Hi Folks Just wanted to share something I do to help secure my packs a bit better. Most of our packs have these types of buckles on them. These buckles are well made and allow easy take off if desired. That can be a weakness. If engaged in fast paced activities these can come loose or in the case of a thief, these are where they can attack. Think about it you are walking along and if someone walks up behind you and unhooks your pack you may not be fast enough to firmly grasp it before they take off. This is what I do A simple piece of paracord or web strap and buckle give you one more bit of security and add another piece of kit for binding small items. Just something I came up with and wanted to share Kid Couteau
That's a great idea! I had a not too un-related problem: the sternum strap (the female end of it -- moral here?) disappeared from my Falcon II. Caught on something? Unthreaded from the buckle? Maxpedition kindly sent me a replacement. Tim's suggestion was to sew a couple of stitches through the straps once the adjustment is set. This will keep it from running away, yet if you need to change it, just clip the thread. Now, I've been on these forums long enough to know that most of you folks are pretty creative and can easily think of things like that, but I can't! Thanks, Tim! (PS: No connection to the company except as a very satisfied user.)
What I was referring to was the end of the strap that stays attached to the shoulder strap of the pack. Side release buckle still functions fine Edit: Sorry, I guess you were responding to the OP.
When required, it's always a good idea to 'dummy-cord' your gear. Back in my Military Free Fall days, it was taught early to secure your Fast-tek buckles on your bag with 1/4 inch cotton webbing (like shoe string). I remember a guy who left his bag open on a jump and lost his wallet, cell phone, id card, drivers license, house keys, everything! After that incident, I started tying the zipper closed as well. Note: This was for Airborne operations. Probably a good idea for other high-risk activities such as rock/mountain climbing, bungie jumping, BASE jumping, ect.
I get the gist of what you are saying by adding the paracord, but with the picture you have posted I'm not getting how it's all connected. Can you take a overall picture that shows what you are doing? (i.e. backup a bit and lets see the whole strap and how this works.)
this is some that I do when asked, but in truth same functionality can be accomplished with a doubled through loop of 550 cord approx 20 inches long
All my zip pull are secured by medium or small S bieners and the main clip as shown on your pic uses two large,it takes seconds to unclip but to fiddly for a quick theft.
