Sling camera straps damaging cameras?

On one of the other forums there has been discussion about sling-style straps which attach to the camera's tripod mount damaging the cameras. The theory is that the tripod mount was not designe to hold the weight of the camera & lens in any other orientation that flat on a tripod... or tilted vertically.

To me this sounds ridiculous.

What say ye?

Totally false. What if you put your camera on a tripod mount and put it in portrait mode? Its still hanging by the tripod mount. There are tripods that let you turn the center column horizontal and allows your camera to get a shot from above.

What about getting low shots and having your camera dangle upside down with the center column reversed? It's all hanging from the tripod socket.

There are hundreds of professional photographers with $8,000+ worth of gear that use sling straps and have no problem with them.

Bunch of hooey

I use a sling. In regards to the argument, I would have thought that mounting a camera on a tripod in portrait (90 degrees) would have put more pressure on some parts of a camera (the parts above the thread) and would be more stressful than hanging upside down where the weight is distributed more evenly.

Also, it's not designed just for tripods. Battery grips also thread in there. (And I'm sure plenty of people hold their cameras solely by the battery grip whilst walking around as well). Can't see how it's any difference holding your camera by a battery crip vs a sling.

I did recall reading one story about a Nikon user who damaged their camera and Nikon wouldn't supply under warranty which may be where this rumor originated from? Seemed like it was a camera fault (considering how many Nikon users would use slings).