We have two options, Ian, one of which I think is far better than the other!! As you say the replacement strap from Swarovski is available at a cost, or a better option is the slightly more basic version, still Swarovski, which I put on my SLCs when I needed a new strap. This option is FREE & we have one left at the mo. I will bring it along to the Pennington Flash Heritage Day event on Sunday 18th and then you can just pick it up & even save the postage!!
Op-Tech straps are great for the money, my wife used them for years on her Opticron bins before she upgraded to her new Swarovski CLs. At only around a tenner they are a really good value alternative to branded optics straps
As the strap on my Swarovsk binoculars is now half way worn through were it passes through the attachment on the bins themselves, it's probably time to get a new one!
The Swarovski replacement seems expensive for what it is and I've previously used OpTec straps for my tripods many years ago and was impressed by them. Any advice on which might be best? I'm happy to pay for the Swaro strap if its worth the extra (having a such a brand name on the back is much less important than having the 'best' strap to me) but I'm really looking for anything which lessens the apparent weight of the bins, not that they're really that heavy of course .
.