That was my question.
After using the Peak Design Slide for as long as I can remember, I had the chance to try out WANDRD’s new straps. I’m a big fan of WANDRD — I regularly use their PRVKE backpack and other accessories every day with my photography. So I was excited to see what their straps would bring to the table.
Wrist Strap
This was honestly what I was most excited about. I had been looking for a proper wrist strap for years. I always found that wrist straps didn’t work when I had a battery grip attached, as they had to be connected to the bottom of the camera as well as the loop on the side.
The WANDRD Wrist Strap met my expectations, and then some. It was comfortable, allowed for quick adjustments and best of all, it let me continue to have my battery grip attached. It clips on one loop on your camera body, meaning it doesn’t get in the way.
But the best thing about the WANDRD Wrist Strap? It self tightens. Meaning, if you accidentally drop your camera, it’s there to “catch” and secure it. As someone who has regularly been photographing events outdoors (and dropped his speedlight on the pavement last week), this puts me a bit at ease.
The only downside I found was that the Wrist Strap doesn’t fit that well over gloves. It’s do-able, but if you want to quickly take it on and off with your gloves staying on, you’re out of luck. You have to loosen the strap all the way and then take it off … but that can be somewhat difficult with thicker gloves on.
If you can get past that, the WANDRD Wrist Strap is an absolute winner. And I’ll be using it as my daily driver … once I can take off my gloves.
Sling Strap
The WANDRD Sling Strap is equally built well, and offers a direct comparison to my Peak Design Slide. It’s a bit thinner, but is just as easy to adjust on-the-fly. It also has a built-in flathead tool for when you need to unhook the strap.
I used the Sling Strap with a Peak Design Arca connector, as I often find myself needing to switch quickly between handholding my camera and putting it on a tripod. There were a few downsides to this, which I’ll get to in a bit. But overall, the strap worked well.
The strap has a non-slip silicone print, but I didn’t really find that the strap stayed put. This may have been due to the type of winter jacket I was wearing. At the same time, I didn’t mind this, as with my Slide strap, I never used the printed side anyway. This provided a bit of a firmer grip, making it less likely to slide all over the place … something I really liked.
But about using an Arca connector. While it worked, it was a bit troublesome. It’s not easy to disconnect the strap with an Arca connector at the bottom of your camera, meaning that the strap stayed on when I connected it to a tripod. Not the end of the world, but it’s one more point where you could get it tangled up.
I know WANDRD is advertising these straps as being anchor-less, but this is one instance where I’d really like to see an anchor present or some other quick release option present.
All that said, the WANDRD Sling Strap is a solid strap. I don’t know if it’ll replace my Peak Design Slide, but it’s the strap that’s by far come the closest to doing so.
Neck Strap
The WANDRD Neck Strap is basically a neck strap version of the Sling Strap. It’s thinner, and to be honest, there’s nothing too special here. For those that want a different neck strap compared to the one that ships with their cameras, this will do just as you expect. I just don’t know many long-time photographers that regularly use a neck strap.
I know personally, I haven’t used one since 2017, when I forgot my Peak Design Slide at home during my Ireland trip. It wasn’t the end of the world, but having your camera bounce around your chest isn’t the most pleasant thing as your walking about.
Still, the Neck Strap is well-designed and I have no qualms with it specifically. I just strongly dislike neck straps in general.
Are they worth buying?
In one word, yes. WANDRD has hit the mark with these straps for sure, especially with the Wrist Strap. That is by far one of my favorite straps now, and I’ll be using it pretty regularly once spring hits. To date, I have yet to find a wrist strap that’s as versatile, comfortable and that works well with a battery grip.
The Sling Strap is great, but using an Arca connector with it is problematic. So if you rely on that, I’d maybe stick with the Peak Design Slide.
The Neck Strap … let’s not even go there for reasons mentioned above. Good materials, but suffers from, well, being a neck strap.
All in all, I love what WANDRD is doing here. They’ve created a brand for photographers who love the outdoors and that need some basic camera accessories. And they’re all really, really nicely made.
