After seeing the BlackRapid R-Strap mentioned on Photojojo I knew that I wanted one for greater convenience when walking about with my camera. I hate neck straps because they get in the way when you aren't using them and make you look like a fat tourist when you are. I might as well break out the khaki shorts and Hawaiian shirt. Aside from the not-exactly-cheap $50 price tag, I figured that and R-Strap was something I should DIY.
My version of the R-Strap is a simple affair, consisting of the plate off my Manfrotto ballhead and some gear from the climbing section of REI. To begin with, I got myself a 2 foot long, 18mm runner which I wear like a bandolier. To this, I attach a simple locking carabiner - I just chose the smallest and cheapest one. I thought about using chintzy keychain carabiners, but then realized I'll be hangning thousands of dollars of gear off of it and went with the slightly more expensive real thing.
Finally, I tied a small loop of nylon cord to the D-ring on my tripod plate, to which I clip the carabiner. If your tripod plate has a large enough ring, you could clip directly to it.
forgive me for pointing this out, but you say you spent a little more money on more robust carabina, then you use a peice of nylon cord to attach it? so then this nylon cord is the very thing that the whole camera is depending on, i thought maybe something more substantial should have been used really.
That is 550 pound test para cord, I think it is plenty strong ;-)
Just wanted to say thanks for this useful idea. I also want to back you up on that nylon cord. As a climber, I will agree that with the right knot it's not going anywhere.
Using the runner is a good idea because it reduces your possible points of failure (a regular neck strap, like the one from your laptop bag, will create two points of failure). As a bigger guy, however, a two foot runner won't work for me and a four foot one is probably too big. I'm going to try something like the klein adjustable shoulder strap from Amazon. It's a little less reliable than using the runner, but once I find a way to connect the metal clips (I'll probably either use a metal cord or more nylon), I think it'll be reliable enough.
Even if you have to buy a shoulder strap like the one I mentioned, it'll still end up costing less than an actual r-strap. Thanks again!
Glad to hear someone else giving it a shot! Dan Benjamin (of Tack Sharp) just started selling yet another single-point sling device, the Luma Loop last week, and while it looks to be a bit less bulky then the carabiner my setup has, it's also $60.
As for size, I'm pretty slim and the 2ft. runner is a bit small, even for me. I might just buy 2.5 feet 1-inch of webbing and bond or sew it myself.