Shoulder strap too thin and soft???

my laptop bag shoulder strap is pretty stiff. I hope it will soften alittle, but if not its ok

I'm a long-time Timbuk2 fan and recently bought my 3rd classic messenger, a covert series made in Vietnam, and I like the x-pac fabric, etc, BUT as you noted the shoulder strap is different from my previous two (one made in SF, one in Vietnam). The strap definitely feels softer and thus more "flimsy"... whether it's actually lower quality/strength or not, only time would tell. Also the cam buckle design has changed. It "locks" down more firmly (not bad), but there's less plastic on the sides to keep the strap aligned when adjusting, so the strap pulls crooked (annoying), and the lip that you flip to adjust the strap flares inward instead of out, making it harder to catch with your fingers, PLUS the strap is now routed through that lip, which makes it VERY annoying and difficult to adjust. Luckily you can unthread the strap from the buckle (I did) but it's still much harder to adjust than the "old" style cam buckles, which are still pictured under accessories on the T2 site.

So is this cam buckle unique to the covert series, or is it a "new improved" design? If I order a replacement buckle will it be this style or the old one? Annoying to buy a $150 bag then have to pay to "downgrade" to the old style clip, but it really is that much better a design (IMHO). Unfortunately the strap can't be replaced, so I have to decide if it's a big enough issue to return the bag.

I still love my Timbuk2 products but it's a bit disheartening to see some of these changes, whatever the reason may be behind them. I don't have a problem with overseas production per se, but do expect the materials/designs to live up to the "Legendary Quality" touted on the tags, wherever they're made.

Huh. I just now posted a question about the new cam buckles. They're a pain to adjust. The one trick I've found is that if you pull up instead of out, the strap tightens pretty smoothly, but it pulls the bag in a weird way so you can't get it quite as tight as you'd like. And if you're carrying a lot of stuff and the strap is stretched tight, it's hard to get enough slack to really start pulling in the first place (not a problem with the old style buckles).

On the other hand, having had an old style cam buckle fail on me twice (once expensively, and once messily), I'm a big fan of the locking part of the new design.

Mine are softer, too. One I got in 2008 frayed in a week. My recent custom bag is definitely softer than my last one (2005), but it's not the mushy strap on my 2008 bag.