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Haveston M-1936 NATO

Entering into the world of NATO watch straps is like jumping down a rabbit hole in a rocket fueled express train.  The many versions supplied by countless vendors are simply impossible to keep track of.  They range in price from less than ten dollars to several hundred bucks.  Naturally quality and features and material vary from one NATO to the other, but for the most part, they all stick to core design traits.  Form its humble beginnings in 1973 by the British Ministry of Defense, the G10 (short for G1098 which was a form the soldiers had to fill out in order to get one of these straps) has evolved from a basic Admiralty grey 20mm piece of nylon into a strap with many different widths, lengths, styles, colors, options, and yes, quality.  However, the purpose remains the same.  Secure the watch to the strap using both spring bars simultaneously in a way where if one spring bar failed, the other would still secure the timepiece.  Quite smart, and useful.  Chalk that up to British ingenuity.

NATO’s can be made from one of many synthetic threads weaved into a durable mesh which will vary from one manufacturer to the next, or they can be made of a animal hide.  This review will not get into ZULU straps (that is another topic all together)  or two piece NATO’s (which I struggle as to why they are called NATO’s, but I digress). This review is about the Haveston NATO strap, which I feel is probably one of the best rugged and attractive NATO’s on the market today.   I will try to explain why I feel that way in the paragraphs below, but first a word from Haveston.

The following is taken straight from the www.haveston.com website.  As customary on strapsense, I like to give the vendor a chance to speak their mind. In the case of Haveston, I feel they did a very good job, enjoy:

OUR PRODUCT

Inspired by vintage military industrial design, our focus is to create accessories that complement your timepiece by capturing the rugged yet fine tuned character of the tool watch. We aim to achieve this by:

DESIGN: PRESENTATION & PATTERNS

Design and character is built by experience and often neccessity.  Built on a passion for military, exploration and engineering history, we have meticulously selected a prime list of pattern designs and features which go hand in hand with your Field, Aviation, Dive watches, and beyond.

FUNCTIONALITY: FEATURES

We continuously strive to improve:

Our sliding secondary keeper, although deceivingly simple, evolved from generations of prototypes. This allows our strap to retain the classic extended length and folded tail, while striking a neat profile and delivering a highly practical wearing experience.

Our heavy weave bordered fabric was selected for its chracteristic of holding form while remaining flexible. This achieves a comfortable and uniform ‘drape’ profile which adapts to the shape of your watch and wrist.

ERGONOMICS: LAYOUT

By re-engineering the traditional layout, we were able to extend the mounting position of the watch case and re-locate the folded tail to the flat base of the wearer’s wrist. (left). These two elements result in a highly ergonomic wearing profile (oval vs triangular). Aesthetically speaking, this also resolved the otherwise highly visible folded “bunch” often located on the outer side of the wrist.

Okay, that is what Haveston says about their straps. Now let us take a look together at the beautifully made military inspired M-1936 I purchased about a year ago.

DIMENSIONS

The primary attributes I look for in a NATO as far as dimensions are concerned are length and thickness. Length because it dictates how much left over strap I will have after I fasten the buckle, and thickness as it determines how much more height I am adding to my watch as it sits on my wrist.  Haveston prides themselves on their fabric choice and refer to it as a heavy weave polyamide.  This is a supremely good looking and rugged material that is an honest 1.5mm thick along its length. The 20mm wide strap comes in at 270mm long which is about average for most NATO’s. At the time of this writing, the widths available are 20mm and 22mm.

DESIGN

A NATO strap from one manufacturer to another may not seem to vary much.  But in all things it is the details that separate good from great. Haveston has done something different than most. They have paid attention to two things in abundance,  history and details.  Their is no denying the military connection NATO’s have with watches. Haveston not only embraces that, they have taken the time to research it and work those colors and textures into every strap offering they make.  If you want a paisley purple strap with unicorns, look else where.  If you want a strap that echos the colors of the military with distinction you have found your home.  Take a look at their websites, and they spend as many pages discussing why they selected the pattern or color for each model as they did on the model itself.  The straps are named appropriately to the color palette chosen. Names like M-1936, M22, Carrier, and Invasion point back to a moment in time where those names carried a more profound meaning.

Image taken from www.haveston.com

I think Haveston has marketing and demographics worked out well.  I normally do not talk so much about marketing, but I feel Haveston has done such a classy job in differentiating itself it was worth a mention.

