i admit it: the first time i saw a guitar strap labeled "vegan", i found it somewhat disturbing – it was just man-made, to me, as "vegan" is the choice of anyone with regard to a choice of food.
only later i realised that "man-made" as a term isn't welcome any longer, as it adds unnecessary pressure on gender-related means of expression that are no longer actual.
so i bought me a vegan strap alright – and, whoa, what a strap!
both picture and description don't do it right: the way it feels to the touch and the look is totally different by how it appears on its web page.
its fabric has no relation with the "usual" safety-belt nylon webbing: this here's thick, but supple, stays where you put it (like non-vegan, good-guality leather straps do) – and it weighs considerably less than leather!
another aspect that appears at first try: the weight of the instrument locks it in place, when worn either on a light t-shirt, or a heavy flannel shirt, or on bare skin – but if you want to change your instrument's neck angle, no matter the weather or temperature, sweating or not, this just slides effortlessly at your command, without ever clinging to your garment!
i've tried it with a really lightweight headless guitar: lovely!
then with a horribly heavy all-mahagony neckthrough baritone: lovely!
i even run the hardest of all tests: hollow-body semi-acoustic long-scale bass with lightly-bowed, mirror-like body back, with strap button located where neck joins the body (perfected recipe for heaviest neck-dive suicide) – and it tamed it perfectly, no neck dive, nor velcro-effect either!
there's one aspect that shouldn't be neglected, though: it's wide, real wide, which helps distribute the mass of heavy instruments on a wider surface (which feel somewhat lighter, consequently, which is definitely a most-welcome side-effect) – but: wide as it is, it won't fit inside the hard case of my everyday guitar where a standard-width strap has had its place for years.
it's probably my third or fourth Richter strap, totally different from my other ones (which weren't vegan), but none the less positively superior in quality, function, feel – and look, too!
