US Wings SL legend USA Strap/Buckle question

Kaplan · Post by **Kaplan** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 5:05 pm

My straps on this thing are so thick that I can't tuck them back through the buckle on one side. I'm thinking about switching my buckle out for rectangular sliders, but I'm afraid that this leather is so thick that nothing will work well as a replacement. Has anyone had any luck swapping out the buckles on the SL legend?

Post by **Michaelson** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 5:24 pm

Yep. Several have done so.

I did it on my bison (currently for sale in the classified section (Shameless plug

)), and no problems at all.

Regards! Michaelson

Kaplan · Post by **Kaplan** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 5:32 pm

Michaelson wrote:Yep. Several have done so.

I did it on my bison (currently for sale in the classified section (Shameless plug )), and no problems at all.

Regards! Michaelson

I read somewhere that the bison is thinner than the SL. It is the fact that the SL is so thick that it is giving me problems.

Could you or someone point me in the direction of a person who has replaced buckles on their SL specifically? And replacing the buckle with sliders is fine, I just need to find something that I will definitely be able to run the straps through backwards.

Thanks.

Post by **Michaelson** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 5:37 pm

Give it a few minutes for them to find this thread and respond. I personally know two who did it to their SL with absolutely no problem with G&B rectangular buckles, and you KNOW how narrow THEY are.

Regards! Michaelson

Holt · Post by **Holt** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 5:46 pm

Im one of those two M speacs of. Replaced them with no problems at all. The straps kept slipping thru them all the time so i replaced with bukles to keep them in place

Kaplan · Post by **Kaplan** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 5:53 pm

what buckles did you replace them with? You're able to pass the strap back through again? I'll bet it took some work. I've nearly ripped the front of my strap off with a pair of pliers.

Holt · Post by **Holt** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:00 pm

2 piece rectangular buckles. The bucles are split in the middle so u can bend them out

Kaplan · Post by **Kaplan** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:03 pm

strapworks.com?

Indydawg · Post by **Indydawg** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:27 pm

I did it on my bison, too...worked perfectly....same rectangular loops as Holt used....

It's easy!

Indydawg

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:32 pm

And we get them from...?

Travis

Post by **Michaelson** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:40 pm

http://www.strapworks.com/Metal_Loops_p/ml.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Kaplan · Post by **Kaplan** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 7:15 pm

Just tried it with a couple of 1" sliders I had left around (I only have 2) and its still too thick. Maybe my straps are just thicker than other peoples. I've ripped a little chunk of leather out of the straps just in the effort of trying to pull them through.

Any other suggestions?

Post by **Michaelson** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 7:28 pm

Any chance of posting a photo of exactly what you're doing and what you're dealing with?

Regards! Michaelson

Post by **Tennessee Smith** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 7:30 pm

...and I'll be the lowely fourth guy that has done just the same thing (but 3rd for SL).

Trust me it improves the look and feel of the jacket. The buckles were way too cumbersome IMO.

-TS

Kaplan · Post by **Kaplan** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 8:10 pm

Kaplan wrote:Just tried it with a couple of 1" sliders I had left around (I only have 2) and its still too thick. Maybe my straps are just thicker than other peoples. I've ripped a little chunk of leather out of the straps just in the effort of trying to pull them through. Any other suggestions?

I was looking for my camera when I realized I have a G&B upstairs with rectangular sliders, so I took the 2 I had upstairs to compare. The G&B ones were slightly wider (by very little) than the 2 sliders I had (probably off of an old wested or something). I took them off of the G&B and put them on the USW, and they work.

I think what might have helped is I got the straps wet and stretched them out until they were longer than before.

not sure... Man these are some fat straps!

Indydawg · Post by **Indydawg** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:41 am

There ought to be multiple places you can acquire these online.

You do want to make sure they are big enough to pull the straps through...and I have never wanted to pull the straps BACK through them, so...for me, that wasn't an issue.

