Harness Hardware Questions

[SimonJester753]

I normally make my dog collars with 1" bridle buckles that have a single center bar. I thought I'd try 1" double bar buckles as it would be stronger with no slot cut in the strap.

The double bar buckles look like they might be kind of a tight squeeze to get the straps through. I got them from Tandy, so I don't think they were meant for nylon webbing. What would be the reason for choosing one over the other?

I normally use rapid rivets to fasten my buckles to my straps, like in the top of the photo. I saw a harness that used copper rivets. instead of putting 2 rivets across the width of the strap, they put one copper rivet in the center. Is this the usual way?

Finally, did I do a good job on my copper test rivet at the bottom of the photo?

[bex DK]

When worrying about the strength of the leather strap with a slot in it, have you considered the strength of the buckle itself? Our experience with horse tack, bridles, etc., is that regardless of the material used for the main body, it is usually the metal parts that break under stress. If you're going to worry about it, you're going to need to find tested metal parts that have a proven breaking strength.

We've used regular buckles for hobbles without giving a thought to the strength of the leather after the holes are made. If anything is going to go, it will probably be the buckle itself!

Many people prefer collars with a guaranteed low breaking point. So that the dog has a chance of getting out if it gets hung up on something.

This may not be much help to you, but not sure if you considered the other side of the issue.

[SimonJester753]

When worrying about the strength of the leather strap with a slot in it, have you considered the strength of the buckle itself? Our experience with horse tack, bridles, etc., is that regardless of the material used for the main body, it is usually the metal parts that break under stress. If you're going to worry about it, you're going to need to find tested metal parts that have a proven breaking strength.

We've used regular buckles for hobbles without giving a thought to the strength of the leather after the holes are made. If anything is going to go, it will probably be the buckle itself!

Many people prefer collars with a guaranteed low breaking point. So that the dog has a chance of getting out if it gets hung up on something.

This may not be much help to you, but not sure if you considered the other side of the issue.

Thanks for the info. So the only reason I can see for a double bar buckle rather than a single center bar would be it saves a step in manufacturing, as you don't have to punch a slot for the tine to go through.

Other than style, why would you sew leather, rather than rivet? I've seen a website from a German company that makes nice dog collars that are sewn. Their text says that leather tears at rivet points, so they sew. I have a cheap sewn dog leash, and with rough use, (my dog bites the leash), the stitches were failing. I'd think thread would fail before a rivet. I'd also think that the holes made to sew through would amount to a perforation, which could cause a failure as easily as a rivet hole.

Here's a picture of the collar.

[dirtclod]

I use to make several dog collars. Leather collars i punched a slot for the tounge and had the fold over go back on top of the collar. That way it could be close to the same thickness as it was when i started. If you turn it inside next to the dogs skin it needs to be skived down and may lose some strength. For the nylon collars i used the double bar buckle because the nylon is so hard to get a smooth edge when you punch a hole in it and then seal it with heat. Plus it will unravel if it isn't sealed really good.

Edited September 5, 2010 by dirtclod

[bex DK]

Not enough experience with stitching vs. rivets. sorry. I think stitching is prettier if going for looks. Our dogs current collars are riveted. We have the fold on the underside but it extends quite far, because it also holds the keeper. On the one it is long enough to help secure the lead ring as well.