Attaching Absolute Shoulder Strap to Non-TB Duffel

[MtnMan]

In this thread in the Tom Bihn "Questions about bags and accessories" forum, I asked about how I could adapt a Bihn Absolute Shoulder Strap to work with an old duffel bag from K-Mart.

In the above-linked thread, falconea suggested that I "cut the strap off the male warrior clips, and feed through the strap of an Absolute Strap, with that extra little buckle which will hold it in place. Look at pictures D and G on the Absolute Strap page to see how to put it on." BPritchard also suggested I visit StrapWorks, where they have warrior buckle components available.

I'm not sure which would be easier to do, but if I want to use an Absolute Shoulder Strap with this duffel, it seems to boil down to two appraoches:

A: Follow falconea's suggestion and cut up the K-Mart shoulder strap to extract the male ends of the buckles, then re-use the male ends on a Bihn Absolute Shoulder Strap. (This seems like a good idea, but I'm not sure if the male buckle end will have the teeth to hold any different strap.)

B: Follow BPritchard's suggestion and buy a new male buckle end from StrapWorks, and thread a Bihn Absolute Shoulder Strap through the new male buckle ends to attach it to the duffel.

BPritchard's approach makes sense to me, but here's what I need to know:

1: If I order the male warrior buckle components from StrapWorks, how do I know which size specification to ask for? How does the size spec work for their buckles?

2: Also if I order the male buckle components from StrapWorks, how do I make sure that I order a male buckle that has teeth that will work with an Absolute Shoulder Strap?

I will probably order the new strap and StrapWorks goodies the next time I place a major order, which will be this Fall. (I have other items to get as well.)

Thank you in advance for your help,

The Mountain Man

[BPritchard]

Downloadable Catalog

The Stapworks site has a downloadable PDF catalog. All buckles, etc, have measurement data in the catalog.

[falconea]

The TB straps don't have teeth - the actual grip comes from that second little buckle. As long as you can fit the absolute strap through the buckle it should attach just fine.

Audrey

[MtnMan]

I have a new challenge!

Recently, my mother bought a Canon Digital Rebel T3 SLR camera to give to me as a gift for my 45th birthday. The camera came as part of a package deal from QVC; the package included two lenses (one telephoto, and one wide-angle) and a Canon 2400 Gadget Bag. The bag is passable, I guess. It's no Tom Bihn, but it is very nicely padded. The one thing about the case that's bad: the shoulder strap. It's so bad, I'm wondering about what I can do to replace it.

The Canon strap is removable; the strap has a plastic hook-snap on each end. So it's kinda like using an Absolute Shoulder Strap on an Empire Builder or a Zephyr briefcase. The Canon plastic hook-snap is quite a bit like the thin shoulder strap used on the Tom Bihn Side Effect, only the Canon's size is bigger. Canon's take on a "d-ring" is a piece of heavy plastic mounted on a piece of webbing that is sewn shut on each end of the case. The hole in the center of the Canon "d-ring" is triangular, 11/16-inches wide, by 1/2-inch outboard.

I'm wondering if a Bihn Absolute Shoulder Strap could fit in the Canon "d-ring" hole. If not, I'm thinking about looking at some of the accessories from StrapWorks or OpTechUSA.

I'd like to hear what folks in this forum think.

Thanks in advance.

--The Mountain Man

[Katy]

Hey MtnMan!

It looks to me like it will fit just fine .

[backpack]

First Happy Birthday and Congrats on such a great camera setup!


The Absolute Strap is the best of all straps!

I say that after experiencing the padded straps of multiple manufacturers from low end stand alone padded straps purchased to add to all kind of bags to the straps included in mid range imported luggages and high end brands with the outrageous price to match.

You could order an Absolute Strap in your next order and see if it fits but... If I were you I would wait for the launch of the Camera Insert, use it with an existing bag or new one and sell the bag that came with the camera on Craiglist or a photo/camera enthusiast forum.

[MtnMan]

Thanks for the feedback, Katy!

@backpack: There's an added wrinkle. I use a Canon Vixia HV40 high-defnition camcorder, carrying it in a very old, and pretty crummy, Ambico padded camera bag. I want to keep my options open. Even if I transfer the Rebel to Bihn's upcoming insert (or another padded bag down the road), I will likely transfer the Vixia to the Gadget Bag. So no matter what, I'll likely be keep the Gadget Bag for now.

Thanks to everyone for the responses!