BARTON Watch Bands - Ballistic Nylon NATO Style Straps - Choice of Color, Length & Width (18mm, 20mm, 22mm or 24mm)

The entire purpose of the NATO-style strap is to retain and preserve the watch in case of a single spring bar failure.When I received this product, what did I find? A single spring bar installed in the buckle ... the failure of which will cause the watch and the strap to fall away from your wrist; in fact, another one-star reviewee (see "Needs better QC in product" below) had that happen and it shattered his crystal. This single spring bar is quite flimsy and lightly sprung and it fits loosely into the buckle. Real NATO straps each have a solid one-piece buckle casting .. and the buckle tongue is bent around the buckle's shank, not pinned with a spring bar. Then the strap is folded around the assembly, seam-welded and stitched for integrity.Look at the photo and you can see the tiny hole in the buckle casting into which the spring bar engages. It's made that way to simplify and speed up its assembly for Barton. They can purchase the tongues pre-curled and then have low-paid workerbees pin them into the buckles .. instead of buying a more sophisticated machine to bend the tongues around one-piece buckle shanks. They know this kind of buckle assembly can fail, but don't really care; it's all about the profit margin, not your expensive wristwatch. Wish I'd spotted that earlier.This product is a cheap knock-off, cutting corners with both hardware and strap construction. Some of the other posts describe fraying of edges and elongation of tongue holes. Bottom line: you could easily lose your expensive wrist watch with it. Not worth returning for a refund, so I'll write this off as a loss. If you took the time to read this review: well done. If not, good luck.

I'm relatively new to NATO watch bands and I heard good things about Barton, however if I knew what I know now, I wouldn't have purchased this strap. The first thing I noticed when I received it is that there is no stitching. The item description says they use "ultrasonic" bonding or something, but I'm not sure how much of that I believe. There are other brands that sell straps like this and the photos almost look identical, so I wouldn't be surprised if these are just rebranded versions of those and the "ultrasonic" part is just a marketing thing. Because I'm too curious for my own good, I tried pulling on one of the seams and it started to separate a little. This did not help my confidence much. I'm going to add some stitching myself, so not a huge loss, but there are a lot of great inexpensive straps on Amazon that are already stitched. Secondly, I thought the idea of the nylon keeper loop was an interesting alternative to the typical metal keepers on most straps, but in practice, I don't care for it. Looping the excess back through the loop isn't any more convenient than folding it back through a metal keeper, and it seems to put unnecessary strain on a loop that I know isn't stitched in. I'm afraid it's going to get stretched out and lose its shape eventually. Maybe I'm being too paranoid about the stitching and for all I know this thing could last for years, but comparing it to some other types I've used, that's how I feel about it. On a positive note, the gray does match closely to what is pictured, the metal hardware seems to be of good quality, and the holes appear to be heat treated to prevent fraying.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  It's a unique band in the way it attaches to your watch by sliding through the spring bars and under the watch. It took me several tries to figure out how the band attaches to the watch. I bought the standard size and I have thin wrists. It said you can fold the excess strap down but I didn't have enough excess strap to do that. It's possible I have installed it incorrectly.TIP: If I did it right, you need to unfold the entire strap. It comes folded under a metal bar, you need to take it out so it is as long as possible.Things to keep in mind:(1) *IMPORTANT* If you use this band on a smartwatch, it will most likely interfere with wireless charging because you are covering the back of the watch. On my Gear S2 I have been able to loosen the band enough to place it on the charger, the band wraps around the back of the charger (see photo).(2) You need spring bars and it doesn't include them. Luckily one of my other bands had ones you could separate from the band.(3) It will cover the heart rate sensor on the back of a smart watch. I didn't care.I like it. Definitely good quality. Durable and I assume waterproof. Adds a new look to my Samsung Gear S2. I am mostly addressing the practical in this review (above) because everyone has different tastes when it comes to looks. I can't review whether or not you will like the look.

