I didn't want to high jack the recent thread on photos of watches so I'm asking the question here. Has anyone tried one of the fabric one-piece wrap around watch bands?
I like the concept. I actually have an old plastic dive watch that I took the strap off and replaced it with a long thin strip of Velcro. I have narrow wrists and it's hard to make regular bands fit comfortably. This method is also quick and secure and initially I had to also make it fit over a drysuit.
The problem now that I use it as an everyday watch is that the whole band is Velcro and it's constantly covered with lint. I'm guessing (hoping) that the commercial bands like this are fabric with only Velcro on the ends so that there is no exposed Velcro to attract lint.
Is that the case? I just ordered a cheap ($12 with shipping) Timex one-piece wrap band so I guess I'll find out the answer soon enough but if anyone on here uses something similar I'd like to hear about it. Thanks.
i've never tried one, but people seem to really like the Maratac bands (like the Zulus Sharpthangs mentioned), especially the James Bond ones.
i use a Chums The Band and it works okay. i only wear a watch when i run or hike, and it does the job for me. i don't know how well it would fare for every day wear though.
I'd prefer not to have a buckle. I like Velcro but only in the area where it's needed and even then that's only because of the lint issue. Very fine lint is very hard to get off.
I've learned the hard way that wet Velcro smells like a wet dog! I took a shower a few times where I forgot to take my watch off and it smells bad and takes forever to dry out.
If it wasn't for the lint issue I would be happy with just the Velcro trash ties that I've cut to size as a watch band.
The "thing" I've ordered seems to be part elastic, part Velcro (I think) and perhaps part fabric. It has a plastic buckle or loop at the end and it requires removable lug pins so it doesn't just thread as I'm doing with my current setup.
I'm not sure exactly how it works (thus the questions) and I haven't found any clear photos. Since the watch I'm using is a Timex I ended up ordering a wrap band made by Timex and it is sized correctly for my watch. I'm just not entirely clear how it works but I don't think it has standard buckles and I do think it has a Velcro fastener of some sort at some point along the strap.
I was going to tell you that I had a band like that almost 3 decades ago and that the band gets smelly really fast but I see you alreadyfound that out.
I have a maratac zulu in black here it is on various watches in my collection. Comfy, easy to install, they can get wet with no problems and are easy to clean. It makes smaller watches look bigger than they really are, because it sits the watch up off the wrist. They are OK, overall. I bought the zulu 5-ring and thats enough for me.
I just received mine and it was exactly what I was looking for. I even had to get a new watch in the meantime which has a similar band but I switched it out for the one I ordered.
The stock one had a metal buckle at the end where you had to double back the strap and it was a hassle. This one just has one plastic "buckle" that you go through and then pull the Velcro back on itself (no doubling back required).
It's simple, comfortable and no Velcro is exposed once you have it on to attract lint.
To install it you just remove the lug pins, install the watch in the elastic part of the band and reinstall the pins.
It's funny but when it comes to practicality I'm actually preferring cheap, plastic digital watches since they take a beating, are easy to replace and large digital number are easier to see at a glance. The black analogue military style watches look cool (and I could end up with one sometime) but some are hard to read with just a glance but to the numbering systems (or lack thereof) and due to the coloration and slenderness of the watch hands.
