Snapdragon Buckles

1" snapdragon buckle

I like my grab it pack  No. I love my grab it pack  That said, it is equipped with the standard slide clips and as we've mentioned before, with the loss of the ability to pinch this isn't really working for me anymore. I just can't release the clip. So after doing some research online I came across a very interesting, military grade quick release by ITW Nexus called a snapdragon buckle.

Instead of pinch, the intention of these is to be a quick pull on a tab or a loop which releases the buckle. Far quicker and easier than slide clips.

2" snapdragon buckle

The problem is, these are fairly hard to find because at the moment most of them are designed for military supply. So unless you need a box 1000 of them, it's a little tricky to find where to order them from. I however got little bit lucky. I searched on the Internet and the supplier lists and fortunately there was one relatively local who is willing to help me out. He sold me 5 2 inch buckles and 5 1 inch buckles.

So with the help of my rehabilitation facility, I added some buckles to my grab it pack (a 2 inch buckle for the waste, and a 1 inch buckle for the leg strap) and a 1 inch buckle to my shoulder bag. Overall I'm pleased with how well this works for me. Check out the video below. I should however first point out that when I release the shoulder strap, I'm usually sitting down. 

Now, as I mentioned these are military standard product meaning they are very strong and durable which can make releasing the snapdragon a little bit challenging. Especially for the 2 inch buckle. In my case I found the amount of force required to release the 1 inch buckle the one-inch to be just fine. I did however have to have the 2 inch buckle modified. This was done by my father who simply took a file to it and poured down the plastic teeth on the inside of the buckle and on the mail portion of the buckle reduced a bit of the profile, and rounded the edges a bit too reduce the amount of purchase between the two pieces. Only took him about 10 min. And since then the 2 inch buckle works absolutely beautifully.

So the big question is: "where do I get me some?"

Well the only place I found online that will sell in smaller numbers is CP-gear. However they only have 1 inch and three-quarter inch buckles in their inventory (last I looked).

• 1 inch snapdragon buckle
• 3/4 inch snapdragon buckle

You can also go the route I did, which was to find a local supplier from the IT W nexus distributors list. Give them a call, the guy I spoke to was really great and very willing to help me out. http://na.itwnexus.com/content/list-distributors

Pro:

• great alternative to slide clips.
• Military grade, very strong
• reasonably priced, on par with the slide clip replacement

Con:

• military grade plastic. may require modification
• very hard to find. I wasn't able to find any in local retail