Perlon single pass strap for fixed bars

I have very skinny wrists and have always found NATO straps bulky and uncomfortable - whether it’s single pass or double pass with all those metal clips and keepers - and I end up with a wrist where I feel I’m wearing a strap rather than a watch.

That said, what’s a guy supposed to do with a fixed bar watch?



Well, in my case I discovered that I can buy a single pass Perlon strap



Most of you military watches aficionados have probably discovered these already but I just thought I’d post anyway.

I also like the single pass nylon straps, basically NATO straps without the second piece.

I was given a Smith’s Astral (long since vanished) on a tan pigskin strap on my 14th birthday but by the time I was 17, I’d replaced it with a ‘trendy' coloured single pass NATO (well, that’s what we did in the mid 60s) but I can’t bring myself, at my age, to revert to stripey NATOs.

I’ve always thought of Perlon as the “thinking person's NATO”. I wear them a lot on my vintage pieces.

one other strap that I have found works well and has less bulk are the suede Swedish NATO straps they sell on Cheapest NATO Straps. I’ve got one on my vintage CWC and I love it - feels less hefty and is more supple than your traditional NATO. Probably not robust enough for army manoeuvres, though…