Nato Straps - whats the deal?
Discussion
Hi all, I was considering buying a NATO strap for an old watch I found in a drawer. Doing so it got me thinking.
What is the purpose of such a strap - especially the military connection by its name, and the syle of watch it's usually attached to?
I've always had a feeling it was that they were popular with soldiers as the strap would snap or release if you get it caught in a rufty tufty combat situation. Apparently, the last thing you want is being left dangling by the stainless steel bracelet on your wrist when jumping out of a tank or helicopter.
However, these straps seem tough, and the weakest link looks like he watches spring pins that the strap loops through (or even your wrist), so if you were to snag the watch while hand to hand fighting with the Taliban, then your prized and potentially life saving watch would ping off into a nearby sand dune, leaving you with a £5 strap attached to your wrist.
Or, is it, in reality, like most things watch related, just a fashion thing...?
What is the purpose of such a strap - especially the military connection by its name, and the syle of watch it's usually attached to?
I've always had a feeling it was that they were popular with soldiers as the strap would snap or release if you get it caught in a rufty tufty combat situation. Apparently, the last thing you want is being left dangling by the stainless steel bracelet on your wrist when jumping out of a tank or helicopter.
However, these straps seem tough, and the weakest link looks like he watches spring pins that the strap loops through (or even your wrist), so if you were to snag the watch while hand to hand fighting with the Taliban, then your prized and potentially life saving watch would ping off into a nearby sand dune, leaving you with a £5 strap attached to your wrist.
Or, is it, in reality, like most things watch related, just a fashion thing...?
StevenJJ said:
The deal is that it loops through both watch pins so if one pin breaks you don't lose the watch.
Yes, hadn't thought of that one that makes a lot of practical sense. I guess if this happens in the field you can still fashion a sort of nurses' watch with the strap closed and attached upside down to the front of your jacket! I'd still be worried about catching my strap while exiting an APC, though like the poster says above its highly unlikely, as in combat gear you would be covered in webbing loops, belts and bags etc so you'd be more likely to catch yourself on a part of your equipment clothing than a thin strap on your wrist.
Cheers! Might treat myself to a nice "James Bond"
Spice_Weasel said:
prand said:
Hi all, I was considering buying a NATO strap for an old watch I found in a drawer. Doing so it got me thinking.
What is the purpose of such a strap - especially the military connection by its name, and the syle of watch it's usually attached to?
I've always had a feeling it was that they were popular with soldiers as the strap would snap or release if you get it caught in a rufty tufty combat situation. Apparently, the last thing you want is being left dangling by the stainless steel bracelet on your wrist when jumping out of a tank or helicopter.
However, these straps seem tough, and the weakest link looks like he watches spring pins that the strap loops through (or even your wrist), so if you were to snag the watch while hand to hand fighting with the Taliban, then your prized and potentially life saving watch would ping off into a nearby sand dune, leaving you with a £5 strap attached to your wrist.
Or, is it, in reality, like most things watch related, just a fashion thing...?
The weakest point of any watch strap / bracelet is likely to be any one of the springbar pins that fasten it to the watch lugs, or in the case of bracelets, pins that actually hold the bracelet links together. NATO straps were designed to be used with military-issue watches which, more often than not, had fixed bars set between the lugs, rather than springbars. The NATO strap was originally the standard watch strap issued by the British Ministry of Defence. Called the "G10" by members of the British military because of the form used to requisition the strap (and other items) from inventory, the reason it got its "NATO" name is because the strap has a NSN or NATO Stock Number which identifies this type of strap. What is the purpose of such a strap - especially the military connection by its name, and the syle of watch it's usually attached to?
I've always had a feeling it was that they were popular with soldiers as the strap would snap or release if you get it caught in a rufty tufty combat situation. Apparently, the last thing you want is being left dangling by the stainless steel bracelet on your wrist when jumping out of a tank or helicopter.
However, these straps seem tough, and the weakest link looks like he watches spring pins that the strap loops through (or even your wrist), so if you were to snag the watch while hand to hand fighting with the Taliban, then your prized and potentially life saving watch would ping off into a nearby sand dune, leaving you with a £5 strap attached to your wrist.
Or, is it, in reality, like most things watch related, just a fashion thing...?
Nowadays you can buy NATO-style straps from various suppliers.
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