Urth Core Camera Strap review

Urth, formerly known as Gobe, started life in 2014 when its founders, Christian, Chris, and Minnie, embarked on a transformative road trip from California to Patagonia. On this trip, they were inspired to deepen their connection with nature and address human impact on the environment. Today, the company has four key values: innovation, design excellence, inspiration and responsibility. The latter refers to the companies’ carbon offsetting and plants over 100,000 trees per month, and with the Urth Core Camera Strap I got hold of for this review, Urth is very transparent and claims the strap has created 3.16kg of CO2 but the company has sequestered 1537kg of CO2 for a net positive impact of 486x. I can’t think of any camera accessory maker in recent times being as open about its carbon footprint.

The camera accessories market is full of cheap plastic, disposables and peripherals that don’t stand the test of time and end up in the trash shortly after purchase. So is Urth’s Core Camera strap one you can buy guilt-free? I got hold of one to put it to the test. Here are my findings…

Urth Core Camera Strap: Specifications

Urth Core Camera Strap: Price

The Urth Core Camera Strap comes in its standard size, measuring 40mm in width, or in a Slim fit, measuring 20mm across. At the time of writing, the standard Core comes in at $69 US or £59 UK, while the Slim is a little more affordable at $59 US or £49 UK. That being said, it was on sale at the time of review and market down to £42 or £35 for the Slim here in the UK, so there are savings to be had if you’re prepared to wait for a sale.

The Urth Core and Core Slim are both widely sold in all four colors and are easy to buy from the Urth store or Amazon, both in the US and UK. Though I did notice that in the UK only the Moss and Sand versions were available on retailer Wex.

Given its high-quality materials and premium finish on some of the metal parts, its overall look and product packaging, I think its pricing is pretty on the money. It has a quick release system, making it a good step up from budget-level straps like the Think Tank Camera Strap V2.0, for example, and looks a bit more stylish and professional too. Its pricing puts it firmly up against the Peak Design Slide and Slide Lite, which fall into the same sort of price territory. So without further ado, let’s take a closer look and find out if it’s worth the money.

Urth Core Camera Strap: Design & Handling

First things first, the Urth Core Camera Strap feels like a high-end premium product, and that’s clear from the box and packaging, which has been carefully thought out and looks very professional.

The strap itself is made from 100% recycled nylon and has a similar webbing structure to a car seatbelt, though the Slim version goes without saying is much narrower, in fact it’s half the width at 20mm – this means it does put a little more pressure onto a smaller section of your neck, but as long as you’re not loading it up with really heavy camera kit I usually find thinner straps to be more comfortable as there’s less area to rub up against your neck.

An interesting feature of the Urth Core straps is that one side of the strap, which comes into contact with the neck, has little silicone strips spaced 5mm apart to add extra grip and prevent slippage from your neck, or when worn over your shoulder. I did find these silicone studs to be a little uncomfortable and dig against my neck, though it’s worth noting that the strap has been designed so you can flip it over and use the smooth side if you prefer, and this suited me better personally.

Three parts of the strap are made from anodised aluminium, which really helps the Urth feel like a solid and durable piece of kit, and despite just weighing 120g itself, I have no problems believing its claims of being able to support up to a whopping 80kg of gear. Two of these aluminum pieces are the buckles which the pebble fasteners connect to – more on those in a bit, and the third metal piece is the buckle used to adjust the overall length of the strap, which can be set between 70-120cm. The metal adjustment buckle has the Urth logo engraved, and all three bits of metal hardware are anodized, which feels really luxurious and premium. The downside of metal hardware is that you do have to be careful that it doesn’t rub up against your camera body, LCD screen or lens, as it has the potential to scratch if you’re not careful.

It all feels really high-end end and Urth is clearly very confident in the build quality as they offer a lifetime warranty, which is always nice to have.

The Urth Core Camera Strap uses ‘pebble’ fasteners to attach to the strap buckles. These pebble fasteners are made from ABS plastic with nylon cord and a Dyneema core – also known as the world’s strongest fibre and an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene.

