Dual harness options

I have an RL Handcrafts dual strap and much prefer it over the Moneymakers I've seen and tried (borrowed from a friend).

My lovely wife got me the dual harness from RL Handcrafts for Christmas. I haven't put it through its paces yet, but from what I can see it seems to be very well built with a lot of attention to detail. I will probably do a small review once I really get to using it.

joedlh wrote in post #18162449
I just picked up a BlackRapid for shooting a 5k race this weekend and a marathon next weekend. I'll let you know how it goes. One thing that bothers me is that they all use the tripod mount screw as a point of connection. That's a single failure point that could result in my 2 cameras tumbling along the ground at 15mph. (I bike the marathon.) Not too happy about that. I'm looking for a way to have some kind of redundancy in the connection.

That's what prevented me from getting BR for a long time until most recently when I acquired SpiderPro Holster. Now, they complement each other beautifully with all safety concerns erased!

dan.k78 wrote in post #18165826
I hadn't seen that one before.

To add another option to the mix, a friend showed me her Holdfast Swagger dual harness. It is the Holdfast design but using nylon straps instead of leather. It was nice and a lot less $$ than the leather. To be honest I am leaning towards the RL Handcraft's Clydesdale Air, but would like to read/view/hear more reviews. I like it's design a little better than the Holdfast's, but I like the Holdfast snap shackles better. I guess I have to pick my battles. LOL.

I noticed that the RL Handcrafters straps are barely less than Holdfast.

What jumped out as a big difference is the clip. If that's all RL has, then Holdfast's release design seems superior and probably worth the price difference for that alone. But I suspect HF's setup may be better. I saw a video for the RL Clydesdale and the photographer lifted the camera showing a shorter strap than HF now includes for portrait position shooting.

Still reviewing, but doubt it will take more than tonight and tomorrow to determine a final choice. Will add thoughts below as I find stuff

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1. RL's video on youtube shows the man turning to show the back. the straps look adjustable on the same unit vs. Holdfast's several preset sizes. Assuming I'm looking at HF's images correct.

2. The more I compare the two brands, the harder the choice becomes. It may boil down to how fast the clips release. But the variations are interesting, including HF being a bit more refined, and the RL more intricate like holes in the leather, etc..


This man shows a good view of it's fit. Wish he did a closer view of the main clips and safety clips. Looks like the RL unit may be very close to HF's for quality and design.

I went with the RL handcrafts Clydesdale and have no regrets. I've used it for this whole wedding g season and didn't have any issues with the release clips. Solid product.

dan.k78 wrote in post #18483053
I went with the RL handcrafts Clydesdale and have no regrets. I've used it for this whole wedding g season and didn't have any issues with the release clips. Solid product.

I'm still at a momentary standstill between RL and HF today. Both look excellent.

The websites and videos show two different approaches ... and maybe two sets of resources.

RL really leans towards models, design and show for it's photos, video and website. Not at the cost of quality apparently, but it looks like they are pushing "style" and how good the straps look more than function.

HF's presentation talks much more about function and mixes rustic with elegance in the photos and website.

Between the HF Moneymaker and RL Handcraft's Clydesdale, they serve the exact same function and work exactly the same way. They both hang by your side via the tripod mounting socket. It is 100% which is A) more comfortable for you B) which aesthetic you like more and C) how much you want to open your wallet (HF swagger is significantly less because it isn't leather).
They are both very high quality pieces of kit. Can't go wrong with either one IMO.

dan.k78 wrote in post #18483365
Between the HF Moneymaker and RL Handcraft's Clydesdale, they serve the exact same function and work exactly the same way. They both hang by your side via the tripod mounting socket. It is 100% which is A) more comfortable for you B) which aesthetic you like more and C) how much you want to open your wallet (HF swagger is significantly less because it isn't leather).
They are both very high quality pieces of kit. Can't go wrong with either one IMO.

I'm surprised this ended up being a difficult decision for me to make. Figured that I would decide by last night. But spent over 4 hours today reviewing photos, videos, features, colors etc..

My conclusion was that both brands are probably near same functional durability. I though RL had an aesthetic edge and a slightly better cross strap design over the back. I would have preferred the aesthetic edge, but dismissed it because both brands look pretty decent regardless ... and mostly because Holdfast explained much more about their product in a wealth of videos and photos. If gave me more confidence that the owner of HF is closely involved with design and changes, whereas RL Handcraft leaves me guessing about their mindset and some features.

Just noting one example, the HF owner clarified that the holding straps were elongated on newer models to ease raising cameras for portrait shots without disconnecting. But with RL Handcraft, best I could do was guess ... or, watch their video where a photographer had to hunch a bit more than what seemed comfortable to get his eye down to the viewfinder.

There's basically a night vs. day difference to their approaches. I think each company could glean something from the other. But HF was by far the most informative for me.

Both companies have shortages of some models. So it's about 50% being a custom order situation, which is fine if nobody is in a hurry. I ordered the Large Tan Money Maker and that one was in stock.

All my cameras have Manfrotto quick release, so I ordered this Black Rapid part to change my MF plates and then hook-up to the Money Maker ...

Switching to portrait orientation would be the only draw back I can think of for the RL. On the right side it is not an issue, but pulling the left camera up and twisting it into portrait orientation can be a little cramped. What I've done is to adjust the harness to be one notch longer on the left. It is almost unnoticeable while both cameras are dangling and makes it much more user-friendly to shoot in portrait orientation from the left side. That being said I ditched the grips on both my bodies a while ago so I don't know if the extra height the grips add would make a difference or not.

dan.k78 wrote in post #18483443
Switching to portrait orientation would be the only draw back I can think of for the RL. On the right side it is not an issue, but pulling the left camera up and twisting it into portrait orientation can be a little cramped. What I've done is to adjust the harness to be one notch longer on the left. It is almost unnoticeable while both cameras are dangling and makes it much more user-friendly to shoot in portrait orientation from the left side. That being said I ditched the grips on both my bodies a while ago so I don't know if the extra height the grips add would make a difference or not.

I packed away my grips about a month ago for space in my bag and less week. Finally getting used to it, and no real problems with battery life. The lighter load should help some with the harness too.