Things I've Found That Just Work; The UpStrap®

This is the pad and you can see part of the strap for the "Small" Upstrap®.
Medium and Large are also available but I've used small on all my cameras,
including my Nikon D810 and heavy lenses. 

Choosing and buying camera straps is a very personal choice.  Which camera strap you buy depends on your experiences, the types of photography you practice and, of course, preference—how you choose to carry your cameras.  Over the years, I've bought probably 30 different camera straps—about as many as bags I've acquired over the years, sorry to admit!  

I've used camera straps that are 1/2" thin leather straps (for my old 1958 Leica M3) which tends to dig into my shoulder.  I've used sling straps, wide leather straps, straps with attachable/detachable parts, nylon straps, neoprene padded straps, and on and on and on. 

The one thing that almost all of my straps have had in common is that they tend to slowly (sometimes not so slowly) slide down my shoulder creating the real danger that, if I don't stop them, the strap will slip off and my camera will hit the ground.  That reason is why I always end up coming back to the same 2 straps I bought 20 or more years ago.  They stay on my shoulder and "just work."

This is the large
strap.  The strap
and pads are
wider.

The straps that I have used consistently for now over 20 years are the UpStraps®.  With the Upstraps® it is not the straps that are so remarkable but the shoulder pad that is uniquely designed to not slip off one's shoulder.

UpStrap® is a small company located in Florida.  Al Stegmeyer started the company and I think it is still a one-man operation.  He doesn't sell through any of the large retailers.  If you want an UpStrap® you have to buy it through the Upstrap® website.  Even though they are small, they ship to most countries around the world.  Uptraps® are made in the U.S.A.

UpStraps® consist of two parts, the strap and the shoulder pad.  I don't know exactly what strap material is but I think it is nylon-like, similar to seatbelt material.  It is very strong, however.  Straps come in a variety of sizes and widths, with an online guide advising you which is recommended based upon the weight of your camera.  The pads, which is fused to the strap and don't move along the length of the material, have a unique composition and friction pattern and are also available in different widths.  I don't know exactly why the Upstraps® work the way they do, but mine have never slipped down my shoulder.  Not once.  They made me a believer not long after I started using them.

I now tend to work out of a small camera bag with a couple of lenses and have a detachable Peak Design wrist strap (Cuff) attached to my cameras.  I go to a shoulder strap when I carry only the camera and leave the bag.  
The Peak Design wrist strap is attached to my cameras with their Anchors.  I also purchased from Peak Design their Anchor Links, which allow me to attach quick connectors to my Upstraps®.  With quick connectors on both the Cuff and Upstraps®, it is very easy for me to switch from a wrist strap to a shoulder strap and back, when necessary.  Switching takes less than 30 seconds.  This gives me the best of both worlds.

Peak Design Anchor Links.  I attach the black links to my Upstrap, then I have the same flexibility
as I do if I were using a Peak Design Strap.  The red and gray anchors attach to my camera's lugs.

In the spirit of full disclosure, the only other strap I've used that didn't want to fall off my shoulder is my sling strap (Black Rapid), for obvious reasons.  It is a cross-body strap and can't slip off my shoulder.  However, I don't use my sling strap anymore as I found the attachment bolt that fits into my tripod mounting hole would, on occasion, slightly loosen.  When using it, I worried all the time about that attachment bolt coming loose and found myself continually reaching down to check its tightness.  I'm sure by now they have improved it and it most likely doesn't do that anymore but I've moved on.

Both sides of an Upstrap® shoulder pad.

Always remember, I am not sponsored by anyone, I receive nothing free or discounted from anyone, have no ads nor click-through links.  I pay for all of my gear just as you do.  Anything I find that that I think "just works," I personally use and my words reflect my unbiased opinion.  I'm not swayed by free or discounted stuff. 

Check out the UpStraps® if you have a need and you've experienced "slippage" in the past.  I don't think you will be disppointed.

Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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