How many Natos??

I have over 120 watches, but none are on NATO straps. Just not my thing.

Your collection though is impressive!

No idea how many. Drawers full, accumulated over many years!

I'm very fussy tho, my NATO's must be mil-spec ie have a sewn in buckle. Best I've found are Watchgecko Zuludiver and CWC (their elastic NATO's are particularly comfortable) and much prefer those over my Omega one that I really don't rate very highly (too thick and sharp hardware, that's got a springbar buckle 🤦🏻‍♂️)

I went through a NATO faze and accumulated around 10-15 before I decided they're not my thing. I don't use them at all now 😕

They feel different to rubber, leather, or metal, they make a watch look more colourful (if they're colourful) and toolish at the same time. They're bendier than the aforementioned, so the watch itself stands out more as the solid centrepiece. Water resistant (unlike leather) and good looking (unlike some rubbers).

And of course, they're more secure by being pass-through. It came in handy when I decided to run through a batch of cheap chinese spring bars that came with a set of cheap chinese watchmaking tools - one failed on me.

My favourite is a 5-ring Zulu that came with my Vostok. I cut it to a 3-ring, because the bottom strap was too short to be usable. The holes and the tang are off-centre a bit, on the opposite sides, but they still work. And the best thing is the thickness: It feels much more solid than my other nylon straps.

I have three NATOs. 2 came with a watch which aren’t great and 1 I bought on Etsy, again, not great. I really like the look and functionality of them but any tips on how to tell a good NATO from a bad when making a purchase? Or are they all the same? Must I accept that they are prone to fraying easy? Would appreciate any NATO suggestions as I want to replace my current ones.

Single pass adjustable is the best no BS strap.

I 'thought' we were excessive. Nah, you got that title securely locked up!

You don't wanna know lol.

LONG POST WARNING!!

It's prolly easier to list ones I have not tried/own. (I'm not listing any Ali/Amazon brands, since I have some flavors of each) I'm also including single pass variants. I cut off the second strap on anything, regardless of price point. It isn't necessary with correctly sized straps.

Erika's OG

Hawkrigger

CWC

RSM

Resco Thin

Bark and Jack

Elliot Brown

Prolly a few others I'm forgetting or unaware of 😂.

For leather, I'll recommend Zane's Handmade, Wilco Leather, or Nyberg Made.

For nylon, ZuluAlpha Orignal all day err day. The OG rifle sling style are some of my favorite, and also the least expensive. Infinitely adjustable, not too thin, not too thick, and not too stiff. Favorite single pass by far. Still handmade, and locally sourced materials. Coming out of the UK tho, I'd recommend saving up and meeting their minimum amount for free shipping, since that S/H fee is SPICY for one/two straps.

If you don't mind the price point, the Watches of Espionage collabs with ZuluAlpha are fantastic. Great color and great stitching, markedly more expensive.

On the less expensive side, it's hard to not recommend Crown and Buckle. Especially their adjustable single pass, Tudor like. Their new jacquard Chevron woven look sooooo good. Their ribbed and basic also have sewn in buckles.

CNS is fun and cheap. Their graphic straps are great, but cheap, flimsy, and do not wear them for strenuous activities period. Their new solid buckle options are intriguing. Not only sewn in, but forged apparently.

I can definitively state a portion of my strap collection has a total value exceeding some microbrands, even maybe approaching a mid tier Seiko Prospex...🤯. I am also of the mindset that I don't want to lose my watch during job stuff, but once cry once. Same mentality with my firearms. I don't get a nice rifle, then throw some Amazon airsoft glass on it.

Here's an older pic, there's been a few more additions since then. And this is only my 20mm collection, of straps I wear more regularly. There is separate plastic bins for ones I haven't worn in years.

Also included on wrist pic of my two fav ZuluAlpha styles, first is the OG, second is the WOE Singlepass collab.

I definitely have a nato problem

Bought a load initially….then modified to do away with the double thickness under the watch….realised I don’t like them and moved to marine nationale or watchgecko octopod..

Do you count “2-piece NATOs” as NATOs? Because this drastically effects my answer. I hate the extra thickness that two-pass NATOs add to watches.One-pass is better. But zero-pass is ideal.

I only recently became more interested in straps. I currently own: Nato, Zulu, NASA, Antique leather and a couple of Max's Zero Pass that I've yet to try. Bracelets are my go-to but I'm expanding my view. 😁

Muy buena colección de natos, en realidad, solo las conocía x fotos ya que en mi pais🇺🇾. No se acostumbra el cambio de correas. Me paresia muy cómodas. Por tanto durante el encierro de pandemia. Me confecciones mi primer correa... Y fue una nato en cuero. La cual me resultó tan cómoda que hasta ahora en ocasiones la uso. Me importe varias normales que también me gusta para el verano. En uno de esos tantos viajes, en un museo de la agencia espacial europea, me encontré con el lunar pilot de bulova. Del cual su nato también la replique,

No te sientas mal x tener otra colección aparte de ⌚ ya que hay qué vestirlos apropiadamente para cada vocación

Thanks. If by “impressive” you mean “unhinged” I would tend to agree with you 🤪

It’s good to know what you like! I am going to look at Zuludiver. I’ve browsed there before and liked what I saw. I started with cheap no name natos on Amazon, then moved on to various BluSharks. So far my favorite straps have come from Crown & Buckle.

Mine probably would be classed as junky to be honest ,I change straps and rotate watches so often they don’t get a chance to wear out .

Siempre quise tener una correa de cuero de nato, pero todavía no he encontrado la que me gusta. Y sólo determinados relojes se complementarán con una correa de cuero.

Tanto en mmvd106, como en el invicta diver, y mi braitling endurance quedan bien. Solo tendrías que encontrar el tono que te agrade. O en cuero color natural que te compres o hagas, la tiñas a tu párese y hasta con frangas a lo bond

I'm with you on the need for better adjustability. Given that some of the most expensive brands don't offer modern micro adjustment I buy smaller makes more often.

Probablemente no ayude que generalmente no me gusta el color marrón, pero supongo que podría encontrar correas de cuero NATO de color gris, negro, verde o de algún otro color.

De seguro que encontraras, y si no es así. Utiliza un cinturón viejo🤘

¡Solo podría hacer eso si tuviera una muñeca de 46 pulgadas! 🤪

What’s your preferred rubber? I think fkm is the best balance between quality, comfort, and price.

2 or 3 maybe. Not so special for my tastes

Those are very nice, but they're fundamentally not NATO's. I have two. Double-layered, so they're nicely thick and sturdy, and comfortable, despite being cheap.

Rubber fetish. 😀 Good one. That reminds me, I thought of making a strap from latex. That would definitely be a novel look.

As someone who owns a strap company (Mushi Watch Straps), I have more straps than I care to count at the moment😂

I'm really liking the silicone rubber straps. So soft and comfortable.

I don’t like NATO straps for the same reason I don’t like bund straps both raise the watch in height off the wrist. I prefer the case right on my wrist. You do, however, have a good collection of them.

Bien de ahí te salen dos ✌️ y además pasadores para más correas🤘🇺🇾