Post by normdiaz on Aug 24, 2015 16:02:39 GMT -8
Ran across this article on a blog called "Cultural Dispatch". The procedure seems to defeat the reason for using a Nato in the first place, IMHO.
De-NATOing a NATO Strap
If you’re like me I find NATO straps to be a bit too bulk sometimes. In some cases I just want a sleeker slip through strap like you would find on a Timex Weekender. Thankfully, it’s a fairly easy process to de-NATO a strap. You just need a pair of scissors, a lighter, and a spring bar tool to remove your old strap.
First things first is to cut the second strap off. Once you do this you will need to singe the area that you cut. Because nylon is synthetic it will melt the ends and prevent them from unraveling. You don’t need to go overboard with this (which is very easy to do.) Just lightly singing the frayed nylon until it’s a smooth cut is all that it takes.
Now you have a very long strap with two fixed strap keepers. The next step is to trim that down to size. I usually take mine down to around 8.5in/22cm including the buckle since I have fairly small wrists (6.5in/16cm). To make it clean I cut the strap around the edge of a quarter. Once that's done I lightly singe the strap. Now I prefer to have one fixed strap keeper and one floating. I leave the keeper closest to the buckle in place but remove the second one to be a floating strap keeper. If the original straps are glued together I just pull the NATO apart until the keeper pops free and then cut from there. Remember to change out straps from a bracelet or traditional strap you will need a spring bar tool.
