Custom SLR Glide Strap review: Comfy and clever, but twisty
This Kickstarter-graduate camera sling strap has elegantly designed attachment hardware and comfortable neck padding.
Lori Grunin
Senior Editor / Advice
I've been reviewing hardware and software, devising testing methodology and handed out buying advice for what seems like forever; I'm currently absorbed by computers and gaming hardware, but previously spent many years concentrating on cameras. I've also volunteered with a cat rescue for over 15 years doing adoptions, designing marketing materials, managing volunteers and, of course, photographing cats.
CustomSLR's Glide Strap ($35.95 for the strap and $64.95 for a combo with the C-Loop Camera Strap Mount) is a very comfortable, generally well-designed sling strap that's worth the money over the typical cheap neck strap that comes bundled with most cameras.
Custom SLR Glide Strap
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
The highly modular architecture involves several components: a clever neoprene shoulder pad (the Glide Strap with Split Strap technology) with a gap in the middle and quick-release rotating endcaps to better mold itself to your body; 70 inches of slick-textured webbing; a plastic connector that slides along the strap plus a single cam buckle to act as a stop; and a pair of small straps that attach the connector to the C-Loop camera mount.
My favorite part of the system -- the part that I have zero problems with -- is the C-Loop, which has a very clever and attractive design. It stands out over BlackRapid's Sport Slim attachment in two notable ways: it has a little handle that makes it easier to screw in (which gives it an edge over Sun-Sniper's Strap-Surfer design as well) and it's flat-bottomed so that you can more easily perch the camera to stabilize it when shooting video or at slow shutter speeds.
The Split Strap is as comfortable as advertised, and despite some initial reservations about it possibly getting a little grotty-looking over time like other Neoprene products I've used, it seems to be wearing pretty well.
I don't particularly like the strap webbing, however. It's too slick and is starting to show wear after only a few months of not-terribly-intense use. It's too floppy, and there are no 360-degree-rotating connectors in the whole system to prevent the strap from getting twisted.
There's also so much plastic on it that it makes a small racket when you're cramming it back into a bag, which might get embarrassing if you shoot in quiet environments. Ironically, though, it has only one cam buckle to keep the mount from sliding too far back or forward; I prefer the BlackRapid Sport Slim's double cam-buckle system. You can always move them out of the way or remove them if you need more sliding latitude.
One of the advantages of CustomSLR's modular system -- and the ingenious design of the C-Loop -- is that you can use any strap you want with it, as long as you can get the plastic quick-release connector on it.
If you need something a lot more comfortable than the bundled strap that came with your camera and like the convenience of a sling strap, this is a great choice.