As a cargo connoisseur, I often get swept up in the details, the minutiae, and some might argue, the icing on the cake of bicycle travel. These little details can become centerpieces of a final touring package. While I’ll always carry a few extra Voile straps on a tour, there’s something nice about having cam buckles and nylon webbing for the bigger jobs. One of the things I love about touring is the constant need to strap more crap to your bike. Sometimes, it’s a frozen pizza at a gas station that catches your eye or your wet clothes from that swimming hole. Regardless, having these items securely fastened to your bike is important because no one likes a broken pizza box.
Having a few extra straps can go a long way and while there are dozens of options made in China out there, it’s nice when a small company takes it upon itself to make something as simple as a cam buckle in the USA. Austere Manufacturing first popped up in my Instagram feed earlier this summer. I’m not sure why these tan cam buckles caught my eye ;-) but I immediately bought two pairs; a 3/4″ cam and a 1″ cam with webbing. Since then, I’ve used them to carry everything from a fly rod to camp chairs around on my bike and can honestly say, these buckles are some of my favorite things to come from a small, cottage industry maker.
Let’s check them out in detail below.