Want to help us test a Strap Keeper design?

[Darcy]

Edited: the original post offered to send a handful of our new prototype Strap Keeper design out to folks who were willing to test them for us and provide feedback here. All the available prototype Strap Keepers have now been claimed; some shipped yesterday and the remaining will ship Tuesday 09/03.

Please note: we have sent a pair of the prototype Strap Keeper to every Synik PPB order that shipped this week. And to be fair, we're going to include one set of the Strap Keepers with every pre-order Synik. So: if you ordered a Synik, you'll be getting a set of the Strap Keepers to test.

[experimentjon]

This is pretty exciting. Synik pre-ordered--look forward to these.

I've been using ITW web dominators for a long time, then moved to Strapeez, which are actually incredible...and admittedly better than the web dominators unless you expect to be getting pretty dirty.

Now it's just a waiting game for the Synik to ship so I can finally start doing my 1-2 day work trips with it...

[Tonya]

I received the email about these being included with my pre-order, and I'm super excited about this prototype! If they work well (which I don't doubt that they will), it will solve a huge issue and keep me from constantly hacking my dangling straps. The only problem is that I already want to order more.

[everythingslower]

Happy to know there will be a strap keeper coming out! Just sent an email.

[pvn]

Just got a pair in today's mail. My initial impression after seeing these for five minutes:

* installing them is MUCH easier than web dominators
* very compact
* releasing them is harder. that's a positive and a negative, I guess, web dominators could potentially come undone with enough jostling (it would require physical contact with something catching on the shock cord knot for example). These strap keepers are NEVER coming undone accidentally.
* once you release them it's possible (or likely) that the keeper will fall to the ground. Web Dominators are attached to the strap.
* No TB branding (I assume since this is just a prototype)

If you need to secure excess strap that you rarely or never need to adjust, these are the way to go. If it's something you're frequently adjusting these might not be that great (time will tell). I'll be using these on my brain bag (I adjust the should strap tension quite frequently). I have at least four trips this month, I'll keep everyone updated.

Here's a quick side-by-side pick installed on my BB:



You can see the TB strap keeper is EXTREMELY low profile!

Here's a picture of the entire doodad next to a web dominator:



And a closeup of how it actually works:



Installing is simple, you just lay the keeper on top of the strap you want to wrangle, roll it up around the keeper, then slip the loop over the hook.

[imagineez]

Just got a pair in today's mail. My initial impression after seeing these for five minutes:

* installing them is MUCH easier than web dominators
* very compact
* releasing them is harder. that's a positive and a negative, I guess, web dominators could potentially come undone with enough jostling (it would require physical contact with something catching on the shock cord knot for example). These strap keepers are NEVER coming undone accidentally.
* once you release them it's possible (or likely) that the keeper will fall to the ground. Web Dominators are attached to the strap.
* No TB branding (I assume since this is just a prototype)

They don’t have to fall off if you attach them according to what the TB blog states and what is shown in their video for the best attachment point.

From the blog:
"It’s important to secure the Strap Keeper to the length of webbing that is between where it is sewn into your backpack and the ladderlock (the buckle through which the webbing is fed). This way, if you pull on the bundled webbing, the Strap Keeper will remain attached to your pack and won’t fall off. If you use the Strap Keeper to bundle the length of webbing that extends beyond the ladderlock and hangs down to itself — resulting in a dangly ball of webbing — it, well, creates a dangly ball of webbing and, if you undo that ball of webbing, the Strap Keeper will likely fall off entirely."

[AnOmegaOdyssey]

I would have liked to try one but I’m too late to the game. Good idea with simple implementation!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pvn]

They don’t have to fall off if you attach them according to what the TB blog states and what is shown in their video for the best attachment point.

Ah, yes, seeing the blog would have helped!

This method does solve that problem, and eliminating the "dangling ball" is probably a plus in many situations (definitely reduces the chances of getting snagged on something). This method is going to make it more difficult to adjust the straps, and tucking is a bit cumbersome seems like poking a finger through the looped keeper and using that to stretch it out while you feed the folded strap through works ok). For straps I don't adjust frequently this is definitely the way to go. I'll try various methods over my next few trips and see how it plays out in the field.

[Darcy]

Ah, yes, seeing the blog would have helped!

I just now sent an email w/that link to everyone that we sent the sample Strap Keepers to! A bit later than I planned... sorry about that! Thanks for the quick feedback and photos @pvn

And thanks @imagineez for sharing the blog link.

[G42]

The most important thing I notice about the prototype Strap Keepers is that I don't notice them.


With the Web Dominators, I often would brush against the prickly edges of the cords and it would be noticeable.... not an issue with these Keepers...and since a bad pun is always acceptable in polite company (!), I will go so far as to say that they're Keepers!


(please, don't hurt yourself laughing at the bad pun, I know it was too punny)

[Tonya]

I didn't get the email from Darcy, but I easily found the video via the link above. I also received the strap keepers with my S22 and installed them incorrectly resulting in a "dangling ball of webbing," but that's how I've been securing extra TB strapping for years so I thought nothing of it. But yes, installing it the correct way is mo' betta so thanks for the video.

