Specs
Length
28 cm without the buckle.
Thickness
1.6mm for the ballistic nylon strap and 1.5mm for the seatbelt style bands.
Weight
Approx. 29 grams for the ballistic nylon band and 20 grams for the seatbelt style straps.
Price
Unknown. I’ll add the prices when I know what they are.
Martin from StrapsCo told me that the basic nylon NATO straps are being discontinued and that he plans to launch a series of premium quality NATO straps instead.
He asked if I was interested in trying them out and writing a review piece about them. Sure, my pleasure!
I didn’t buy these straps myself but I assure you that it didn’t influence this review in any way.
Material
These are two different styles of straps.
One is a premium ballistic nylon strap with heavy-duty hardware. The other two are seatbelt-style straps which are made of polyester.
Ballistic nylon is a specific kind of nylon that was designed for maximum resistance to wear and chafing. It was created to be used in flak jackets for pilots during WWII.
Nowadays, you see it a lot in duffel bags, backpacks, and outdoor clothing, but also in watch straps. This strap has matte stainless steel hardware.
The seatbelt straps are made of polyester. Nylon was also used as a material for seatbelts but mainly in the early years.
Polyester is stronger and it has a very high resistance to abrasion. It also dries faster.
Looks
The seatbelt NATO is black and gray and matches well with a watch with a black or gray dial. It also creates an interesting contrast with a watch with a white or silver dial.
The hardware is stainless steel and looks shiny and silvery.
The other seatbelt NATO has the same hardware but it’s black with orange. It’s made for watches with orange accents like the Dan Henry 1970. This one won’t fit though because the DH has a lug width of 22mm and this one is 18mm wide.
The ballistic nylon strap has black and blue stripes and looks good on a variety of watches. Both black and blue are darker colors so it creates a nice contrast with a light dial.
I paired it with my Nodus Retrospect II which has a silver dial. The black and blue stripes also match the black bezel and the blue second hand.
Buckle
Nothing special here. Simply high-quality buckles made of stainless steel.
Feel
The feel on the wrist of the seatbelt strap completely took me by surprise. It’s extremely light, soft, and supple. It just might be the most comfortable watch strap I’ve tried so far.
It certainly doesn’t feel like the seatbelts I’m used to. To be fair, maybe that’s because I’m used to French cars.
The ballistic nylon strap feels like any other NATO strap although it’s slightly heavier because of the heavy-duty rings and buckle.
Conclusion
These NATO-style straps are perfect for when you want one (or ten) but not one of those basic nylon bands.
The quality is excellent. The material is a little thicker than normal and the hardware is heavy-duty. Personally, I find the rings on the ballistic nylon strap a bit much. However, it does match the theme if you pair it with a rugged diver or another tool watch.
But what about the black and orange strap in 18mm? I’m sorry but I don’t have any suitable watches to test it on.
However, it looks identically made to the black and gray one. It has the same weaving and the same hardware so I’m sure the quality and the feel are similar.
You can check out the StrapsCo NATO straps here.
What are your favorite NATO straps? Let me know in the comments below.
