Step-by-Step: How to Use a Conway Buckle

Buckles come in all shapes and sizes! Unlike a typical pants buckle, the Conway buckle (or harness buckle) used on our Blueprint Tubeis operated a little differently. 

In this post, we'll explain the uses of the Conway buckle and step-by-step guide on how to buckle with it. 

The Conway buckle is an essential piece of horse tack and saddlery. This unique buckle was designed originally for harnesses: 

• Facilitates easy on-and-off fastening without having to actuate or fully disengage the buckle
• Allows a strap to be securely adjusted (tightened or loosened) from a center post in both directions: from the left and right sides
• Durable: cast as one single piece of metal with no moving parts that can break
• Depending on leather thickness and buckle size: the belt (or strap) can potentially be wrapped around the belt around more than twice, allowing you to halve the amount of excess belt on smaller cinches
• The buckle is particularly flexible, allowing heavier straps to be secure without excess wear and tear
• Flat, minimal profile on the strap

We use the Conway buckle on our Blueprint Tube because it has a minimal profile and allows for the shoulder strap's slack to be used for opening and closing the lid while keeping the Conway buckle secured.

Who was the Conway buckle named for? 

The design was typically referred to as a harness buckle prior to the early 1900's but was in Army catalogs as a Conway buckle as early as 1916. Historians suspect it was named after Frederick Conway, who filed a patent for a modified design in 1882. 

Here’s a step-by-step photo guide to a basic everyday wrap using a bandana:

We hope you enjoy learning about this clever and underutilized buckle design! It has a lot of great features and an elegant design. 

We'd love to hear about your experience with the Conway buckle - leave us a comment below!