Making your camera strap safe

I’ve heard this story a few times from different people. Their camera strap became unthreaded, and the camera crashed to the floor. To add insult to injury, the loose end of the strap whipped them across the face as the camera fell. So, what can you do to stop that from happening to your camera?

Camera gear is expensive, and keeping it secure is important.

Is your camera strap safe? I see so many that are threaded so that they could easily come loose. I have heard of cameras falling to the ground because the strap had slipped through the buckle. One of the first things I teach in my courses is this simple little trick, and just spending a few moments rethreading your strap may save you from losing or breaking your camera.

If your strap has a loose tail flapping about, it’s at risk, and here’s how to thread it much more securely.

Securing your camera strap

1. Take the strap off the camera. This image shows the strap end, the band keeper and the top side of the buckle.

2. Thread the strap through the hole from the bottom of the recessed underside of the buckle, over the middle bar and back down through the second hole.

3. Thread the band-keeper onto the strap.

4. Make sure there are no twists in the strap. Thread the end through the anchor-point eye or bracket on the camera, then back through the band-keeper.

6. The tail of the strap should now be enveloped in the loop and not loose. Make sure there is plenty of tail, then tighten the straps at the buckle.

Finally, slide the band-keeper towards the buckle and over the tail. It should be quite hard to do this. The tightly sandwiched tail should stop the strap from slipping. Furthermore, it looks neater, and there is no loose tail flapping in the wind.

Other Methods of Attaching a Strap

It was so much easier with 35mm SLRs. I had one of these on my old Olympus OM2m camera when I was 18, so my eyes lit up with nostalgia when I bought an old Olympus OM10 for demonstrations in my courses. (If you have been on one of my basic workshops, you will have seen it.)

There are many other options on the market. I am a fan of those made by Peak Design because they are secure and quick to release. I’ve used the Peak Design Slide Lite, as seen in the following old photo of me, for years.

Hopefully, you found this useful. If you did, then please comment below. Also, please share the post with your friends on Facebook or other social media.

Please also comment to let me know you’ve read this and rethreaded your strap as a result. It will be great to hear from you.