Take a spare belt buckle.

[saiprem]

I just returned from walking the Caminos Madrid and Norte. In Bilbao, just as I was ready to start walking, I tightened my belt buckle and it broke. I was lucky to be in a city where one of the sporting goods stores had a spare buckle. It wasn't the exact one I needed but it worked for the rest of my journey. What if my buckle had broken far from a sporting goods store? It would have been very hard going indeed. A spare is hardly any weight at all and well worth it because the belt buckle is the most important buckle on the backpack.

 

[Anamya]

As much as I understand the issue, I'd probably just tight my pants with my clothing line until I passed by a store where I could buy a new belt. I'm quite a small person and can´t carry much wheight, so "spare" anything tend to be an issue in my backpack

It's good that you where in Bilbao and could solve your issue quickly, sporting stores (especially Decathlon) are great!

 

[RJM]

Yes, those are good to have. For those that misunderstood the OP, he is referring to the hip belt buckle on backpacks, not the belt for your pants. They frequently break and spares are available.
If all else fails and you do not have one you can remove both buckles (male and female sides), which at that point will leave you with an open loop of strap on each side. You can then take a length of cord, pass it through them and simply tie both ends together like a shoelace. Not pretty, but will do the job and get you all the way to the end, or at least to a shoppe that sells replacement buckles.
I always carry a piece of nylon paracord about ten metres in length. It weighs so little it hardly registers on my small scale, and it can be used for a multiple of tasks such as a field expedient buckle, shoe/bootlaces, laundry line, tie down waterproof cover on pack, pack repair etc. There is a reason why you see so much of it used in the military. Just make sure you burn the ends with matches or a lighter after you cut them so as to prevent unraveling.
and just one more thing, you could actually use it as a belt to hold up your pants or shorts...simply run it through 2-3 times through the belt loops and tie it in a simple knot.

 

[Anamya]

Hey, thanks for thr heads up, RJM, I indeed thought it was about the pants!
Anyway, as you mentioned, I'd probably tie them with cord until I could get somewhere to fix it

 

[chinacat]

Yes, those are good to have. For those that misunderstood the OP, he is referring to the hip belt buckle on backpacks, not the belt for your pants. They frequently break and spares are available.
If all else fails and you do not have one you can remove both buckles (male and female sides), which at that point will leave you with an open loop of strap on each side. You can then take a length of cord, pass it through them and simply tie both ends together like a shoelace. Not pretty, but will do the job and get you all the way to the end, or at least to a shoppe that sells replacement buckles.
I always carry a piece of nylon paracord about ten metres in length. It weighs so little it hardly registers on my small scale, and it can be used for a multiple of uses such as a field expedient buckle, shoe/bootlaces, laundry line, tie down waterproof cover on pack, pack repair etc. There is a reason why use see so much of it in the military. Just make sure you burn the ends with matches or a lighter after you cut them so as to prevent unraveling.

I carry my paracord as a Greek-style braid, attached to my keyring, or as a bracelet .... but then I’m a girl ....

 

[fraluchi]

Most haberdashery (pasamaneria) shops are likely to have the fitting buckle size.

 

[RJM]

This is what the OP is referring to:

 

[trecile]

@saiprem , maybe you should edit the title of this thread to "Take a spare buckle for your backpack's hip belt", so that people realize that you aren't talking about a belt to keep your pants up on your decreasing waistline.

 

[peregrina2000]

This is definitely WAY off topic, but the title of the post brought me back to several different spots on different caminos. On the Camino Castellano -Aragonés, in Soria, I went to a museum on Numancia that focused on their resistance to the Roman invasion in the 4th century. There was a display case full of belt buckles. In the Camino del Ebro, in Gandesa, I went to a museum on the Spanish Civil War where there were several display cases with belt buckles, most of which were from US Lincoln Brigade soldiers who had joined to defend the Republic against the Franco coup. In the battle of Gandesa, of the 30,000 US Lincoln Brigade members who fought, 21,000 died.

Each one of those belt buckles was holding up the pants of someone who died fighting what he thought was the good fight. Whenever I see a belt buckle in a museum, I think about the fact that it is there because the person who was wearing it probably died in war.

 

[t2andreo]

I intentionally wear a 1 1/2” wide nylon webbed pants belt with my cargo pants. In the above situation, I can fit my pants belt to my Osprey Kestrel rucksack, replacing the rucksack waist belt.

This requires cutting the pants belt in two and flame-searing the cut ends. But it WILL WORK.

I have run through this exercise at home to ensure it would work. My pants belt fits the rucksack belt attachment points perfectly.

Also, I note this is an argument in favor of having a rucksack with a removable waist belt, at least the section to the ‘front’ of the padded hip band.

I can always use a spare boot lace, paracord, or a locally obtained belt, to hold my pants up.

Hope this helps.

 

[Waka]

I presume it wouldn't be the first time a pilgrim has been striding alone with the pants nearly down to the ankles.
I duo think it's sensible to carry a spare.

 

[camino-david]

Totally agree with carrying a spare. Mine also broke at the start of the VDLP and although my pack was Deuter, a European make, I couldn't get a replacement at Seville or any town on the VDLP and had to go to Madrid before being able to get a replacement. I tried the string bit, but in practice it is impractical. To be effective it has to be knotted so tight that it takes a long time to undo, and I do know about knots having been a yachtsman in a past life