The R-Strap and its followers

Ran into the Black Rapid R-Strap system the other day and found it to be a great idea: it saves your neck from carrying the camera in your front yet allows access to the camera as quickly as any neck strap. However, I don’t like the fact that it’s not tripod-friendly, plus the price is a bit steep at $70 for a strap. In spite of its tripod annoyance and the price, needless to say this is a well-executed great idea and deservedly became an instant hit.

After the appearance of the R-Strap, a lot of action straps sprung into existence, attempting to ride its wave. Here’s what I’ve found (arranged alphabetically):

Camera Slingers
Dan’s Sling Strap
Immediate Action Sling Camera Strap (needs a few clicks)
Link Delight Q Sling Strap
Luma Loop
Mzungu Quick Draw
Nirobi Sling Strap
Op/Tech
Pap Strap
Quick Strap
Sun Sniper
Y-Strap

Save a few, most of the above straps suffer from a fatal flaw that would eventually make the camera drop if you’re not careful – they tie the strap onto the screw itself yet don’t allow free rotation, so, little by little the camera would wiggle and eventually get unscrewed from the strap, and there goes your $5000 equipments.

As I was gazing at the pictures on the “Immediate Action” strap site, I realized I had the necessary hardware lying around, so why not make it a DIY?

My Take: The F-Strap

First, a USD $15 wrist strap I bought from Hong Kong. I was ripped off and these can actually be had for $7.

Let’s extract the base, who needs the rest of the strap? The plastic feels like ABS and has given me some sturdy, trouble-free service during its hand strap tenure. So I reckon it should do the job well.

My trusty and comfy Smugmug neckstrap, included in my membership. You can use any camera strap you want. Some of the above companies actually make good plain old neck straps.

Simply screw the base into the tripod mount and tie your strap to the base. Note that the strap is not tied to the screw itself, thus the camera, although not free to rotate, does not risk unscrewing itself at all.

Unlike the R-Strap, my strap still exposes a tripod mount hole therefore a tripod can be used without first unscrewing the strap. Here’s the Manfrotto RC2.

Have used the set-up for whole days of camera carrying. Seems to work well for a total of around $10. Scratch that – I’d say it works better than a few $40 options above.

I’ll name my strap the F-Strap. The F stands for “Frugality” for me, but you can use any F word in its place.

F-Strap II

Now to accommodate a Gimbal Head, I’ve switched from the Manfrotto RC2 to Arca-Swiss quick release system. It has a more confidence-inducing grip and seems to be more supported by various companies. They warrant posts of their own so for now I’ll just say I’ll never look back to the RC2.

Here’s the updated version with the plastic base replaced by the Kirk L-Bracket:

The strap attachment points seem to be a bit far apart and the camera isn’t free to glide up and down like some of the $40 options. I’ll see if a trip to the Home Depot can resolve it. I expect it to be just another $5.