Camera Strap Update

My post last month about the hacking my R-Strap generated quite a bit of discussion, both in comments and in one-on-one email. My modifications to the strap, basically the replacement of the connector component with a slider made from a web ring and a locking carabiner, have served me fairly well. It’s not the most flexible of solutions, but it’s a lot more trustyworthy of a connection than the factory provided solution.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve experimented with several different alternatives to connecting the camera to the strap. I’ve played around with different size carabiners and even a bit of paracord. The carabiners provide a nice and easy on/off ability, but at the cost of some chunkiness and ending up with a bit of metal in your face when you raise the camera up to your eye. Paracord gives a lot of flexibility in rotation of the connector, but you need something more in the mix to make for a good connection experience. Tying and untying knots isn’t something that I want to do on the fly.

The alternative slider/connector I was most looking forward to trying is, as suggested in the comments, an ITW MASH hook. After it came up in the comments, I ordered a few of these up from Botach Tactical, then waited. And waited. And waited some more. Botach isn’t exactly spiffy fast. It took them well over a week from the time I placed my order till they shipped it out. Finally, after much waiting, an envelope showed up with the four MASH hooks I ordered up. Greg Koenig, my industrial designer neighbor, I dove in and gave them a spin.

The MASH hooks are cool little devices. They are quick and easy to use and provide a solid positive hold on whatever you attach them to. There are, however, two downsides. The first is that they come slightly oiled, presumably to help retard rust. This isn’t a problem for using them on rifles, but you don’t really want to have an oiled part around a camera. The second issue is the way it slides on the R-Strap’s webbing. It slides well enough most of the time, but it has a sharp enough edge on the web slot that sometimes binds up. In addition, in the bit I’ve played with it so far, I’ve seen it mark up the webbing. I’ve considered taking a Dremel to the web slot and smoothing out edges, but haven’t tried that yet.

In short, playing around and hacking up the R-Strap has been quite a bit of fun, but so far there hasn’t been anything that has that “just right” feel to it. While I was in the middle of trying to explain what was missing to Greg, he looked up and said, “well, you know what the problem is, don’t you?”

I didn’t. But he didn’t let that stop him and pressed on. “If you’re really going to use the rifle sling concept, which this borrows from, you might want to consider having a smaller strap loop around your body and using a longer connection piece.” He pulled out a rifle sling from his storeroom and showed me what he was talking about. “Then,” he continued, “you want that connection piece to be solid and reliable, yet easy to clip on and off. And what would make it great is if there were some sort of buckle…” While talking it through a bit, he started hacking up a prototype on the spot using some webbing and other material he had on hand.

We’re obviously not in Kansas anymore. What started out as an exercise in how to modify an existing product has started to turn into something different. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before I had to go to to San Francisco for Web 2.0 Expo this week. But, when I get back to Portland, I hope to finish things up with Greg and have something that is ready to go for the next big gig.

More to come…