I need to pick up a new strap or two for some recent acquisitions and I'm thinking about trying an Ostrich strap. Was just wondering if anyone has experience with this material and can tell me how it compares to leather, alligator, crocodile, etc. for wear, comfort, water/sweat resistance, etc. Thanks.
No doubt about it, a super soft calf leather will be much more comfortable (out of the box) than ostrich or croc. Having said that, once it conforms to your wrist, it's actually super comfortable. A lot will also depend whether you request padding (makes it stiffer, obviously) and the backing. Ask for Zermatt leather.
As for water/sweat resistance, croc/ostrich (generally speaking and not the exotic sueded stuff) is actually a bit better than calf.
For wear, about the same as calf leather. If you use a tang, wear will always be much worse than using a deployant.
Personally, I would recommend
TJC Leather. Construction is top notch and cheap prices because their cost of materials is quite low. You can choose ostrich or croc, for about the same or cheaper than pre-made stuff from Hirsch et al. Being a custom maker, their quality is excellent. Easily equal or better than Aaron bespoke. TJC can do stuff Aaron cannot. In fact, I compared a croc to an OEM Omega croc (msrp around $500 USD?) and the TJC is easily comparable to that.
As for ostrich, choosing the belly will be softer. For croc, choosing small scales will also be softer.
Here's a croc with small scales. It was super soft. Cost me $15 USD.
Sueded ostrich leg. This one, because of the padding, was quite stiff and the backing wasn't the greatest. Curved lug, cost me $80 USD (I think).
Large scale croc from TJC. It's super thin (around 2 mm) so it's actually very comfortable and not stiff at all. Cost me $100 USD, but that's with a folded edge. A regular painted edge is $85 USD.
