Whenever one speaks about something that is popular, one would typically say You must have been living under a rock if you haven’t heard of X. Generally I find this kind of statement too far-fetched to be valid. Because even though we might all be connected through a shared interest for a particular thing—let’s say horology—we have the right not to know everything about it, to not be familiar with all content creators who enrich our little community, or to not have caught on the latest release from the most talked-about brands. However, today I’d tell you You must have been living under a massive rock formation if you haven’t heard of Adrian Barker and Bark & Jack. The YouTuber, horological entrepreneur, and purveyor of fine single-pass straps endowed with strong utilitarian penchants. Thus fastening systems 100% up my alley I have been wearing regularly for the past two years. I first came to them because I was curious about their quality in relation to their price in relation to Adrian Barker himself.

As he is one of my favorite YouTubers whose videos I have been religiously consuming since 2019, which either says a lot if you know me or or nothing at all if you don’t. So I was intrigued about his straps and I kept coming back to them because they are good. Really good indeed. (First spoiler!) So today we’re going to take a close look at two of its core strap families: the Ribbed Nylon and Seventy30 straps. 

About Adrian Barker and Bark & Jack 

Adrian Barker got started on YouTube as Bark & Jack in 2017 with a video entitled “ Comparing: Rolex Submariner, Explorer and Explorer 1” (at least that is the oldest video showing on his account, posted eight years ago.) Since then, the YouTube channel has gained great traction and Adrian’s voice has become one people listen to with great attention whenever looking for advice on the global horological market, his impressions of watches doing hands-on reviews of popular models, and for the quality of the production of his videos which has also greatly evolved from the casual kitchen setup to the meticulously decorated and slightly hipsterish studio. And it is common for content creators to support their outlets by way of selling merchandise of all sorts, from coffee mugs and t-shirts to straps and watch rolls, and even though Adrian does sell mugs, t-shirt, key chains and strap changing tools, his store is mostly known for his affordable quality straps (a second spoiler alert) which have of course made me very curious. 

You see, in the past I’ve tested and bought straps sold by so-called watch “experts” (a definition they attribute to themselves or which others attribute to them) but their products generally didn’t meet the hype they generated themselves about their own products. For having a YouTube channel, online magazine, or a 50K-strong Instagram account does not automatically make anyone an expert in anything, let alone designing and getting good straps manufactured. More often than not, their products are paired with too high of price tags to make them appealing, or they are positioned as being good-value items whose meager price does indeed equal meager quality. And in other instances, their designs are too commonplace and can often be traced back to an AliExpress or Temu models they got rebranded and to which they applied a 5X price factor. (This is more common than you might want to believe.) From the get-go, Bark & Jack straps were fairly priced (they were a few years back and more so today) and looked good in photos. So…

…I bought a first one for I was seduced by the attention that was poured over their online presentation (great photography and a clean website) and detailed specifications. Then I bought a second one, and a third, and so on as the story goes. 

Specifications & Design 

Even though price is not the whole story when buying everything and anything, it does matter a lot when speaking about watch accessories. For one reason or another, if you are into micro and small independent horology, your goal is not to spend more on a single strap than you spent on the watch it will be paired with. And there are very cheap and fairly nice straps available online I often purchase too because I can buy ten of them without even blinking, and there are expensive ones I have never even considered purchasing because I cannot wrap my head around spending $80 USD of my hard-earned digital cash for a single-pass strap, however good it might be. My subjective mind one day decided that a range between $15 and $35 USD is ideal for one strap and that I should expect decent quality at this price point, and if I’m lucky, a bit of originality in design. The Bark & Jack Ribbed Nylon and Seventy30 straps come down to $38 USD a piece, which is slightly above my arbitrary price limit however, as we will see, more than justified. 

