***UPDATE***  The custom "puppy paw" plates have sold out!  We'll continue to offer the belts on their own, or with the standard large face plate with arrow shaped hooks (just beginning to show up in time for a late 62 scenario).  The good news: those plates cost less.
 
Here's something the hobby has been severely lacking for a long time: belts and plates appropriate for 1862.  The standard belt issued to the U.S. Army in 1862 was made of waxed flesh leather with a sewn leather loop.  This is real waxed flesh leather, slicked with glass to a smooth, glossy finish--not just the fuzzy back side of leather dyed black like reenactors have used forever.
 
*You must include your actual waist measurement in inches, not your pants size.  Take a tape and measure your waist at the navel or where you wear your waist belt, or measure a Civil War belt that fits you from the prong on the buckle to the hole you use.  If you send your pants size and you get a belt 8 inches too short, that's on you.