#1. Does anyone know where I can get a good deal on a leather radio strap and holder? (I tried the search function and it didn't work)
#2. so this isn't a completely pointless post, for those of you who use the radio straps, where do you wear them? under your turnout coat, over your coat but under your scba, or over everything?
well first off, i got mine from thefirestore.com. I think it was right around $50 for everything, the strap, case, and anti-sway thing. So far its held up great and is really comfortable. The only time I wear it is on EMS runs becuase we run alot of them and are still required to take our radio with us just in case we get another call. For anything else, fires, mva's, etc. its in my bunker coat pocket.
2. I wear mine over everything - coat and scba straps included. It works better - transmit and recieve - outside the coat, and the shoulder strap is too uncomfortable to wear under the scba straps. I don't worry too much about entanglment. FDNY has thousands of firefighters who wear their radios the same way for many years, and I've never heard of a single entanglement problem from it. (If there's a FDNY member who knows differently, please let us know.)
If you do become entangled by the strap, the quick-connects in the Garniewicz design make it easy to disconnect the strap to unweave it from just about any potential entanglement, even when wearing the oven mitts.
I got mine thru Radio Tech.Nice modular design,you can change out the ends and snaps/swivels if you happen to damage one.Great folks to do business with.
I got mine from www.traditionalfireleather.com It is a good product and seems to be the same as all the rest. I wear mine on all EMS runs with the stabilizer strap, and on box's under my coat to prevent any snagging. Hope this helps
I wear my strap over my coat but under my SCBA straps and it has never posed a problem for me. I tried wearing it under my coat, but then it is cumbersome when trying to get to the mic to transmit. I'm not saying that this is perfect, but it works for me.