ToxicNATOs

[Baco Noir]

toxicavenger lives about 60 miles south of me and I met him on another forum and a local GTG a few months ago. He's former military and now a govt contractor, but through his love of watches found out about NATOs and never found one he liked, so he remedied that by starting his own business. He's doing it at night out of the house, but has found some suppliers he likes and has a few different materials he's using and different styles he's offering. I just bought two of his Toxic N8O models.

The problems I've had with NATOs in the past is that they are either too thick and stiff or too thin and flimsy. This thickness seems to be perfect. Also, the NATOs can be so short that they barely fold over to tuck the tail back in neatly.

I think these are 1.2mm thick IIRC and they are 290mm long (measuring from the sewn in buckle to the tail). With that length and thickness, there is plenty of tail to tuck in and it folds over on itself neatly rather than in a big fat loop like the thicker ones do, but it's also thick enough that it does not feel flimsy.

The hardware on this are really nice too. Rather than the super thick oval rings, these are thinner and more elegant looking rectangles with chamfered corners.

I have to say that these are the best NATOs I've had to date and these are his "standard" models. I know he has started using the seatbelt style material as well as has a new herringbone pattern too. Next time I see him at a GTG, I'm going to see some of his others ones in person and decide on what I want next.

Here's some pics of the "incoming" and some of the little "extra" things he does to set himself apart from the competition.

[CHIP]

Those look good, and the packaging is awesome.

I like the theme, and the bag and candy are just awesome.

Use that bag next time you carry liquids through airport security, then update us here on what happened to you. LOL

[Baco Noir]

^^^ lol. Those candies are SOUR - crazy sour.

Pretty sure Terry farts in each bag before shipping, thus the biohazard bag

[toxicavenger]

Hahaha thanks Roger and great review.

We are working on some more straps designs as we speak. But my wallet is super small so it takes time to get stuff done in a timely manner.

I will keep you updated on some of the things coming out.

Thanks again brother, and I will see you at the next GTG!!!

[shawndl5]

I just ordered a couple straps from him. I'm looking forward to getting them in.

[aerome]

Me too! Just ordered two and will update the gang! Thanks Roger, for the plug.

[Baco Noir]

Feb 7, 2017 17:00:17 GMT -6 shawndl5 said:

I just ordered a couple straps from him. I'm looking forward to getting them in.

Feb 7, 2017 21:02:28 GMT -6 aerome said:

Me too! Just ordered two and will update the gang! Thanks Roger, for the plug.

Which model(s) did you order and what do you think?  

[shawndl5]

Feb 26, 2017 13:26:55 GMT -6 Baco Noir said:

Feb 7, 2017 17:00:17 GMT -6 shawndl5 said:

I just ordered a couple straps from him. I'm looking forward to getting them in.

Feb 7, 2017 21:02:28 GMT -6 aerome said:

Me too! Just ordered two and will update the gang! Thanks Roger, for the plug.

Which model(s) did you order and what do you think?  

Thanks for the reminder, Roger.
I ordered the black and gray UNO ZULU and a orange Duo N8O. I ordered the them for my Seiko SKX007
My first thought was how stiff the material was, but it is slowly starting to break in. The black and gray Zulu has been the main one I've been wearing, because it matches my watch perfectly and is a great length. It has just enough tail left over to fold back on itself but not so much it looks messy.
The orange duo strap is really nice and looks great, my only complaint on it is the fold over for the spring bars to go through is a really tight fit. It takes some struggle to get the bars in and out. That being said, once the bar is in and mounted on the watch it looks good and wears comfortably.

[Baco Noir]

Hummm, those are different models than the ones I got which where his standard Toxic N8Os. Looking at his descriptions, the ones you got were both made from a thicker 1.4mm nylon used in his Tough Sh!t NATOs, so I can see why they are stiffer.

For the Duo N8O, I don't know if it would help the fit, but he does sell some curved springbars for Seikos that have a tight spacing between the springbars and case.

If you want to try out one of this standard Toxic N8Os to get a feel for the 1.2mm material - very pliable - I'd be happy to send one to you to try out for a while.

On another note, one piece of feedback I gave him on his website was that since he has so many different types of material he uses for his NATOs, he needs a chart that clearly shows the differences in material decades his descriptions are more funny than informative.

[shawndl5]

I have thought about trying out some new springbars to see if that would help. As for the thickness, after the first couple times wearing it, I barely notice it any more.
I think a chart would be useful when looking.

[Baco Noir]

I picked up an orange Toxic N8O and the grey stripe ShizNit N8O (herringbone). No idea where these names come from.

Which version do you think looks best?

Charcoal



Grey



Orange



Striped herringbone

[shawndl5]

I like the herringbone

[Baco Noir]

For me, I think orange and black/grey herringbone are a tie, followed by charcoal and then the grey.

[aquajoe]

As much as I love orange, the grey is tops here.

[shawndl5]

None of them would be a bad choice any day