This is the first NATO band I've ordered, and what I got is what I can only describe as my best-case-scenario watchband. It fits comfortably, the material is thick enough to feel solid, but not so thick that it feels bulky. The thick nylon loop is really my favorite part of the strap. Most NATO bands have solid metal loops, which can scrape against things as I'm using my laptop or doing other things with my hands, but the bottom loop here is just the same fabric as the rest of the band, so it's incredibly comfortable to wear. I was also worried that the orange might be too garish, but the particular tone here is very subdued and goes well with darker colors.The photos here are of the band on my Pebble Time.

A traditional NATO strap involves two straps stitched together with a number of buckles and up to 4 keepers. This item is essentially one single band of material folded back on itself and glued where required. There is a buckle and a single keeper for the "second" under strap but the two keepers you would expect to keep the tab end of the strap in place are replaced by a cuff of material glued in place.This might prevent damage to the surface of your desk but the buckle remains so that will scratch. It looks good but in the end I think it is simply a cost saving measure.Where that is the case the question of value arises. In the absence of proper stitching and quality keepers I'd have to say this watch strap is grossly over priced. A traditional NATO from Cousins cost 3 quid for similar or better quality depending on how you view the absence of metal keepers and proper stitching.It's all in the eye of the beholder so you may think these straps just fine. In my case the glue, or however these things are welded together, started to come apart at the buckle end so Two Stars is all I can give.

MaterialThe bands are well stitched with clean edges and the material is soft. The 10" strap fits my 8" wrist perfectly with a little to spare. A band from another seller at the same price has already started fraying and the holes have deformed after only 2 weeks of use. The Barton one seems to be designed to tighter tolerances so I don't need to tighten it as much to get it to stay in place. The nylon retaining loop holds the end of the strap well and stops it getting caught on a shirt or coat promoting premature wear. I wouldn't be surprised if these straps far outlast my others.FixingsThe fixings are strong and minimal as not to detract from the watch you have on the strap. The only criticism I have is that I would like to see the more premium tubular retaining hoops on the straps as these are able to lay flat against the strap in either direction giving a cleaner look.AmazonI had issues when ordering the 18mm black/ebony/ivory strap from Amazon as the Warehouse seems to have labelled the straps as 22mm black/bond leading to the wrong strap being sent out. I can't fault Bartons customer service however as the representative I spoke with ensured the issue was resolved quickly.Overall I was impressed with both the customer service I received and the overall fit and finish of the bands I purchased a few more and will continue to purchase straps from Bartons range for any future watches I own.

Gives my Orient Blue Ray a different look when I want a change from plain blue or grey Randon NATO straps but the Randon heavy duty straps are a better design and better quality. On the first day of wearing the Barton strap my watch fell off my wrist. The buckle centre turned itself to the inside as you can see in the picture. The prong should be on the other side of the buckle but it is too flimsy to hold its position. None of my other NATOs have done this and I am careful with my things. Go for the Randon Heavy Duty if you can get one with the round profile buckles as they are stronger than the square version. I have awarded 1 star for the colour scheme and 1 star for the band which seems to be decent quality.

I've had a CWC watch now for over 30 years, got it refurbished a few years ago with a new glass and a polish but never really liked the plain grey strap that it came with it. It sat in a box for some time and then I subsequently stopped wearing watches for about 15 years.Cut to last year and I got a metal strap fitted to another watch of mine and started wearing it again. I like a loose strap, and when I started seeing more and more of these coloured straps about I decided to invest in one. Mainly because it was a longer length that my dull grey one.Plenty of colour choices to choose from and I settled on the navy with a thin white and red line up the center - being ex RN it fitted in with what I wanted.I can now wear my watch nice and loose, there's plenty of strap and I can go either way on the tightness. It looks good and I've also had some comments on it.Well worth the money, easy to fit and makes my old CWC a nice looking item.

I bought this product to use with my Timex Expedition watch (which I originally bought with a fabric strap). Delivery was very speedy & the new strap was extremely easy to fit (a diagram showing how to do this was enclosed with my purchase). No need to fiddle with/remove the watch bars as the new strap simply threads through them. So much more comfortable to wear than a leather or metal strap, particularly during hot weather. Very happy with my purchase.