The first thing that should be said about Bark & Jack straps is that most of them are not original from a design standpoint. And it makes sense. Adrian is primarily a tool-watch collector who routinely talks about the history of brands and models in great depth—which is one of the many reasons why I have been watching his channel with such loyalty for so many years—and who seems to be searching for a certain horological experience himself. E.g. a good diver with a timeless design and great specifications paired with a robust, water-resistant, and comfortable nylon strap. It’s a bit niche, however many of us are also looking for that same experience because that is how many adventurers, underwater explorers, and pioneers of various scientific and human-defining domains wore their tool watches and that is something that deeply appeals to Adrian (I assume) which also greatly appeals to you and yours truly. Thus, he must have gone to the roots of what made specific straps unique and timeless to make good modern versions of them.  

Which is why his first collection was an Admiralty Grey G10 seatbelt nylon straps as commissioned, with more or less exactitude, by the British Ministry of Defense in the early 1970s. I owned a couple of these and they have been great wrist companions for many casual and more adrenaline-infused adventures, however they came with one major flaw (which might explain why Bark & Jack has been slowly phasing them out): they suck at being wet for they stretch and make the watch glide on the wrist as if walking barefoot on a puddle of oil. This ain’t good for a strap that ought to be paired with a robust tool watch to do all sorts of things with. Which is why, I assume once more, Adrian moved to Tubular and Ribbed nylon straps which are thinner, more robust, and better at handling water and getting soiled. In the photos drizzling this review you can see two of them, the Stone Grey and Drift Khaki (a new color) Ribbed Nylon straps, paired with two of my favorite tool watches: the Benrus DTU-2A/P and Laco Flieger Pro Stuttgart 37mm. 

These are the straps I have been wearing the most with my tool watches whenever doing something that involves travel, outdoorsy activities, or water-bound ones, for they come with two major benefits: (1) they can get wet and keep their shape (meaning they barely stretch) which makes them ideal for swimming, diving, or even washing the car on the weekend; (2) they can easily be washed if oil, grease, dirt, and even gasoline falls onto the fabric. All of this utilitarian goodness is made possible by the tight ribbed nylon weave (a mix of plain and purl stitching patterns) which create tight rows of 1.4mm-thick fabric which is robust enough to not tear and stretch, yet thin enough to be comfortable sitting against the skin. The Ribbed Nylon straps come with the traditional two-lawyers of fabric to guarantee maximum on-wrist safety, complemented by brushed stainless steel hardware, including a floating keeper towards the buckle itself made of a branded fully-brushed steel, heat-sealed round holes, and a single length of 300mm. 

Then there is Bark & Jack’s latest collection and the first showing a unique pattern: the Seventy30, whose name stems for its construction made of 70% high-strength synthetic polyester and 30% natural cotton, a unique combo making the strap durable and soft. Even though polyester and nylon are both synthetic polymers, and that nylon is known for its robustness and superior resistance to wear and tear and higher degree of comfort, polyester is far better at repelling liquids and it dries faster, two essential qualities a strap be paired with tool watches should have. Thus, mixing this better material with natural cotton preserves the fabric’s most essential qualities and adds a higher degree of on-the-skin softness. (The Seventy30 is the only strap I can bear wearing too tight when a tighter grip seems appropriate.) Akin to the Ribbed Nylon, the fabric is 1.4mm thick which makes it neither too bulky nor too flimsy, and is further equipped with the same quality hardware, floating keeper, heat-sealed holes, and 300mm length. 

P.S. I paired the new Seventy30 Field Green with my awesome Wolbrook Skindiver 38 Date and the Natural Beige with my go-to tool watch, the Tornek-Rayville Type 7B ‘BlakJak.”

Conclusion 

Bark & Jack straps could have easily ended up being the same as those supposedly designed and manufactured by other popular content creators, magazines, and even watch brands: good on paper, crappy on the wrist. I was skeptical at first of Adrian’s business venture into strap-making, because it could have been all-hype and zero quality, however he prices his straps so aggressively—considering the quality of the fabric, construction, and hardware—that it made the decision of taking a couple of them for a spin a few years back an easy one. And I for one am glad I did because his straps are the shit, and for $38 USD a piece, you really cannot go wrong with them. This is why I’ve been wearing the Ribbed Nylon and Seventy30 straps a lot and for a long time, for they constitute the perfect companion for my tool watches, as Adrian intended for them to be so. 

Thanks for reading.