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Reviews > Health & Safety > Emergency and Survival Gear > Survivial Straps - Survival Bracelet > Test Report by Aric Swanger

SURVIVAL STRAPS SURVIVAL BRACELET
TEST SERIES BY ARIC W. SWANGER
INITIAL REPORT
June 10, 2009

TESTER INFORMATION

NAME: Aric W. Swanger
EMAIL: aricswanger"AT"nc.rr"DOT"com
AGE: 34
LOCATION: Raleigh, North Carolina
GENDER: M
HEIGHT: 5' 11" (1.80 m)
WEIGHT: 265 lb (120.00 kg)

I grew up camping in Pennsylvania but most of my camping and all of my backpacking has been in the last 2 years in North Carolina. I really got excited about backpacking when my son started to get interested in it. I do some car camping but most trips will be backpacking with my son for 1-3 nights. I use a tent as my typical shelter. I try to get out about 12 times a year. I like to keep my pack under 35 lb (15.88 kg) and hope to adopt some ultralight skills and equipment.


INITIAL REPORT

PRODUCT INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: Tough Gear Inc.
Year of Manufacture: 2009
Manufacturer's Website: www.survivalstraps.com
MSRP: US $18.95 regular width with plastic side release buckle add $3.00 for stainless shackle
MSRP: US $21.95 wide width with plastic side release buckle add $3.00 for stainless shackle
No Listed Weight
Measured Weight: 1.4 oz (39.69 g) regular width with stainless shackle, 1.2 oz (34.02 g) wide width with plastic side release buckle
Width: regular .87 in (22 mm) wide .98 in (25 mm)
Length: end to end flat 10.5 in (267 mm)

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

These bracelets look fantastic. They are made to wear every day as jewelry and to deploy in a survival situation. They seem to be very well put together. The bracelets are put together with a very tight cobra weave. There are other weave patterns that I like the look of better, but if there are really 18 to 26 feet of cord in these I can see why they use this pattern. The bracelets that I received are made of black 550 paracord. I have seen and made bracelets by using multiple strands of paracord but this one appears to use one continous piece of paracord. I can't wait to take one apart and use it.

IMAGE 1

The stainless shackle is a little cumbersome but the plastic side release buckle is very easy to operate with one hand. I believe the shackle will be more useful in the wilderness though.

IMAGE 2


The packaging is very simple. A small zip top plastic bag with a paper description card stapled to the top.

READING THE INSTRUCTIONS

Each bracelet comes with a small owners manual. The owners manual starts by congratulating you on your purchase.

The next thing in the manual is an explanation of their "if you use it, we'll replace it" policy. This is really cool. If you have to use the bracelet they will send you a new one. All they ask for is for the user to write their story down and give it to them and to send the cost of shipping.

They explain how to deploy the paracord for use. The exact wording is below:
On the underside of your SurvivalStrap, you will see 2 ends. Pull these ends through the loop that holds them. Once you have them out of the loop, pull or cut the ends apart if they are joined together. Begin to unravel the SurvivalStrap by pulling the single strands in the center.

The rest of the front side of the manual asks the user to spread the word, talks briefly about the wounded warrior project and then tastefully asks for continued business in the future.

On the back side there are some tips on using the shackle.

TRYING IT OUT

Both bracelets fit well. They are a little on the large size but I know they will shrink when they get wet. They are comfortable with nothing rubbing the wrong way.

SUMMARY

I can't wait to see if these things are as good in practice as they are in design and quality. They look like they will be everything the manufacture promises.

This concludes my Initial Report. Please check back shortly for my Field Report.

This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org Report Writer Version 1. Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.

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