NATO watch straps ... a spot of advice please.

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If I were to swap the bracelet on one or other of the above, for a nylon NATO style strap, is there an obvious make that is readily available in a UK High Street shop - or, more likely I imagine, on Ebay or Amazon or some other internet site?

I have no posh watches, I don't need a posh watch and the above are fine for my needs ... accurate and easy to tell the time at a quick glance.

Are all NATO straps of the sort whereby the strap is one piece and threads round the back of the watch - or is it just as viable to have loops at the end of each part of the strap through which the pins are located, as per a "normal" leather strap?

As these are cheap Seiko / Pulsar watches I don't particularly want to spend a ridiculous amount on a strap but just need it to be decent and robust enough in construction.

One would be black and, perhaps, fairly obviously, a green one? Nothing too outrageous although I've seen stripey ones which might, possibly look OK?.

Ta.
 

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Ta muchly for quick and useful reply ... that was the sort of money I was hoping to pay. I'll look now.

I just remembered I have a third watch, identical to the green one, above, and it has a sort of nylon strap on it - but with a leather insert where the holes are, and this one does fix to the watch with the aforementioned pins. Pictured below in a following post.

It looks like they're all of the "one piece" type. Is it not the done thing to have the loops and the pins to secure it?

The site shows quite a few ... does paying more get you better quality or a better name or richer colours ????
 
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Looks like most are 20mm between the lugs on the above site. Mine's 18mm so would seem to restrict the choice a bit.

And most seem to be one piece straps, not secured with the pins.

What's ZULU and BEAR? trade names?


Here's the strap I mentioned above .... nylon with a leather insert adjacent to the holes. I think it came with a Seiko military style watch .... possibly the black one pictured above. It has loops for the pins to go through to secure it to the watch and isn't a one piece jobbie.

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If you are going to remove the pins. use a small jewelers flat screwdriver. Or buy a tool for it.
But do it inside a clear plastic bag. so if/when it pings off, it will be in the bag, not lost for ever :D
 
Spotted your link to the ones you bought. But that particular listing only shows 20mm and above ... as mentioned mine are 18mm.

Yes, point taken re. pins - have had them off lots of times so got the hang of it.

I guess they are all one piece as no mention of the two piece type fixed to the lugs via the pins ?
 
^^^ All rcvd. Ta. Couldn't see the Zuludiver on TF ... must be a bit thick. (well, actually, there's little doubt)

I seem to recall, now it's been mentioned, that TF delivery or response time is a tad ... variable?

I'm now starting to lean towards a two piece to avoid the "bulk" of a Nato. At least that narrows the search down - as does the need for 18mm, which is less common.
 
There's really very little bulk to a NATO, they're typically pretty thin material. You can remove the additional flappy bit quite easily if you want to which results in only one layer under the back of the watch. Going with a one-piece makes changing straps very quick and easy if you fancy a different colour.

I love the look of NATOs but always seem to want a hole where there isn't one resulting in it being too tight or flopping around on my wrist. Might have to try a Perlon at some point, although I mostly wear my Diver One on an Iso.
 
^^ Helpful. Ta.

Point taken re. just one layer under the watch itself.

Is it possible that you could burn an additional hole where you wanted one? I'm thinking a piece of thick wire or a nail etc. heated up with a blowlamp, or even on the gas? I've had much success in the past heating up nylon and plastic things in order to modify them in one way or another.

Did see Perlon whilst looking ... food for thought - and none of it hugely pricey.

Any further advice regarding whether it would be sensible to expect delivery from TF within a reasonable time? It's not urgent at all but it's frustrating waiting and waiting when you know the Royal Mail only takes a few days to get most things delivered..
 
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I bought a generic cheapy from ebay ($10) to see how it feels wearing one and I am chuffed how good it is in summer, getting constantly wet doing things in the yard, in the bathroom, kitchen etc. Extremely comfortable, breathes and dries super fast. I will never put a leather or metal strap on my wrist during summer ever again. Now I know buying a more expensive one wont be a potential waste of money.

I ended up removing one of those metal rings. Though it looked good, it was useless and just got in the way. I was also considering the zulu strap, but the rings looked too sporty and chunky.

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