Here’s another review from one of our guest contributors. Joe is a retired Air Force Master Sergeant, tinkerer, avid outdoorsman, and a welcome addition to our growing staff. We’re sure to see more great articles from him in the future.
– Brian
Survival Straps™ are handmade in America by Tough Gear, Inc., a small, family-run company near Jacksonville, Florida. In business since 2005, the company specializes in weaving military-spec 550 lb paracord into wristbands, watchbands, bracelets, belts, dog collars, camera straps, rifle slings, key fobs, and many other items. The resultant braid is durable, flexible, and has the added advantage of when being completely unraveled, as in the case of the wristband, providing up to 16 feet of high tensile rope. Don’t care for olive green paracord? SurvivalStraps™ can be created in over 50,000 different color combinations so you can show your support for your favorite team, favorite cause, or personal style.
The first thing you’ll notice about their bracelets is the stainless steel shackle, rather than the usual plastic buckle. This definitely ups the cool factor, but more importantly, makes it easy to adjust the size. (They’re also available with non-adjustable plastic buckles) Putting it on, the wristband is a little stiff at first, but surprisingly comfortable. It locks in place with either a plastic or stainless steel threaded pin, which takes a small amount of dexterity to fit through the U-bolt and one of the three holes of the clasp. The plastic pin is scored so it will break into several pieces if sufficient force is applied to the band. Sufficient force for me meant straining on the band until I finally got it to break. I think each SurvivalStraps™ item should include TWO plastic pins, because any guy who puts a wristband on is going to wonder exactly how much force is needed to break the first pin. The stainless steel pin suffers from no such design and should keep the band safely secured on the wrist, no matter the stress.
Yes, it is comfortable. It has a nice heft while the smooth paracord feels cool against the skin. It is also ruggedly stylish with a tight weave pattern that is esthetically pleasing. It is easy to forget that coiled up around the wrist is 16 feet of thin, nearly unbreakable rope.
Naturally, there’s never an unforeseen emergency situation around when you need one. In the course of reviewing SurvivalStraps™, I kept looking for an opportunity, searching for some dire scene where I could whip off the wristband and save the day with 16 feet of ultra-tough paracord. That’s the thing about emergencies – their complete unpredictability. Instead, I considered the times when I could have used some super strong rope: Tying my motorcycle down to various truck beds (or in one case, a flat-bottomed boat in the Philippines); tying splints for either of the times I broke my left arm; tying various objects of lumber to a car roof; a leash for the dog; holding a branch of the backyard tree in place while I sawed it off. You get the idea. Sometimes, you just don’t have a length of rope around when you need one. With SurvivalStraps™, you will.
Tough Gear, Inc. also includes an awesome warranty: If you use your SurvivalStraps™ item, send it back to them along with a letter explaining why or how you used it, and for a $5 handling fee, and they’ll replace your unraveled item with a new one.
The basic Regular Survival Bracelet (14’ to 16’ of 550 lb paracord) runs $24.95. The Wide Survival Bracelet (25’ of 550 lb paracord) runs $27.95. Both include the “if you use it, we’ll replace it” warranty.
SurvivalStraps™ are licensed with several colleges to provide straps, lanyards, and dogtags in approved college colors and logos. They also come in a red, white, and blue “Patriot” edition. There are SurvivalStraps™ for Law Enforcement and Fire Fighters. There are Light Survival Bracelets and Fish Weave styles suitable for women and men as well as collars and leashes for pets.
In addition, the company has recently partnered with the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), offering SurvivalStraps™ rugged wristbands and key fobs with a distinctive WWP dogtag as a centerpiece. 50% of the proceeds of the sales of these WWP logo gear items go directly to the Wounded Warrior Project, providing additional support to injured American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines.
To get more information about SurvivalStraps™, see samples or the items mentioned above and more, and to read about some of the ways these items have been put to use, visit their website at www.survivalstraps.com.
-Joe
Since it’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, what better way to start off our giveaways for October than with a pink bracelet from SurvivalStraps™? Rules are simple – leave a comment, telling us why you should win. We’ll choose a random winner at 8PM MST on October 6th. Open to residents of the continental US only. Oh, there’s a catch! This one is for the ladies only. Guys, you’ll need to wait your turn.
I need this because I am a disaster waiting to happen on a good day!