Of course, you could use, standard D-rings, as well, I guess....they're split in the back, too, and could be bent out and put on the straps.

I've always liked G&B's loops the best, though...they're big enough to let the straps through, but snug enough the straps don't slip...ever!

Regards!
Indydawg

Post by **Michaelson** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:36 am

...so, what did you do with your G&B? Put the smaller buckles on it or what?

Regards! Michaelson

Kaplan · Post by **Kaplan** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:38 am

Michaelson wrote:...so, what did you do with your G&B? Put the smaller buckles on it or what?

Regards! Michaelson

I ordered new rectangular sliders from strapworks. When they get in I'm going to see if they work as well on the SL. If they do, the G&B sliders will go back on the G&B. If not, the G&B gets the new ones.

Post by **Michaelson** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:48 am

Indydawg · Post by **Indydawg** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:48 am

Cool...

Keep in mind, like any metal, the more you bend in a particular area, the weaker that area becomes, though. If you're just as happy with the G&B loops where they are, I might leave 'em be, and put the new ones back on the Expo...just to save from having to bend the Expo's loops again, potentially weakening them.

Just a thought...

Regards!
Indydawg

nicktheguy · Post by **nicktheguy** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:25 am

Michaelson wrote:
I did it on my bison (currently for sale in the classified section (Shameless plug )), and no problems at all.

Regards! Michaelson

Good thing there's no SPCA patrolling these boards - you'd think the bison would be pretty ticked being buckled like that

Indydawg · Post by **Indydawg** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:43 am

Indyzane · Post by **Indyzane** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 11:10 am

I might have a answer to what your thinking of doing if I'm understanding you correctly. A member here did put his straps back through his buckles on his SL USA made jacket. I can't find the post or thread that it was located in. The gentleman moistened the straps somehow and pulled them back through the strap buckle resulting in the strap going back towards the front of the jacket.

(First let me say this, in doing this exact procedure to your straps may result with them ripping of the jacket or severely damaging them! I don't want to be held responsible for this procedure use cation if doing this! Please!)

Here is a picture of the jacket with the straps going towards the front of the jacket.

Indiana Croft · Post by **Indiana Croft** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 2:10 pm

Hey, Kaplan. My US WING SL U.S. made is exactly the same. One strap is thicker than the other, and I've tried to pull it through and I started to damage the leather so I stoped, now this thread comes along and mentions swaping them out. Might try that, cause I like the look of the straps going in the direction of the back panel, which I believe is screen accurate.

So I beg the question, do you cut the old away, because I don't want to start sewing leather.

So for those who've done the swap, for us nervous types,

could you give a quick and simple discription of how to.
Thanks.

Croft

Indydawg · Post by **Indydawg** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 2:59 pm

First of all, if you've got the US made version of the Legend...or the import, for that matter, the slide buckle that is on the jacket already facilitates for the straps to pull toward the back panel...you just feed the strap through the first side of the slider and through the other...voila! Straps pull to the back, as has been SAID to be "Screen Accurate" (to use that most charged of labels

) If you've got the Legend, you already are set up for the straps to pull toward the back panel....So, unless you've got a problem with the slider buckle...I'd leave it alone!!!

This thread, I thought, was for folks who found the buckle to be too big, bothersome, oddly positioned, etc. For my own part, I did the swap because I noticed that the slider had really sharp angles..and those pointy angles were making small dents in the leather seats in my car. I figured eventually, they would cut into the leather....so, I wanted those sliders off.

To change the slider to the two rectangular loops, or to D-Rings, WILL change the way your straps pull...if you make the change, they will pull toward the front of the jacket.

I theorized that putting on THREE of the rectangular loops would make it where you could feed the strap through one, over the second, and through the third...and still pull toward the back panel...but I only had enough loops to put on two for each side....besides, I prefer the straps pulling toward the front, "SA" or not.

