DSPTCH get a little EDC on the camera strap
I have to admit that for the last two years I’ve had a butchered lanyard as my SLR wrist strap. It was ugly, but it mostly worked, so it hung in there.
Thankfully DSPTCH have recently started up in San Fran, a base from where they want to contribute a little Tactical joy to the carry habits of people like me. Richard was good enough to send us one of their paracord wrist straps (as well as a key chain), which I’ve been running with for a couple of months now…
Highlights
The cord: 550 paracord is a sweet rope; soft yet durable, stealth yet attractive. When you braid it like this, you get enough grip, enough slip, and just a nice feeling wrist retainer.
The metal hardware: The clip and ring are both top knotch, with good spring and a great finish.
Adjustability: So long as you spec the right size when ordering (there’s petite, standard and large), then the clip slides open for quick entry, and pulls tight when weight goes onto it, giving a reassuring little tug around your wrist.
MacGyverable: It’s great knowing that if you ever REALLY need to shoulder sling your camera, you can unravel the cord and rig something up. But yeah, that would require a whole series of YouTube tutorials to re-braid it afterwards, so I haven’t gone there yet.
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Lowlights
The plastic: After such nice metal hardware, the plastic clip feels a little flimsy and cheap, with the clip missing that reassuring ‘snap’ of high grade plastics.
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It’s just a knot: Which means it can unravel a little. No biggie, but you need to keep an eye on it.
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DSPTCH straps do come with two camera attachment options. I went the wrong side of lady luck for my SLR, but the plastic clip looks essentially the same on the webbing version…
The other DSPTCH stuff
For the moment, there’s just the Sling, the Wrist, and the Key. They are all great looking products, with similar traits to the wrist strap I’ve been playing with.
The summary
I like it. I’ve liked wrist straps for some years, as they cut down on bulk, integrate well if you carry a camera shoulder bag, and get rid of flappy straps that get tangled around things. With this DSPTCH, I’ve finally rid the scrappy lanyard hacks that have tied me over so far, and pimped my rig a little more in the right direction.
Once they upgrade the plastic bits, DSPTCH should have a rad little offer for not much coin (US$32).
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Everything is good except the plastic clip. Such as a waste of a good product. Relying on that small, flimsy plastic to securely hold your camera; your just asking for it. Even a metal clip would’ve been adequate and could’ve completed the whole tactical look. Wasted potential.
Those plastic buckles can support several hundred pounds of force, as well as take some serious impacts. This is why some of the best technical, tactical, and military pack makers use these same buckles. Dana Gleason at Mystery Ranch, Wayne Gregory of Gregory Packs, Triple Aught Design, GORUCK, Mission Workshop, just to name a few. These bag makers know their stuff. I do love the Cobra buckles, but the nylon/acetal buckles are more than well suited for the task.
Haha, but when you feel these Taylor, they sure don’t FEEL like they’ll hold that much. It’s a tiny clip, with lots of flex and not much ‘pop’. It would be a better product if they were up=spec’d a little
Wish I could say more, but its almost like you can see into the future Ando
Great review. Couple of things I’d like to point out:
1. The wrist strap is designed to replace the traditional nylon strap that comes stock with most compact cameras. While it works just fine with SLR’s, this style of wrist strap is not commonly used for a camera of that size (hand straps are the more popular choice). Still works fine, just not designed for it, which is why you may think the buckle size/strength might be a miss.
2. The wrist strap is a fail safe. It’s not intended to be used to carry the full weight of the camera for extended periods of time, just to stop it from hitting the ground if you ever lost your grip on it. For that purpose, these buckles will work fine (I’ve actually never been able to break one of these things).
3. Better buckles = more $$$ = higher price for customers. We also source all of our plastic hardware domestically, so sometimes you have to make a tradeoff to keep the price of a product accessible to more customers.
Thanks for the comments, love to get feedback like this. Hope this explanation cleared things up.
Great post Ando. DSPTCH has definitely been getting some well deserved praise.
Thank you, I found your review a big help when looking for a wrist strap.
The DSPTCH straps look very nice. But I wanted to do my own strap. I found that Op Tech USA sells the Mini QD Loops $6.95/four. I did not like the idea of the metal clip hanging around my camera. And the clip is not needed as the long loop of the strap can go through the ends that would be fastened to the metal clip. Works and looks great for my X-E1, and very inexpensive.
The Op Tech – Utility Loop may be better for a DSLR. Also if you do not like the plastic buckel of the QD loop, you could use a Black Rapid FastenR to secure using the camera tripod connection point.
Yeah nice. Op Tech have some great components.