Instroke Case Complaint

Santa brought me a beautiful Instroke Southwest 3x7. I love using it and it's beautiful. I have only one complaint and was curious if anyone else has the same problem. I find the shoulder strap, let out all the way, is not long enough and it is always slipping off my shoulder. I have other cases and this is the only one that does that.


Mine is too short for one reason. Because I am too big. lol

Seriously I wish mine were about 4" longer (no that's not what she said LMAO) I ride a motorcycle also so it would be nice to be able to strap it across my back and chest but It's a little too short for that. I can do it but it's tight as hell.


Other than that I don't even need it. I just use the handle on the side I don't use the shoulder strap.
 
Anybody know how the bottom of the Instroke case is made? Wondering what the options/possibilities would be for removing the plastic feet and replacing them with some rubber feet of some sort. If it was a block of wood like I know some cases have it would be possible maybe.

Also, that shoulder strap pad looks like a nice solution! I don't carry my case far very often so I don't have a problem with the stock setup, but if I ever get to DCC or something where I know I'll have to carry my case around a lot I would totally get one of those.

I was thinking about just pulling those plastic feet off, and then gluing a nice solid flat rubber piece on the bottom. No "feet" just a full piece of rubber covering the entire bottom. It will stick on tile floors and should do the same on carpeting.
 
I was thinking about just pulling those plastic feet off, and then gluing a nice solid flat rubber piece on the bottom. No "feet" just a full piece of rubber covering the entire bottom. It will stick on tile floors and should do the same on carpeting.

I was kinda thinking the same thing. Think the glue would hold? If the base is a block of wood and I could figure out the thickness I was thinking it could be tacked down with small nails too, sort of like what holds the base on around the bottom anyway. I think some of the early JB Rugged cases had the rubber sheet attached to the bottom that way, before it went to stitched ones (which is probably the best way).

If you pull the feet off, let me know what you find. It looks like they're riveted on somehow, but maybe they're more like small nails holding them on? Not sure.
 
I was kinda thinking the same thing. Think the glue would hold? If the base is a block of wood and I could figure out the thickness I was thinking it could be tacked down with small nails too, sort of like what holds the base on around the bottom anyway. I think some of the early JB Rugged cases had the rubber sheet attached to the bottom that way, before it went to stitched ones (which is probably the best way).

If you pull the feet off, let me know what you find. It looks like they're riveted on somehow, but maybe they're more like small nails holding them on? Not sure.

Tell you what I did... went to a shop that sells real rubber bumpers, half round with no hole in the center, drilled an indentation on the back so it fit over those horrible plastic feet, epoxied them on. Solved... looks better, doesn't slide. IDK why they put slippery plastic feet on instead of rubber...
 
Interesting, that sounds like a way to go too....I'll have to look into that. Thanks!
 
I have a new Instroke case, still in the box for over a month. I tend to slide my cases into the back seat and I've been thinking the plastic feet will scratch the leather. Obviously I can be more careful, but it will be that one time you forget.....It's such a nice looking and well reviewed case though I'm sure I'll break it out soon.
 
Tell you what I did... went to a shop that sells real rubber bumpers, half round with no hole in the center, drilled an indentation on the back so it fit over those horrible plastic feet, epoxied them on. Solved... looks better, doesn't slide. IDK why they put slippery plastic feet on instead of rubber...

I can answer that. When I created the Instroke case I had two cases to use as guides, my Porper with tapered cavities and my J.E.F Q Case with unpadded tubes.

The Porper had no protection on the bottom and the cues would eventually poke holes in that type of case so I knew I had to protect the bottom somehow.

The J.E.F. Q Case had small metal buttons/tacks on it and didn't really protect the bottom from the floor very much. The bottoms would get all ratty and scuffed.

So, my first cases had big metal tacks on them pretty much covering the bottom with metal disks.

But then when I went to mass production of the Cowboy style case I was working in the prototyping department at the factory we chose to deal with and they showed me the plastic feet and how they were used on a variety of leather goods including briefcases.

So I felt pretty good about them and though they lifted the case enough off the floor to protect the bottom better than the studs we had been using. Case slippage was not something I even thought about at that time.

Later I did entertain the idea of switching to rubber feet but I couldn't find suitable ones and the cost of having them made was not something my partners wanted to consider. As a small manufacturer we often don't have the volume to justify the making of custom parts.

For example we used barbed nails, a certain type that is nearly impossible to find. When we finally ran out we searched and searched for a company that would produced them in quantities of less than 500,000 per color. We found one. Now we buy nails at 20,000 per color :-) You can do the math on how many cases we have to produce to use them up.

As someone pointed out there are many ways to modify these cases to have a non-slip bottom. Let me tell you a secret, contact cement is your friend IF you follow the instructions exactly. It bonds so well that it's practically impossible to remove without ripping the leather off.

I don't like to depend only on glue though so wherever possible I will glue and nail/sew/rivet to add another layer of durability.
 
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Rubber cement wont hold, use weldwood or barge brand contact cement with small screws. Pull the old feet, noting how long the nails are, use screws that will go into the base cap no deeper than the nails.
 
I am going to try the "donge postman" pad on my 3 x 5.... hope it looks OK. My strap falls off my shoulder esp. when I am carrying other things like groceries or etc..... every time and results in that out of control balance act... that just does not look cool. THX
 
Rubber cement wont hold, use weldwood or barge brand contact cement with small screws. Pull the old feet, noting how long the nails are, use screws that will go into the base cap no deeper than the nails.

I meant weldwood or barges. I just call it all rubber cement. Old habit.
 
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