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I made my own camera strap...


JohnnySeven

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After trying just about every kind of camera strap over the past 20 years I finally made my own and I love it.  Iv been using it for the past few weeks doing long days and Im quite happy with it.  Its just a simple length of 7/16th military climbing rope with leather and rubber ends that I perfected after some trial and error.  It doesn't doesn't cut into my neck and never slips off my shoulder.  It also wraps nicely around the wrist/forearm. think it looks pretty sexy too!   

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Edited by JohnnySeven
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Climbing rope can be had by the foot/meter at most mountain outfitters.  The ends are the result of lots of trial and error. The best configuration consists of a drilled stainless steel "u" insert covered with a thin layer of leather, shoe stitching, leather lacing and industrial rubber heat shrink tubing.   I examined most of the commercially available rope straps and noticed that the weak link was always the ends. The rope is great but the ends that i saw all where very weak and wouldn't hold up to real daily use.  i designed mine to be able to lift a concrete block without signs of strain.  I actually put the strap to the ultimate test last week when I was attacked in broad daylight in the middle of a park by a crazy wackjob who thought i was photographing him for some nefarious reason. (I was actually just shooting some trees and a river scouting locations for a car commercial)  He took a swing at me,  i raised my arm with the strap wrapped around my wrist and robustly whacked him on the jaw with my m9 and 28mm lens with a loud crack sound. (I hope I didn't break his jaw)  He ran away screaming something about OJ Simpson's son and I continued on to finish my day.  After reviewing the days pics I noticed that the attacker was in one frame very far away wearing the white jacket.  Lesson learned: People can be violently crazy,  my strap works,  and if  you see this guy in a Toronto park put your camera away and go shoot elsewhere. He belongs in a hospital.

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Edited by JohnnySeven
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So, how do you attach the u insert to the rope so that it doesn't slip out, is it actually stitched to the rope with shoe stitching through the drilled holes?

Exactly. Stitched through the rope core and shell at various angles then covered in epoxy, then wound and epoxy'd again, then heat shrinked. This is stronger than the the single line of stitching that is on all of the commercially available rope straps. Also, the eye that the split ring is attached to is steel not just a leather fold.   I tried an eye splice at the end but this was too big, I tried the leather sleeve, this would wear and tear in no time. 

Edited by JohnnySeven
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