The strap comes with two pairs of these pebble fasteners, great in case you lose one, or would like to attach them to your second camera body. The cord used on the pebble fasteners is very thin so should fit through most camera strap lugs without the need for an extra split ring which is nice.

Also in the box is a tripod anchor mount which allows one or two of the pebbles to be threaded through and attached to the underside of your camera – this is handy if you prefer your camera and lens to point down when you wear it, or would like to shift the location of the buckles so they don’t get in the way of your camera’s LCD display or viewfinder.

Urth Core Camera Strap: Performance

Urth claims its products are minimal yet functional. The Core Camera Strap and Core Camera Strap Slim models are certainly minimalist, they’re a thing of beauty and with their high-end look, anodized aluminum parts and choice of colors, they really hold up against a premium camera such as a Leica or Hasselblad and feel right at home on such cameras and complete the look nicely.

There is a little element of style over substance with these Urth straps though – the pebble fasteners are really very tight against the metal buckles, and I much preferred the push button design Peak Design has been using in their most recent straps and can be released with just one hand by pushing a button – though I understand they look a little less elegant from a design perspective.

It surprised me that the plastic pebble connectors fit against the metal buckle – this is an extremely stiff connection that requires two hands to firmly separate them, I also wonder if the plastic rubbing against metal might wear down which would certainly make it more easier to glide the pebble in and out of the metal clip. Replacement pebbles can be purchased from Urth, currently only in black but costing $25 for a pack of two pairs if you do need replacements.

One issue I have with the large metal buckles is that they get in the way of the screen, viewfinder, and buttons on the back of the camera, though this might be mitigated somewhat with the Slim version, which uses a narrower strap and therefore smaller buckles. The buckles on the larger strap I had hold of for review do have the potential to knock against your screen, so you have to be careful of this and I would recommend using an LCD screen protector to avoid scuffs and scratches.

Personally I found the larger 40mm strap to be a little uncomfortable on the neck, and the silicone pads were a tiny bit sharp which rubbed up against my neck, though it’s much more comfortable worn over a jacket to add a little more cushioning as unlike straps such as the OpTech Pro Loop Strap is doesn’t feature any sort of padding to aid comfort. It’s also worth noting that if you find the silicone pads uncomfortable, it’s designed to be flipped over so you have the smooth side of the strap against your neck instead and this is a good option to have.

I think it’s also just my personal preference that I prefer thinner straps too, so the Slim version would most likely be a better fit for me personally, especially when using lighter mirrorless gear that doesn’t need such a big beefy strap.

Urth Core Camera Strap: Verdict

The Urth Core Camera Strap and Core Camera Strap Slim are very well made, stylish and extremely durable. Urth is aiming this strap towards the higher end of the market, potentially targeting those with premium cameras like the Leicas and Hasselblad’s where its anodized metal hardware and four color choices can really help complete the premium look and of course that’s why it is quite expensive for what is essentially quite a minimalist neck strap.

It features a quick release system, which I would fully expect from a neck strap at this pricepoint, though it’s not as quick or functional as something like Peak Design’s AL-4 anchor system which can be operated with one hand by pushing a button – the quick release of the Urth system is really very tight, great at inspiring confidence that your camera is tethered securely, but not brilliant for uncoupling it in a hurry as it’s definitely a two-handed job to separate the plastic ‘pebble’ from the metal buckle.

The metal hardware really sets the strap off nicely and again gives the idea of high-quality precision parts using the latest machining techniques and anodizing. However, due to the metal buckles being quite close to your LCD screen, you do need to be careful to avoid scratches, but this isn’t a problem if you’re careful.

I also scoured the 46 reviews left for the Core Camera Strap on Urth’s official website, which has an impressive five-star rating from customers. The vast majority of reviews were either five or four stars, with some of the negative aspects echoing my findings about the stiff quick release mechanism and metal potentially scuffing up your screen, but overall, customers were very impressed and also happy to be supporting a company that takes its carbon footprint seriously.

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