If you take the sliders off, you have to get a heavy pair of metal snips and actually cut that center bar on the slider, bend it out of the way, and pull the slider buckle OFF the strap...then, you bend the loops, put them on the straps, and bend the loops back together...they're already cut in the back, and you can easily bend them with a pair of pliers. I wrapped the pliers in a t-shirt so they wouldn't scratch the metal the loops are made of, too...but either way, they'll be covered with the straps, so it won't matter.

You do NOT cut ANY leather!!! NO sewing required!!

Hope that helps!

Indydawg

Post by **Michaelson** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 3:10 pm

...and just to post this here as well, here's some visual proof that the straps DID pull forward in many of the jackets, specifically the Wested, so if you're concerned about SA, here's proof forward pull is just as correct as rearward pull.

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The fellow on the left is MK, one of our previous webmasters here at COW who was showing equal motion with his new G&B Expedition 'back in the day' with the inclusion of gussets as compared to a still from Raiders. You can see the strap on Ford's jacket as being forward pull with the strap flopped rearward from the buckle.

You'll find the straps never changed. The type buckle or D-ring installed on the jacket determines the direction the strap pulls....but they're all sewn exactly the same on either jacket, be it forward or rearward pull.

Regards! Michaelson

Kaplan · Post by **Kaplan** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:06 pm

I agree with Indygawg and Michaelson here. Though I find it interesting that I'm not the only one whose USW SL straps are unequal in thickness.

I'll put it to other members who have the jacket. Look at the picture of the jacket above. Are you able to do that with the straps? I was only able to do it on one side, and it looks like Indiana croft had the same issue.

Holt · Post by **Holt** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 6:37 pm

And just to toss this in here, wested has always used the same strap buckle/D ring configuration like M says. But you can ask for one piece tri glide to make the strap point backward. I got them when i asked for it 2.5 years ago.

Post by **Michaelson** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 6:39 pm

Also, it was a bit after G&B came out with the Expedition that Wested finally offered the rectangular buckles. All they offered to the public were D-rings prior to 2002.
It wasn't until folks started asking for them that Peter finally sourced them. They still configured the strap as a forward pull.

Regards! Michaelson

Indydawg · Post by **Indydawg** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:04 pm

Well, in Zane's pic above, it looks like he took the straps that were supposed to pull towards the back, and somehow fed them through the slider to pull toward the front!!!

I have NO idea how he did that without destroying the straps...there's no way mine would have done that....they just weren't designed to do it on that slider.

Holt · Post by **Holt** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:07 pm

Mine did that as well but i hated the look. Looked messy.

Indiana Croft · Post by **Indiana Croft** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:06 pm

Actullay I thought this thread was about the un-equal thickness of the leather straps. Which is exactly the same on mine. Be that as it may, I perfer them pulled toward the back, my only issue with this buckle is the fact that they tend to slide/loosen up, so I have to tighten them every so offten, no big deal really.

But if I picked up a tri-glide buckle, this would allow me to keep the straps going in the right direction and keep them tightened. I'll have to check the above site, or Holt did you have another source.

Croft

Dragonlady Jones · Post by **Dragonlady Jones** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:41 am

Has anyone encountered this problem?

One of my sliders appears to have been crimped during manufacture. It has also produced a bur that is wearing through the leather. I actually like the look of these sliders. Any suggestions?

Weston · Post by **Weston** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:19 am

I'd say file down the burr and let 'er be if you like the look. That crease is severe, but I'm sure that you are the only one who would ever notice. If you can't live with it, swap it out for different hardware.

Weston

Post by **Michaelson** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 8:37 pm

Dragonlady Jones wrote:Has anyone encountered this problem?

One of my sliders appears to have been crimped during manufacture. It has also produced a bur that is wearing through the leather. I actually like the look of these sliders. Any suggestions?

Nothing to add....but....Be mindful of the corners on these buckles. Indy Dawg reported actually puncturing a hole in his car leather getting in and out of his car, and just this evening my wife pointed out a hole in the same location of the drivers seat of OUR car....right where the buckle USED to be.

