How to Organize your Electrician’s Tool Belt

If you reviewed our last blog, How to Get Organized as an Electrician, you learned some tips on how to organize your electrician's van or truck, your gang box, and your job site office space. In today's article, we continue on to discuss how to organize your electrician's tool belt. Read the quick how-to guide below and be sure to check out the side panels for what you need to have in your tool belt!

Organizing your Electrician's Tool Belt
Your tool belt is your best friend as an electrician. It provides you with what you need to complete the job and if it is a proper tool belt it will reduce strain on your body. Follow the tips below to maximize the efficiency of your tool belt and keep it organized!

1. Pick a belt with two large pouches and a lot of pockets (ideally 10-15 pockets) Pockets help keep things segmented and prevents them from shifting about.
2. Organize your tools by the dominant hand. Tools for your dominant hand should be grouped together.
3. The tools for your "helper hand" (or your non-dominant hand) should also be grouped together. For example, if you are right-handed your helper hand is your left hand.
4. If you have front-facing pockets, turn your belt around to wear the pockets on the back instead of the front. It is better for ergonomics and allows for greater mobility. This can be particularly helpful when bending over for a task, working on a wall, or working on a roof.
5. Speaking of ergonomics - consider wearing suspenders to reuse strain on your lower back and evenly distribute the weight of your tools. We also recommend using a padded belt for increased comfort and to reduce strain. 
6. Make sure you pick a tool belt that is padded for improved comfort. Both your back and the pouches near your legs should be padded and reinforced to ensure that they don't rub against you, that they give you extra support, and to ensure that they don't wear holes or tear.
7. Don't overload yourself. It can be tempting to stuff your tool belt full of fancy new tools but remember that you have to carry all your tools. Don't put too much strain on yourself. Keep it to the tools that you use on a regular basis. You can keep other tools in an additional tool bag, in your job gang box, your job site trailer, or even in your car. Just be sure to label them so that people don't take them by mistake!
8. While you don't want to overload yourself, it is good to keep lightweight essentials in your tool bag. Keep a variety of different tapes in your tool belt for their various needs, pens and pencils, a tape measure, a headlamp, and the small essentials (such as bolts and fasteners) in your belt.
9. Check out the video below for a review on a great option for a tool belt and a brief how-to guide on how to organize and what should go in your electrician's tool belt.

Looking for a New Tool Belt?
Check out the options below for help figuring out which tool belt is the best buy! There are lots of options for comfortable, spacious, and effective electrician's tool belts. The tool belt that was reviewed in the video included in the article was the Milwaukee Adjustable Electrician's Work Belt. It comes highly recommended for its comfort, durability, and pockets. You can purchase it here off of Amazon or opt for a slight discount by shopping through Home Depot here.