Replacing a side release clip on a backpack

Factual Questions
1

I have a backpack that I carry my work laptop around in. It has a strap that goes around my middle and connects with a side release clip. Awhile back one end of the clip got caught in my car door and broke. I went out and bought a new clip and am trying to replace the old one.

One side of the clip, the side with the prongs, has a double slot for threading the strap through. I got that one threaded OK, no problem. The other side of the clip, the one that the prongs slide into, only has one slot. According to the instructions on the package, and every how-to video I’ve been able to find online, that end of the strap needs to be sewn.

But here’s the thing: the strap was not sewn when the original clip was attached, it was looped through somehow. I’ve compared the old clip and the new clip, and they are exactly the same – one side has a single slot, the other side has a double. So I know this can be done, but I wasn’t paying close enough attention to how the old clip was threaded when I took it off.

I’ve got the strap sort of looped around itself through the single slot, but the clip is at the very end of the strap and I know that’s not right, because when the old clip was on there, it was about 6-8" from the end of the strap.

Any help here?

2

Sounds like you are missing what this guy (You-Tube Video) calls a “tri-guide”.

3

Looking on Amazon, some of the quick release buckles come with “triglide slides” for adjusting/securing the strap on the single slot side.

oops, ninja’d!

4

If you have access to both ends of the strap, you could put in a nice strap hitch, or even if not you could probably slit the strap at the right spot and put in a becket hitch. But I just checked a random backpack and it is indeed sewn (is that a problem? If you use colored thread you can always see where to cut it out later.)

5

Ok, so apparently there was one how-to video that I didn’t find. :smiley:

That was it, you guys are awesome! And that explains that seemingly useless third buckle that was halfway up one of the straps. :smack:

6

<looking at username>
Are you sure your shoes don’t use the same kind of buckle? :slight_smile: