Ode to the Voile Strap
Duct tape doesn’t work very well for the cold, wet environs of ski mountaineering, but it hardly matters as there is something way better – Voile straps. In terms of classic designs, these are right up near the top and incredibly useful for almost anything, including holding your skis together. I prefer the Old Skool versions with the metal buckles as they are lightweight, simple and never break.
- Voile straps – the world would fall apart without them.
I’m not sure where this design came from, but I first saw it used for skiing purposes by Mark W. at Voile, thus they are commonly called “Voile Straps.” They can be used to clamp boots if a buckle breaks, hold a blown skin onto a ski, help split a broken leg, field-repair a binding, strap crap onto a pack, hold together a cook kit and just about anything else you can think of.
- Great on their own, or you can chain them together for added length.
The longer the better, although beggars can’t be choosers and any length will do. I assume you can buy these things, but more often than not, they are handed out for free at skiing events where I always try to grab more than my fair share.
- Strapping up in Iran – Greg VonDoersten photo.
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Category: 02 Gear
Nice plug for the Voile strap. We made a model with a plastic buckle, but returned to the metal shortly thereafter. Others have made similiar straps, but it’s a tough one to beat.
I have heard that Voile straps are great firestarter stuf in an emergency…
What’s everyone’s favorite length?
I have some old Voile style straps from Black Diamond when they were trying to use them on their crampons that I really like. I think they are about 18’ish inches. The 12 inchers are nice (as well as being the most likely to be handed out at sporting events…), but I don’t get much use out of the one’s that are shorter than that.
I got one at the sweet, sweet 08 Powderkeg. Think it was 24” though. It was definitely way longer than the other one I had which was good because it was big enough to hold on to my Zealots.
I definitely think the ones with the metal buckles are better. Hiking down from skiing the Paradise Glacier this summer I felt something weird flapping around on my pack and found that the strap on my skis (carried A-frame) had popped off and was somewhere up the trail. That has never happened with the older metal buckle ones.
Thanks as always for sharing your love for the ole Voile strap on Backcountry, Andrew!
http://www.backcountry.com/explore/you-are-backcountry-20-uses-for-a-voile-strap