Wrong kind of weight belt. He is talking about the one to hang the weights of that I mentioned.
These are good too.
PPPPLLLLBBBBTTTT!!!!!
Honestly, I roll a towel around the bar for squats at the gym, and have a cushion for the bar in my garage at home. Why, because I don't like my skin ripping, denting, welting or itching all day from being inflamed from the knurls. I can do the same amount of weight either way so why be more uncomfortable just to prove I am tough? Just because I can take the discomfort does not mean I need to sacrifice comfort to prove it. I have a chin of granite but I don't sit and let people hit me in the face to prove it in martial arts. I use my blocks, my tools if you will to keep it from happening.
When doing higher reps on pulling motions I use my versa-grips same as wraps. I can get an extra 3 reps on about any pulling motion which is working the target muscle even harder, and I am trying to work my back not my forearms. My forearms are plenty big and grip is plenty strong. I have relatively small hands and holding onto a bar with heavy weight for a long period is not as easy for me as someone with average or large hands. It is simply a point of leverage considering the size of the muscles involved leverage is a huge factor in grip, and has nothing to do with the strength of an individuals back. On top of that my elbows get tendinitis relatively easy so I use my versas to ward that off and still be able to train as intensely as I want.
I just bought a new set of gloves today because I am tired of pumice stoning the callouses off of my hands so that I can rub on my lovely wife with out scratching her. Not knocking your opinion at all just telling you about a different side of the coin. I agree that people who rely on these things as a crutch are ridiculous but there are tons of good reasons to use them. Just don't let them be a handicap. If you followed my log a while back I was using chalk and dead lifting 335x20 reps but my callouses were tearing off and I couldn't touch or rub on my wife.
I spend a good bit of time rubbing on and touching / massaging my wife and love to do so. Yet if I am scratching her up she doesn't enjoy it and I don't get to do it. It is all different mentalities and priorities. Does not make one more right than the other. Again like you said if you can not do the weight without it then maybe you shouldn't be lifting it but everyone who uses these don't use them as a handicap some use them as tools. I have a weight belt but I don't use it unless I am down below 5 reps often times I will do a 3 rep set on deads without a belt. I am 38 and safety and longevity is more important to me now. Also, think about the fact that someone with recurring back issues can still dead lift with the use of a belt safely where they may not be able to without. Many reasons. However I completely agree there are tons of people who abuse them or wear stuff inappropriately.
Again Turning Green no knocking you by any means I fully respect you and your preferences for your training. I know longer base any of my training or use of training tools I use on what others think but on what I need or want to to do for myself. Same as every other facet of my life. I was the guy drinking a wine cooler at the club while others drank beer because I preferred the taste of a wine cooler. I drink umbrella drinks because I like them better than whiskey. Once, I had a guy at a club try to call me a puzzy because I drank the wine coolers ( Man I am old wine coolers LOL) when every time he took a drink of beer he made a face like someone pissed in his drink. "I laughed and said you are drinking that beer you don't even like trying to be accepted by your buddies, and I am brave enough to go against the macho BS and do what I want regardless of opinion. Think about it who is they puzzy here." His jaw dropped, his friends laughed at him, while I smiled and walked away.
At a comedy show one time I had a comedian mess with me for having a big blue umbrella drink with fruit in it, then he looked at me again and said "Good god man. I guess with those arms you can drink whatever the fug you want huh? I would too." That sentiment just kind of summed up my whole philosophy on things of that nature. it is just the way I have always looked at things. I am happier pleasing myself instead of conforming just to conform. I know you understand that being as creative as you are.
Weight belts are not meant to be cinched up tight they should be a little loose then when you go to lift you inhale into the gut filling it out to fill the belt expanding the core and tightening it making it strong like a mighty oaks trunk. To many people cinch them up tight and completely rely on only the belt. As Resolve would say BELLY FULL!!!! Hell some people wear the damn things as girdles so they "look" like they have a v - taper.