Modifying headlamp strap?

[John S.]

Has anybody ever figured out where to cut the strap on say a Princeton Tec Eos so that strap could be made removable and possibly replaced with something lighter? The closing pieces may have to be changed to allow this. I hate that honking big ole strap…lol!

[paul johnson]

John,

Right now i’m looking at a PT Quad. I’d have to dig out the Eos, to be sure, but i’m guessing the Eos has a bracket that is similar to the Quad. Wait…

this just in…

hopped over to the PTec website and checked out the various views of the Eos. It’s bracket looks similar to the Quad’s, and so,…

why cut the strap? either the hinged bracket is already “split” for easy removal of the strap, or it is an easy matter to cut the bracket.

I cut many headlamp brackets to remove the top bucket strap. I use either a small pair of racheted pruning shears which i borrow from my wife’s gardening equipment, or i use a pair of Sears Roebuck/Craftsman utility shears which have razor blade-like cutting inserts.

They go through both hard and soft plastic very easily.

I will often cut a very small, offset from center, notch to make getting the strap in and out easier. If you offset the cut or notch from the center, then it is easier to get the strap in and out if the strap is nearly as wide as the bracket.

hope this helps.

[Rick Dreher]

Paul’s answer is right on target–PT has been making their straps non-destructively removeable for quite awhile, including the Eos. The strap guides are slotted, so they can be slipped off and on easily. Other makers are beginning to do this as well.

[John S.]

I will perform the dissection this evening. Thanks.

In looking at the Princeton Tec website, I have now also learned you can use the strap buckle to unscrew the battery compartment. Whoa.

[paul johnson]

Strap Buckles!!!

Real men don't need no stinkin' strap buckles!! [guess, sometimes, i'm not a real man.]

Yeah, that's really a nice dual use. I find in practice that i can finger tighten it enough to get both a good electrical connection as well as to prevent water ingress in the rain.

I've only used the buckle to open an Apex Pro battery box the first time. I don't know who at PTec socked that sucker down when it was manufactured, but i sure ain't shaken hands with the fella' (gal???). It was tough even with the strap buckle. I had to compress the cover quite hard to release some tension on the thumbscrew in order to even be able to loosen the thumbscrew using the strap buckle – good thing a threaded metal insert was used since the thumbscrew was tightened enough to "strip" plastic threads.

[Note: i just found out that using just the second syllable of the word "thumbscrew" caused my post to be flagged by the "Possible profanity detected" filter. interesting.]

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