A simple home made wrist strap
I rarely use a shoulder/neck strap. I find that they get in the way when taking a camera out of or putting it back into a bag or a pocket. Several times my camera has come a cropper due to the strap snagging on something. A strap can also get in the way when using a tripod. I find that a small wrist strap is much handier and can easily be stuffed into a pocket with the camera. I tried several types but none of them seemed to suit me, so I made my own.
If you want to make one you just need an old woven nylon strap and a strap buckle.
Cut a length from an old camera strap. I cut mine to 45cm. This provides enough of a loop for my medium sized hands.
Heat the cut end using a flame or use a hot object like a soldering iron to fuse the nylon fibres together to prevent them from fraying. I use a small gas torch but a match will do the job if you are quick. Don't put the strap in the path of the flame, hold the cut end close to the side of the flame and the fibres will melt together. If it starts to burn you are too close. Don't touch the heated end until it has cooled. It will stick to your skin and burn.
Pass both ends of the strap through both slots of the buckle together.
Adjust the length of the two ends. Extend one to 3cm and the other to 6cm beyond the end of the buckle with the shorter end nearest to the camera.
Pass both ends through the strap fixing on the camera.
Take the long end and pass it back through the two slots on the outside of the buckle.
Pull everything tight. Both ends should protrude by 2cm. If an end gets shorter when you use the strap you will know that something is slipping. The strap may have been too thin or the buckle may have been too large.
The strap is easy to remove if you want to use a full length strap at any time. Just push the long end back out of the buckle and then pull both ends out of the strap fixing on the camera. Or simply attach one end of a full length strap through the wrist strap loop and the other end through the strap fixing on the other side of the camera as usual.
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