Saturday, November 02, 2013

Wotancraft B-Uhr 03 strap

This is a review of the Wotancraft Aviation B-Uhr 03 strap.... well sort off. It is actually a combination of the B-Uhr 03 design and the BlackBat Series strap. 

This is a interesting strap and I believe many will find it unique. It is an interesting take on the NATO and Zulu strap. It is a combination of two designs. Very bold of Wotancraft. Up front, not a strap for everyone. 

The strap comes in two parts. OK, which strap does not. This one is unique. The first part of the strap is pretty normal looking.  This part of the strap is fitted to the top of the 12 o'clock position on a watch or top lug.


The strap is 90 m long and it is 22 mm wide. You can select the width of the strap. The strap has the dark gray or charcoal colour finish with the BlackBat markings. The strap is 4 mm thick and has a waxed seal edge. It comes with 2 strap keepers, one floating , the other fixed. The keepers are 8mm wide and the edges are raw. There is a button near the lug mount. We will come back to that later. 

The ROCAF 34of the Black Bat Squadron is the name of the CIA Reconnaissance pilots base in Taiwan during the cold war. It is called the Black Bats because they flew most of their missions at dusk or at night. 


The buckle on the strap is sourced from ammo pouch and have a matte silver finish. The buckle is sewn into the strap. 



The under side of the strap is not lined but have the same finish as the top as the strap has the looped over construction. It is made of a single strip of leather. The finish is top notch. No signs of excess bonding material. 


The strap keeper, twin stitching.


As explained earlier, the strap comes in two parts. This is the second part. The second part looks like a NATO strap. Basically it is just a piece of long leather with holes and a button. 


The strap is 33 cm long and is 22 mm wide across the length of the strap. It is very thin.


The tip (one end only) is reinforced with a piece of leather. It is here where the strap is signed and also where the female side of the button is installed. 


Again the top of the strap has a polished look with the ROCAF Black Bat logo marking. 


The button mounted at the tip of the strap. 


The other end we find the holes for the buckle. There are 10 holes allowing the strap to be adjusted over 8cm. 


The underside of the rest of the strap is not lined and has a raw finish. Again you can see the attention to detail and the great finish evident of their (WotanCraft) products. 


How to use the strap. You first loop the long strap side into the lower lug with the button end away from the watch. 


The tip with the holes being looped into the buckle. Temporarily buckle up the strap. 


This is how the strap would look like. 


The overall look. 


Insert the ends into the strap keeper. 



You can put the watch on your wrist to get the right hole to buckle up. 


Now flip the other end (with the button) over the buckle and button it up. Adjust the strap leant at the holes side to ensure proper fit and that the buttons will lock the strap in place.


This is how the strap looks like fitted and properly locked in place. 


Basically the the strap loops over the lower strap. 


Once you have the straps in this configuration, you can open the up the button and adjust the strap to your size on the buckle end. 


It is a very comfortable strap design. I like it. 


 The strap fitted on my Marathon JSAR. 


Yes, the strap can slip off. You can actually feed the button end into the second floating loop to prevent this. With the strap in this confirm, there is no need to loop or re-loop as the strap will act like a metal bracelet. Just unbutton and loosen the strap and slip it off your wrist. 


How it looks like when worn. You do have to wear the strap a tad tight to prevent it from slipping off. 



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