Back to design aspects.  Another area where this strap is different is where it holds the watch case.  On just about every other NATO I have seen after you buckle the strap their is so much tail of the free end it needs to be folded over and tucked back into the second keeper.  Some people really like this look. The Haveston allows you to wear it this way as well should you so desire. However, Haveston has a trick up their sleeves with their design.  They designed the strap so the watch is closer to centered on the strap which means the free end is shorter allowing you to wear the free end like a traditional watch.  The M-1936 along with every other Haveston NATO strap has  one fixed keeper and one floating keeper. This allows the free end to be tucked into the second keeper without the need to fold it over and tuck it.  This gets two very big thumbs up from me.

Notice how the Hamilton Khaki Field 38mm is near the center of the strap.  On most NATO’s it would be a full inch more to the right, closer to the buckle.

With the marketing on point a having designed a truly brilliant and unique NATO I feel Haveston could have picked some nylon and started making straps.  However they did not. The fabric they chose is really quite unique in texture and flexibility.  This heavy weave is extremely smooth to the touch yet gives an impression of great strength.  I have no doubt this material could be used to pull a car out of a ditch. It is easy to bend and twist, but it will not stretch.  The holes in the strap have been sealed so to increase wear.  Another notable design feature not seen elsewhere is the fact that they bind the outside edge of the strap with stitching so it will never fray.  This gives extreme durability as well as having the benefit being very aesthetically pleasing.

You can clearly see the parallel edges bounded by stitching and how it contrasts to the free end which has no binding. The tip is not bound to make keeper installation easier. 

KEEPER AND BUCKLE

The buckle on the Haveston NATO is quite nice.  Better than on many leather ‘high end’ straps I have seen.  The buckle (which can be had in polished or brushed) has a beautiful embossing on it with the letters of HAV done nicely and discretely.  The keepers are finished to match the buckle and are of rounded on all sides so no sharp edges will scrape you or your surroundings. They are also appropriately sized to hold the strap thickness. Some keepers are far too big and flop around. Haveston addressed this.

Lower Image taken from www.haveston.com

HOW DOES IT WEAR

With the near luxury quality weave on the strap, it is extremely pleasant against the skin. Holes are very close together on the free end which makes finding a proper length easier. Which is very good, as this strap has zero stretch. If it is too tight, it will not break in any time soon.  I easily found a comfortable position and have been wearing it for darn near a year off and on a variety of watches. The strap is thick. 1.5mm for a single thickness means 3.0+mm thick added to a watch height off the wrist.  This does not make it look bad or uncomfortable in any way, but it is worth noting. The ultra durable and high quality weave used is worth the extra thickness to me versus a simple cheap piece of nylon used by the bulk of the other straps on the market.  This watch has an undeniable military vibe and the ruggedness is not an accident.  It wears like a piece of survival equipment of the highest quality.

The way the strap is neatly held in the second keeper like any standard two part strap is fantastic. To me that  makes it wearable on just about any occasion where the uber tactical NATO look may not be quite appropriate.

WHAT IS THIS STRAP GOOD FOR

If at this point you are ready to enlist in the military or pick up a backpack and go live in the woods, you have found your strap.  Make no mistake, this thing is a purpose driven casual tool strap.  The Haveston NATO to this reviewer is not trying to be a fashion watch strap. I read the design history and reason for every decision, I see a perfectly executed strap pays tribute to the original in terms of what it was suppose to do. However, the way it goes about its function is through superior materials combined with clever design. This watch is made for Aviation,  Field watches, and Marine Chronometers.  I think the bulk of the strap means it can handle larger 42mm+ size watches better than most thin NATO’s.  I feel the 38mm khaki field I have it on while nice and thin is about as small as I would put it on due to the prominence of the strap.  I think too much smaller would throw off the balance of the package. Overall if you are into NATO style straps and have an appreciation for meaningful history and very high product quality while not minding the added thickness then check out Haveston. I think you will be very pleased. I have enjoyed both mine for the past year.

WHERE CAN I GET IT

The one and only place

http://www.haveston.com/hav036.html

When you order your Haveston Strap, it comes in this attractive little tin.  Very much like the old tins used to keep things dry in the military.  Again no detail was overlooked.  The whole Haveston experience is crafted with skill.