Superbowl. Stars like Katy Perry in 2015 or Lady Gaga in 2017 have used Cobra® buckles.

An outstanding astronaut

When the Austrian Felix Baugmartner made his jump at an altitude of 40km, he had a loop Cobra® on his suit .

Space X and the ISS (the International Space Station) also use it for their suits:

We make a whole movie out of it

Given his success in the army due to his reliability and resistance, film directors and producers quickly became interested in his case.

The loop also made its debut in Hollywood with the film Blade released in 1998, the year it was released! Barely released, already famous.

Since then, it has been regularly used by Hollywood designers and costume designers in action and science fiction films such as Marvel films, The Dark Tower, Prometheus... because of its futuristic appearance, its great ingenuity and of course of the “cool factor”.

In fact, costume designers in cinema often obtain the buckles themselves when they need them, by purchasing directly from the brand's website or by obtaining a real military belt with an integrated Cobra buckle and modifying it slightly.

The company is not always informed of the appearance of its loop in films but takes the trouble to list the works in which it appears.

This belt is made up of three elements : leather, a Cobra® buckle and a strap. And these three components were really not chosen at random…

Vegetable-tanned leather represents our taste for beautiful materials that acquire a patina over time:

The Cobra® buckle symbolizes our taste for reliability and technicality… in addition to being exquisite to use!

And the webbing illustrates our love of texture and grain in the textiles we use.

In short, this belt is the essence of BonneGueule symbolized by these three elements.

As I said, I really liked this coexistence of two completely different materials and the contrast of colors and texture that results from it, but there is also a very practical reason for this choice...

Indeed, to be able to adjust your belt to the millimeter in one movement, you need a fabric that can slide fluidly and without friction in the male part. This would not be possible with leather, which would be too thick to slide smoothly.

And as the friction is very numerous and regular, you need a specially adapted textile, namely a military quality strap!

For this belt which is intended to last for many years, I wanted leather which would become more and more beautiful over time.

This is why we chose vegetable-tanned leather, which will reveal magnificent nuances of color as it is worn.

And it's not just any strap. I immediately turned to military-grade straps, because apart from their undeniable qualities of robustness and durability, I love the colors offered.

In this case, I chose a color called “coyote”, which is the perfect marriage between a beige, a gray, and a honey color.

How to place your belt on your pants?

The Cobra buckle being different from a classic belt buckle, there is a very simple little method to put it on your pants, and I made a video for you for the occasion:

WITH ALL .

Yes, I deliberately wrote in capital letters, because I have been wearing Cobra® buckles almost every day and many outfits for almost 5 years.

My guilty pleasure ? Wear it with a nice shirt, a blazer and nice shoes, because I like this contrast where the elegance of this type of piece faces the industrial side of the buckle and strap.

It's really an accessory that you have to have fun diverting, because don't forget, accessories are made to bring a little touch of surprise and the unexpected to an outfit!

In fact, the color of the Cobra® buckle integrates as easily as a classic belt buckle with other colors, I'll let you try it yourself!

Besides, I wanted to present two outfits to you, one truly outdoor style and one completely urban.

This belt is available in 3 sizes:

• S for a total length of 105 cm, which would correspond to a pants size between a 28 and a 32
• M for a total length of 115 cm which would correspond to a pants size between a 30 and a 34
• L for a total length of 125 cm which would correspond to a pants size between a 33 and a 36

But given the length of strap available, you have a lot of room to adjust your belt!

As you see, it is a unique product that we offer, without equivalent, and there are therefore 100 belts which will be available for sale , so a little more than thirty belts per size, with stock shared between stores and our e-shop.

It is truly an exclusive product , and the decision to restock it in the event of a stock shortage has not yet been decided.

So if you like a model, don't delay.

You will see letters, numbers and logos engraved on the buckle, let's see what they mean!

On the female part

At the top left you will see two small hills: they represent the Stubaital Mountains, a mountainous region in the Austrian Tyrol, where Austrialpin (the manufacturer of this loop) has its roots.

And this is no coincidence, because it is also a region with a beautiful culture of metalworking intended for tools for mountaineers.

At the top right, the expression “Pat. Pat. Hangs.” means it is a patented loop.

You then have the two famous pictograms which express technical specifications:

• Breaking load straight pull: the total load is applied to one strand of the strap and to the buckle.
  9kN = 917.74 kg

• Breaking load loop configuration: This is the maximum load that a material can support when the force is exerted directly in the opposite direction to which the material is tensioned.
  18 kN = 1,835.49 kg

As you can see, you have a lot, a lot, a lot of margin before your Cobra® buckle breaks due to too much pressure!

These are numbers in kiloNewtons, not kilograms. Why this choice ?

Because it is necessary to express a force rather than a mass. Indeed, an 80 kg man will not subject a loop to the same force if he is simply suspended or if he falls 10 meters... even though he has the same mass!

Then you have two letters: F and Y. The letter “F” corresponds to the range of Cobra® buckles from Austrialpin (because it does not only manufacture Cobra® buckles) and the letter Y corresponds to the professional buckle, the Pro Style .

The number “33” designates the width of the strap to use, in millimeters.

The letters “WF” mean that it is a non-adjustable female part, that is to say that the strap must be sewn.

On the male part

We find the two Stubaital mountains with the name of the loop and its range (the “Pro Style” here).

The “FY33” inscriptions designate the same thing as the female part: it is a Cobra® buckle compatible with a 33 mm wide strap.

The letters “MV” mean that it is an adjustable male part, in which you can put a strap that can be adjusted.