Webbing: glue?

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Moogyboy

Contributor
Messages
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Location
Columbus, Ohio
# of dives
25 - 49
hey all

Re: my Triple-L Stratos BCD with its silly elastic front strap...

Obviously the strap has to go. Marek offered a nifty but somewhat bulky solution involving good old 1.5" flat nylon webbing and slides, to avoid the pain of having to get the thing properly stitched (an ordinary domestic sewing machine won't cut it, or just barely).

WELL

It just occurred to me that since that front strap isn't holding a ton of tension, that a compact and reasonably rigid attachment could be made with some kind of strong adhesive or chemical bonding/solvent agent. The first thing that popped into my head was to use hot glue from one of those electric glue guns. What the heck, it seems pretty strong. But I'm sure there are others...

So I field the question to you: is gluing nylon webbing a viable alternative to stitching for this application, and if yes, are there any better adhesives or whatevers that you'd recommend? The requirements are a reasonably strong bond that won't be harmed by use in the water, will last for a while, and not require a whole lot of glue (ie take up lots of physical space). Thank yall for your expertise...

cheers

Billy S.
 
I take small stuff to a little mom and pops tack shop here that does sewing in the back. It would probably cost about 5 bucks to sew something like that here. might look into something like that rather than glueing.
 
kaboom1371:
I take small stuff to a little mom and pops tack shop here that does sewing in the back. It would probably cost about 5 bucks to sew something like that here. might look into something like that rather than glueing.

True true, that is an option, probably the best option. I just don't know where to find these kinds of operations in my town, that'll just sew whatever you want sewn...what heading in the Yellow Pages would I want to look under, do you think?

cheers

Billy S.
 
Thanks for all the input folks. A quick look at the Yellow Pages showed me that several of the local shoe repair places also do luggage repair, handbags, etc... one even specifically advertised "heavy sewing." Who woulda thunk it? So thanx for turning me onto that. I'll probably buy the webbing and perhaps a slide or two myself and just have the repair guy duplicate what's already on there.

Now, my usual assortment of questions, which I know have been touched on in previous posts related to the Stratos Strap Saga:

1) www.strapworks.com mentions that nylon webbing isn't good in wet applications as it stretches, and polypropylene webbing is better in this kind of application. However, Marek told me he got nylon webbing for his DIY Stratos strap replacement project. Question is, can anyone confirm whether poly or nylon is what the manufacturers use on BCDs, dive belts, etc.?

2) Is there a practical reason why Triple-L would have put an elastic strap on the front of the Stratos, and since I have very limited exposure to other BCDs, is this something that's very common? And is replacing this with poly webbing something I in fact want to do?

3) Have any Stratos (or other BCDs, as it were) owners had any experiences either good or bad with the elastic straps?

Okay, I'll shut up now...the conch is yours, gentlepersons.

cheers

Billy S.
 

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