Hints for keeping it on my shoulder?

[Tzporah]

I love my Swift. It holds a ton and makes a great knitting/personal item for when I fly. Up until now, I've always packed my cafe bag to use as my everyday bag at my destination. For this trip, I wanted the extra capacity of the Swift and (I hate to say this) I'm slowly but surely falling out of love with it. For some reason, I just can't keep it on my shoulder without constantly fiddling with it.

I'm not having the same issue with my new large shop sack.

Any hints? Did the handle length change recently, could I fix this by buying a new one?

[Darcy]

Handle lengths haven't changed, so there shouldn't be a difference between the two bags. When I put my Swift on my shoulder, I place the outside facing strap over and behind the inside facing strap, and that helps keep the straps securely on my shoulder.

[backpack]

I do the same as Darcy with my 2 carry around Swifts.

I place the strap closest to you in the small natural slope in the middle of the shoulder then put the outside strap behind it.

When did the slipping problem began? Did you already switched from winter to spring wardrobe? Are you using smoother, more sleeker fabrics?


Any info you could give us would be helpful!

[Tzporah]

The slippage issue has always been there if I'm wearing any type of jacket or sweater. I can't even get the straps on my shoulder with my bulky winter coat.

I think its just an issue of size. Today I was wearing only a short sleeve shirt and my Swift stayed put through a three mile hike with my coat stuffed in it.

Guess I'll have to stick to a backpack if I'm wearing a coat. Might be time to buy that Brain bag I've been wanting.

[BPritchard]

Absolute Strap for the Swift

I've connected my Absolute strap to the Swift by attaching small carabiners to the cloth strap holding the plastic eyelet on each corner. The strap attaches to the carabiners. Works great.

Haven't had any stress related breakage when I transport a liter of scotch, a large and small bottle of wine.

Sometimes the top strap won't cinch if the contents make the top too wide. I then use a velcro strap to wrap around the center. The straps are available at stores like Home Depot.

[dorayme]

I've connected my Absolute strap to the Swift by attaching small carabiners to the cloth strap holding the plastic eyelet on each corner. The strap attaches to the carabiners. Works great.
.

Can you share a photo with us? I am having a hard time visualizing this both done and in use.
Also Darcy, these loops, how they are stitched and the fabric they are made of, can they withstand weight?

[Tzporah]

I've connected my Absolute strap to the Swift by attaching small carabiners to the cloth strap holding the plastic eyelet on each corner. The strap attaches to the carabiners. Works great.

Haven't had any stress related breakage when I transport a liter of scotch, a large and small bottle of wine.

Sometimes the top strap won't cinch if the contents make the top too wide. I then use a velcro strap to wrap around the center. The straps are available at stores like Home Depot.

I love this idea. I take my absolute strap with me every time I take out my Aeronaut but hardly ever use it.

It's sad to say but this is definitely an issue with me in my coat being too bulky for the straps. I either need to loose weight or sew a retaining flap onto the shoulder of my jackets

[Darcy]

Someone asked a similar question on Facebook, and we just posted this response:
"Would an absolute strap work on a Swift? Just noticed that there's 2 loops on the sides where a strap would fit...."

The two loops are "o-rings" designed to carry the weight of a heavy bunch of keys tethered via a Key Strap, or a flash light, etc. To carry the full weight of a loaded bag, we'd use a much heavier-duty piece of hardware (see the Triangle ring on the Aeronaut, for example). The "O" rings inside the Swift are probably strong enough to support the weight of the bag, but we would not recommend it for continued use.