I'm sure it's real leather. This is heavy; not very flexible and difficult to bend; I widened the holes on the back and buckled through replaced a brass buckle, maybe it's impregnated with some kind of polymer? This is a great gun belt. I love it and it's perfect for my purpose. I followed all the instructions but they're shorter than expected; I have a lot of holes when I... "I'm skinny but only three if I'm fat right? Should I have ordered the next size up? Maybe we'll all lose weight in the years to come?"