I removed mine and replaced them with the rectangular buckles of Wested and G&B. They're sharp, and they WILL punch a hole in upholstery. His was leather, and mine was cloth, so it doesn't seem to matter what the material is.

Regards! Michaelson

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:59 pm

Just replaced the buckle on my SL legend. WOW!!!

Its a brand new jacket!!! That coupled with the fact I have just purchased a circa 2003 goat Wested, has convinced me to take this jacket OFF of the market.
Thanks to all who gave tips on this process.

Travis

Post by **Michaelson** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:01 pm

Dragonlady Jones · Post by **Dragonlady Jones** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:36 pm

Just placed an order with Strap Works...

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:41 pm

You'll be glad you did, DL!!!

Dragonlady Jones · Post by **Dragonlady Jones** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:54 pm

What color did you use? Pics?

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 6:22 pm

I just went with the straight nickel covering.

I like em a lot!

Travis

Dragonlady Jones · Post by **Dragonlady Jones** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 11:42 pm

Ya' done good, looks great! I ordered nickel, brass, and matte black. I think I'll try 'em all and figure out which one works best. Pics to follow...

Weston · Post by **Weston** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 12:31 am

Alright, I'm gonna do it. Travis, what size did you order, 1" or 3/4"? BTW, I'm very glad you decided to keep your jacket. I read all your posts leading up to receiving it, and was shocked you were selling it.

I think I'm going to give the 3 loop thing a try, and it's easy to drop down to two if it doesn't work. I love the way it looks guys. Thanks for showing us the results!

Weston

Weston · Post by **Weston** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 3:19 am

Ok then...the kids finally went to sleep and I couldn't stand it anymore. I had some material laying around in the shop so I made my own loops for my SL Legend. Man, what a difference! I love it! I'll get some pics up soon. I went with two loops instead of three as I have the same thick strap on the left side and thin one on the right. It would have been too bulky.

I'm going to look for some nice gunmetal grey loops for my Bison Legend. 3/4" is obviosly way too narrow, so disregard my last post. Thanks again for the suggestions; it's made a great jacket even better!

Weston

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:27 am

Weston wrote: I read all your posts leading up to receiving it, and was shocked you were selling it.

Weston

Yeah, its been a little crazy figuring out what to do here. The problem was three part, and I shall break it down for you;

1. Though I love this jacket (and really, I do! Especially with the hardware upgrade...), I felt I needed a tougher hide. I had decided a goat would be best...

2. I can't afford to have a bunch of jackets. I had to do some serious budget allocation to get this one...

3. This jacket (though as previously mentioned, I love) has a little bit of my self-termed "Ick" on it (see this post viewtopic.php?f=1&t=50400" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" ). The ordering process was more than just a little bit unpleasant, and I have vowed to be "Ick-free"

These first two problems were solved when I found a 2003 Wested goat with almost THE EXACT SAME MEASUREMENTS as my SL legend, for $125. The sleeves and body are .5" longer, and the shoulder measurement is .5" wider. I get it on Wednesday, and if the measurements given are correct, it should be perfect. So now I should have a jacket to "play" in, as well as a dressier jacket...

As to the last count against it, I'm starting to wrap my tiny little mind around the fact that few gear pieces can be Ick-free (especially the jacket

)... The ones I listed in the other thread are, but they really are the exception to the rule. So I have downgraded my vow to "Low Level of Ick"

Hope that explains things to people who read my posts and thought that I was going crazy. One minute I LOVE a piece of gear, the next it's in the Bazaar. Oh well, such is the life of a gear head.

Travis

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 8:30 am

SOOOooooo, I'm confused then. Are you keeping the SL legend or aren't you?

You've said both ways now in this thread.

Regards! Michaelson

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 9:41 am

Yep, keeping it!

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:00 am

Good man.

Regards! Michaelson

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:15 am

Didn't want to make things too easy to follow...

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:15 am

You didn't.