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Muddy Silent Strap (OCB)

bowhunter15

bowhunter15

Well-Known Member
Vendor Rep
Joined
Feb 1, 2016
Messages
646
Cost was $7.50 plus about $8 shipping. Pretty reasonable. Weight is 12.9oz. Heavy, but reasonable if it works well.



I hate how it's all black. I already ordered a desert camo polyester webbing from strapworks to replace the black strap. I can stealth strip the metal. The way this is set up, and the way I intend to use it, is as a camera arm strap where both loops go on a versa button. I tested it briefly in the backyard. First of all, it's more difficult to attach than the cam buckle design which is standard for lone wolf. Part of it is the weight of the buckle, but it's more so the length from the cam release to the loop.


Another thing I didn't like was the noise it made. Yes, noise. You need to be careful swinging it around the tree because the latch components can make little tings. But when you actually fold the OCB latch down, it makes a very audible 'click' . I'll try to upload a video of this. Not sure if other OCBs make noise at all. The click is less noticeable when you have it tightened against the tree (vs just playing around with the buckle freely) and it's better if you latch it slowly and under control.

The upside was that once latched, it was very, very solid. Perfect for a camera arm. It's all metal, but Muddy doesn't have any specs for weight rating. Therefore I have no comment on its use as a platform buckle.
 
Love this strap. One of the main reasons I prefer the muddy arm over the LW/beast arm. If you nest the buckle in the palm of your hand and apply slow and steady pressure, there is hardly any noise when setting the buckle. I'd put the weight rating at 900 lbs. They utilize the strap with their stands too.
 
I may have to finally make the switch. I don't like the noise factor or the size of the mechanism but I'm growing increasingly impatient with my cam buckle set up on my steps. I like the size of the cam buckle, but if all the stars don't align and it's not your Chinese lucky number day then when you step on you'll find that it isn't as tight as you thought. Some trees work better than others, but it's hard to get it tight enough and it's a pain to thread through the cam buckle in the dark

Shaun
 
Have you ever ordered from strap works? What a joke on their shipping. I've been waiting the weeks for product.
 
I've had good luck with strapworks.com. Maybe something is wrong?

Sent from my mobile command center
 
BassBoysLLP said:
Love this strap. One of the main reasons I prefer the muddy arm over the LW/beast arm. If you nest the buckle in the palm of your hand and apply slow and steady pressure, there is hardly any noise when setting the buckle. I'd put the weight rating at 900 lbs. They utilize the strap with their stands too.
Click to expand...

Didn't realize they used it with their stands too. If that's the case, I'd feel comfortable using it for a platform. I'll do some more playing around with it today.
 
g2outdoors said:
I've had good luck with strapworks.com. Maybe something is wrong?

Sent from my mobile command center
Click to expand...
Followed the tracking just taking for ever. Maybe just a postal issue
 
I've ordered once before from Strapworks with their "ecomony" option. It took a long time, but I expected that up front. Most people don't offer a cheaper option than Ground, and since it's February, I think it's nice that I can order a $7 strap without having to pay another $7 to ship, even if it takes another week or two.

I played around with the buckle a little more. Closing the buckle with an open hand does help a lot with the click. It's hardly noticeable if you do it right. It does still make noise passing it around the tree. I think stealth strips will help with that. I also will try keeping it closed until I loop it onto the button so the latch can't swing freely. Then cinch it tight around the versa button, open the latch, cinch it again, then latch it closed.

One thing I do think I'll change when I get my strap is making the loop off of the buckle shorter. It's still kind of a pain getting the loop on the versa button while holding the camera arm in one hand and the buckle in the other because the free loop hangs limp 6" below the buckle. Maybe I'll sew something onto that section of the webbing to keep it stiffer as well so I can guide the loop better.
 
I have a small paracord loop on my base. I often clip it to my tether to give me a "third" hand. Alternative you could use a small screw in bow hook.

Another option is the rope mod. I personally don't like it but Flinginairos really liked it. He did a video a while back.
 
The paracord loop would work nice. The guy in this video uses the small hook.
[youtube]
https://youtu.be/Zb13paXWoCg[/youtube]

One thing I've noticed using my camera arms (Hunting Beast, Lone Wolf, homemade) is that the further the versa button is from the tree, the more problems I have. With my Beast arm, with the versa button sitting out a few inches from the trunk, the action of folding over the buckle actually lifts one side of the V bracket off of the tree. So then the only two points of contact are one side of the V bracket and the leveling screw. With the Lone Wolf arm, the versa button is closer to the tree, and the V bracket only barely lifts off, if at all. I imagine I would get the same results using any kind of OCB, not just Muddy's. When I look at Muddy's camera arm, The tree bracket sits very close to the tree. So the OCB should work great. Lightning camera arms are the same way. OCB should work great for those. I should be able to put a different V bracket on my hunting beast arm and have it work alright.
 
I swapped the V bracket with the Lone wolf Batwing on the Lone Wolf camera arm, which is lower profile. I set the camera arm up so that the center 2 points of the batwing were touching the tree. Then when I cammed the strap tight, the arm rotated to the 2 right-most points of the batwing. So I tried again, this time cinching the buckle with the batwing contacting the tree on its two left-most points. Camming the buckle over then centered the batwing, and left the arm super tight. :cool:

Next I tried putting the Batwing on my homemade ultralight arm, which offered the smallest overall profile. That locked to the tree no problem. Only two arm sections but it weighs less than 3 pounds with the pistol grip head. Should be great with the saddle, while still using the longer and beefier Hunting Beast arm from the hang-on.
 
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