I'm looking for miscellaneous gear pouches and on this forum, many references were made to Maxpedition products.
Some of them could possibly answer my needs.

One problem is there is not distributor in France, but I guess I can find one somewhere in Europe (Germany for instance).

But my main question is about the fact all those products use some velcro straps to close or to hold on the belt/shoulder strap...

My own experience with velcro was with a waistpouch, whose main pocket was closed by two pieces of velcro. A daily usage quickly rendered them totally ineffective. <img src="images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

So, have you any experience with Maxpedition products (or other brands ....) regarding that system ??

TIA

Velcro is a marvelous product- in a clean environment. I've found that in snow it quickly becomes totally clogged. In most other conditions, I find timely cleaning sufficient for hard use. I love velcro for the ease of use, not a small factor in some situations.Then again, I had a velcro strip give way and deposit valued gear on the trail with a sarcastic mule deciding to moonwalk at the same moment.

Velcro also doesn't do well if you have pets or sawdust (if one of your hobbies is wood butchering) and is a pain to clean also.

I tend to like to torque things down so that they are tightly held.

I am getting to the age where I may have to wear slip on or velcro strap shoes, and it scares the bejabbers out of me.

Bountyhunter

How do you "clean" Velcro ??
The only time I tried to removed the foreign wool fibers wich had collected on it, I just rendered it totally inefficient ......... <img src="images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Thats the problem, you don't. I've tried everything and can't get the just out of it.

If the schmutz is on the "hook" side of the Velcro, and it's not too sticky, try using an old clean toothbrush (and short strokes) to clean it out.

The "schmutz" (BTW, my electronic dictionary did not recognised that word .... <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> ) was wool and other cloth fibres.
But when removing that stuff, I guess I put the little hooks straight ... and a straight hook is no longer a hook .... <img src="images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

To get clothing fibers out of Velcro hooks, I've successfully used: a fine-tooth comb, a dental pick, a small pen knife blade (edgewise & pulling, not cutting), and my big fat fingers.

If it's snow, dirt, or mud, sometimes simply beating it against/over something--more like slapping it, I guess-- will work.

There comes a time, though, when the hooks are damaged beyond salvation, & it must be replaced, or perhaps augmented with a snap (did that a couple of times--especially on the waist tab of a pair of shorts--put the snap right in the middle of the velcro!).

Gluck haben!

David

Sorry, it's Yiddish for "dirt" or something similar.

Anyway, don't scrub hard with the toothbrush, that might break the hooks -- short strokes in the same direction should at least get the wool (or whatever) fibers sticking up so you can pull them out with your fingers or with tweezers. But if it's tangled up on the "woolly" side of the Velcro, I'm not sure how to fix that!