Our Story

Like so many brands before us, our story began in a garage. Engineer and GRIP6 founder BJ Minson had developed a belt design that held incredibly well, was easily adjustable and didn’t have all the holes that so many other belt designs rely on. He sent samples to friends and family and received rave reviews, but he needed a bigger test, and Kickstarter seemed like the perfect opportunity to see if his belt design would gain widespread traction. It did.

Within just a few short days, BJ had sold over 9,000 belts, and whether he realized it then or not, he had just entered the manufacturing business.

As he set out to make the products he had sold, he quickly became aware that America was not what it once was. Finding suppliers was hard, and finding competent manufacturers was even harder. After being repeatedly told, “You won’t survive unless you go to China,” BJ resolved to do the opposite, and make his belts right here in Utah. With a small loan from his best friend and a few die-hard employees, BJ turned his 300 square foot garage into a belt factory that filled all 9,000 orders.

At 60,000 square feet, our factory today is a little bigger. Over the last eight years, we have branched out into wallets, wool socks, and beanies. Just like our belts, they are all made right here under one roof.

With our core misson unchanged, all our products are still made with quality raw materials sourced from the U.S.A. whenever possible, which is over 95% of the time.

The GRIP6 mission is simple: to make quality products that last and to encourage and support the modernization and accessibility of American manufacturing at every turn.