The Claw vs. Long Hauler – Which Replacement Strap Works Best For You?

Now that Red Oxx is offering the best of both worlds in the replacement shoulder strap department, the herd frequently calls in with the question:

"Which shoulder strap will work for me?"

The Claw – A No-slip Strap

On the one hand, there’s the classic The Claw No-Slip Shoulder Strap that Red Oxx has included with all our bags as standard equipment. Strong, tough, rugged and truly accurately named, The Claw will stay on your shoulder come hell or high water.

The Long Hauler – A Comfort Carry Strap

On the other hand (or is that shoulder?), there’s the new Long Hauler Comfort Carry Strap, brought to market through consumer demand for a replacement strap that would luxuriate on your shoulder, not hold on like a… well, a claw.

The Long Hauler Comfort Replacement Strap comes with all the usual heavy-duty hardware that the Claw has. Such as indestructible stainless steel 360 degree swivel hooks, wider nylon webbing, and a stainless steel slider. The difference is the comfort feature: the center "comfort zone" padding is made of soft spongey-stretchy neoprene.

This feature, while supremely comfortable, tends to limit the weight capacity of the Long Hauler to just 30 pounds. Which is actually fine, because when the weight does get up there, your bag will start to annoyingly bounce around anyway.

Besides, do you really want to carry 30 pounds on one shoulder? Didn’t think so.

Long Hauler Strap Has a Weight Limit

So there’s a recommended weight capacity limit of 30 pounds for the Long Hauler. As such, it’s not recommended, nor sold with, our heavier duty bags like the Railroad Grip, the larger Safari Beanos Duffel bags like the Red Oxx PR5.5, or the Red Oxx Extra Large PR-6 or our outfitter’s bags, the Sherpa Jr, and Big Oxx. These bags come with The Claw as standard equipment for a reason.

That reason is the Claw’s padded center portion is molded directly to the straps webbing. Imagine two pieces of steel welded together and you get the idea. It’s built to withstand heavy loads.

Claw Shoulder Strap Won’t Slip

Some folks find The Claw intolerable on some of our Carry-on bags. However, as long as you don’t pack your bags too heavy, it’s still an ideal choice. It really shines on our laptop briefcases like the CPA and Metro or our EDC bags like the Gator, especially because you’re likely carrying a pricey laptop. It. Won’t. Slip. Off.

Which Strap Goes Best with With Which Bags?

So here’s how the break-out is on bag-to-strap lineups: get the Long Hauler Comfort Replacement Strap when you’re looking for luxury and your load is reasonably under 30 pounds. You’ll be comfortable and it should last a lifetime. Mini Boss, Air Boss, Sky Train, Lil Hombre, Tres Hombres, PR-4, PR-5, and Sun Chaser all work wonderfully with the Long Hauler.

Get The Claw as a carry strap when you need "heavy-duty" strap and you’re carrying bags over 30 pounds, like the Grip, Safari Beanos PR-5.5, PR-6, Sherpa Jr, Big Oxx or bags you want solidly planted on your shoulder, like the CPA and Metro Briefcase, and our multi-use EDC bag, the Gator.

    As you can see, different replacement straps for different chaps (or lassies).

Match the strap with it’s cargo and you will won’t have any problems. Still can’t decide? Watch the video below where CEO Jim explains the differences.