I just received both the S22 and the strap keepers on Tuesday and only had enough time to haphazardly throw my EDC stuff into the pack and (incorrectly) attach the strap keepers before I had to be on the road all day yesterday, and the pack didn't leave my car. I hope to have time today to re-pack and attach things correctly, and the next few weeks will give me a better idea of things and how this pack and the strap keepers will work best.

My initial impression of the strap keepers is perfectly a-okay. They take about .6 seconds to install and are extremely lightweight and streamlined. I would prefer TB to NOT add a logo to these because I'm already covered in TB logos as it is, a tag could get in the way of the functionality of the strap keepers, and it will add weight.

I know. I know. Minuscule amount of weight but we backpackers care about these things to a crazy degree. And because oy vey the S22 is HEAVY. I know the ounces don't lie but it feels heavier than the S19 and S25 that I tried, but I didn't keep either of those packs so I can't compare hand-to-hand. I'm sure it's not but I'm accustomed to a DLBP so this is a substantially sturdier/heavier/bulkier bag.

Back to the strap keepers... LOVE that you all didn't go with velcro. There are ways to use it well, but overall velcro can be a major annoyance. My only concern is how the elastic will hold up over time. I'm sure TB chose a high quality elastic, but the strap keeper elastic is very lightweight (as I mentioned above, not necessarily a bad thing) and I've had durability issues with elastic in other products.

As long as they last a reasonable amount of time and are moderately priced, I see no reason to change a thing with the strap keepers. Pretty nifty little tool that has long been needed in the TB community, and I'm thrilled with them. Thank you, TB!

[luvdabags]

These look like a great solution. Will definately order once they are available.

[NWhikergal]

It sounds silly, but I could not be any more psyched about these new strap keepers based on my first impressions. As a non tall person, I always seem to have long, dangly, excess straps, if I have my backpack aligned at a normal to higher position on my back. For example, I am in love with the Synik 22, but I probably have almost a foot of unsecured strap swinging to and fro on each side as I wear the pack. Even this week, I almost whirled around downtown when some loose strap smacked me in a stiff wind, and I thought it was another person, hahaha.

The cool thing about the strap keepers is that they are super low profile, these can be installed on any backpack with normal sized excess strap, and there are different ways of securing them, based on whether you like to fold over/under/stuff them, etc. So far I am keen on the fold under method with leaving a couple of inches of excess, as when you clip them below the plastic buckle the strap feeds through, you can then slide the strap keeper bundle up or down your strap to easily adjust your strap length without having to work at it. I have some non removable strap holders on non TB backpacks, and I love this feature. I am really excited to test these more!




Silly dangly strap


Folding up without excess


My preferred folding under with a tiny bit of excess if I want the option of sliding up or down to allow me to adjust my strap length slightly


The back side so you can see how it clips

[xyppy]

I received my courtesy (thanks TB!) strap keepers yesterday and attached them to my beautiful blue DLBP this morning. I've been using 1.5" tri-glides to help manage the straps so please ignore them in the pictures. While the 1.5" tri-glides are certainly easier to install than the 1", they don't do the job quite as well. But I'm not going to take them off yet until I've fully tested the strap keepers and trust them. As you can see in the pictures I've attached the strap keepers two different ways. I want to see if I notice a difference in how they're attached.

When I was attaching them I found that I could not detach them without pushing them down off of the bundled strap. I think that is a good thing. They were quite easy to install, however. Definitely easier than the tri-glide hack.

The strap keepers reminded me of the swimming suit bikini tops I wore when I was a kid!

Note on the tri-glides: I have the 1" on my other DLBP and my S25 but they were out of stock when I ordered the blue DLBP so I got the 1.5" ones to see if they would work. I've been very content with the 1" version, other than they're a big PITA to install. I've since obtained 1" tri-glides for the blue DLBP but since they're such a PITA to install I've not done it.

[Tonya]

It sounds silly, but I could not be any more psyched about these new strap keepers based on my first impressions. As a non tall person, I always seem to have long, dangly, excess straps, if I have my backpack aligned at a normal to higher position on my back. For example, I am in love with the Synik 22, but I probably have almost a foot of unsecured strap swinging to and fro on each side as I wear the pack. Even this week, I almost whirled around downtown when some loose strap smacked me in a stiff wind, and I thought it was another person, hahaha.

At around 5.5' tall, I'm of average height for a female but I also have a ridiculous amount of strap hanging down from the S22. Because of this and many more unruly strap reasons, I'm also totally psyched about the strap keepers. My only issue is that for the S22 to sit properly on my back, the pack's straps need to be tightened completely. This leaves little to no room to attach the strap keepers. Because of this, I've gone back to the dangling-ball-of-webbing install.

I thought that you may can relate, although it looks like you don't wear the straps pulled quite as tightly as I do. I'll attach two pics to show what it looks like when I try to attach the strap keepers the *correct* way. You can see how it either crimps the larger portion of the pack strap or forces the plastic part into an oddball angle.

Once I finish wear testing this thing and make sure that I'll never need any extra strap, I'm tempted to take it to an alteration shop because I think TB was extra generous with the straps on the S22.