Aftermarket Panerai Review

Vintager Straps by Micah Straps Review

Vintager Straps by Micah Panerai Straps

Origin: USA
Construction: Lock-Stitched
Materials: New and Vintage Leathers
Buckles & Tubes: None Included
Price Range: $135US+
Website: Click Here
Date of Review: August 16th, 2009
Review Updated: July 11th, 2011

Updated Review July 11th, 2011

Its about time I updated my Vintager Straps review with one of Micah's new creations, don't you agree? After going through the offerings on Micah's site, I noticed a new addition - French Canvas Ammo Straps. After viewing some of the photos, I decided that this was definately the one for me!

Shown above is the French Canvas strap in its new packaging from Micah, posing with a CRK Pacific knife.

As you can see, the back and main construction of the strap is actually leather, but with vintage French Canvas overlayed on top of the leather portion. I love the maker's stamp too, it just completes the package. The wrapper says "Pull Here and Enjoy", and that's what I did! I love how Micah used a matching stitch for the front, and then matched the stitch on the back with the leather as well. A very nice touch, since I asked for matching stitching.

Length was custom specified, and came out perfectly. The rough edge finish goes fantastic with the Canvas strap, and blends seamlessly with the leather - giving it a very professional finish. I will admit that before I ordered it, I was a bit worried with how well the canvas would hold up especially when it was used in conjuntion with the leather. Not sure if it was glued or something so I did have some concerns with that, but after wearing the strap for a couple of months, it has held up incredibly well, with no abnormalities to report.

I got the buckle sewn-in, as I didn't think that a screw-in buckle would suite this strap quite as well. A vintage strap deserves a vintage style buckle. I just can't get over how much I love this strap! The Canvas is a real treat and with so many leather straps, it is a refreshing, yet authentic way to give my Panerai some vintage look. The flexibility is great, as it bends just as nicely as a medium softness leather strap, and the soft leather backing sits comfortably against the wrist.

There she is mounted on my PAM312, and lookin' pretty. After wearing leather straps over and over again, its a really nice change to strap on a Canvas strap. I've received a few comments on the strap already, and everyone seems to love it. The Olive Drab color looks awesome with any sort of Tactical gear too, if you're into that. Overall just an awesome strap, with a unique material with excellent execution. Its by Micah, so I wouldn't have expected anything less!



Original Review August 16th, 2009

Micah is probably one of the more popular USA-based strap makers out there, and his work is solid and reasonably priced. This strap that I am reviewing is a strap that I have had for quite a while now, and Micah no longer even offers this one. It resembles his Brindle strap but without the texturing and with black thread.

His straps are superbly crafted by hand, and stitched and finished well. In the above photo you can see his maker's marks. His straps are typically offered with two floating keepers as this one is, without stitching on the keepers. The quality of Micah's straps is very similar to Greg Stevens stuff, albeit at a slightly lower price.

I have not tried any of Micah's vintage Mauser Ammo pouch straps, but I hear they are excellent. They are priced slightly higher than his normal stock, but each one is made from a WWII Era Mauser Pouch giving the strap a one-of-a-kind character. The pouches that Micah offers are usually loaded with character.

I got my own buckle on this one, but as you can see it looks great with it. In the future I might elect to get a sewn-in buckle as I have grown quite fond of those. The strap is neither extremely stiff or extremely soft, it is somewhere in-between, perhaps slightly stiffer than GSD straps. I like the edge finish that Micah does on his straps better than GSD, however.

The sort of burgundy color of this strap is a bit hard to match at times, but tends to work better with my white dialed PAM114 than other Panerai's I have owned. This also might be because my shoe and belt collection does not have much in this color either, making it a difficult color to match, but when I do need something out of the usual realm of black and brown, this is the one I go for. A very well made strap, for a very reasonable price, only a few bucks more than many Chinese made straps.