Neosteel Waistband too large (fix)

So I've recently lost some weight and as a result found that the fit of my Neosteel was kind of loose even on the smallest waistband setting. It was to the point where if I really struggled enough I was able to push it over my hips and take it off without unlocking. Of course this is not good at all. I ended up buying another waistband that was for sale but it ended up being 12cm smaller than mine and impossible for me to wear, so I'll probably list it up for sale soon. At some point I'll just need to bit the bullet and order a new one from Neosteel but money is tight right now. I kept trying to think of ways I could address the problem with my current waistband. At first I tried rebending the waistband to decrease the hip-to-hip length this sort of works but it made a gap on the front of the belt when I laid down, and I could still push it over my hips if I tried really hard.

Finally, it occurred to me to try thermoplastic. This stuff is incredibly versatile and very strong when cooled. It melts at 150 degrees F which means it would not be easy to heat it enough to remove when its against your body.

So what I did was wrapped the stuff around the hip points on either side of the belt. Since mine has D-Rings on the sides, this provides a point for the thermoplastic to anchor preventing any chance from me sliding the thermoplastic around to the front or back. Unfortunately, for now the D-rings are unusable but I'll rework the plastic at some point to cut around the D-rings while still using them to anchor the plastic. Right now it doesn't look pretty, I just have it roughly fitted and ended up using white and black plastic since I ran out of the white color, but I can use a heat gun later to reheat and smooth it out better.

The important part is this completely fixed the poor fit of my waistband. The belt now fits more snug against my body than it ever has before, I can't move the belt around at all and there's absolutely not chance of sliding it over my hips. It really is surprising what a proper snug fit does for a Neosteel belt, its made it harder even for ways I found to self-stimulate while the belt is on, another problem I wish I hadn't discovered which is now significantly harder to replicate. So for me this is all good stuff and saves some money for the time being while also giving me an option while I wait for a new waistband once I place my order.

I'll take a picture when I have the belt off again but I just wanted to share this in case anyone else has this problem. This is also an important note for those who want their belt to be legitimately secure, I am not sure who wouldn't if they are buying a Neosteel - whether they're the wearer or the keyholder. Make absolutely 100% sure you CANNOT work the belt over your hips, this dimension really is critical for this belt to be effective.

Also if you haven't heard of thermoplastic it is readily available on Amazon. I have specifically used the Polly Plastics and Instamorph brands and both worked great for me.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=thermopl...prefix=thermoplastic,aps,157&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Take care,
Jchar

 

Today I removed the plastic around the d-rings and took some pics. As you can see its not the greatest looking mod, but it really did work well for me.

 

This stuff doesn't sand very well. The best thing I've found is to reheat areas with a heat gun or lighter and then dip my finger in warm water to rub around the area I am trying to smooth out. I am sure there's some better techniques for this stuff I could learn but for now this is working fine for me. I am more concerned with function than form. Once I changed the waistband this way, it has taken a while to find the right adjustments to the fit of the belt, now that I have it almost perfect I am not sure I want to mess with it.