Camera straps are on the front line of keeping your camera safe on the go. Most of us use the neck strap that comes with the camera, and they do a decent job. They also can also however, get in the way. For example, when shooting on a tripod you don’t necessarily need a strap. It can get in the way of your controls, flail in the wind, and is a huge snag risk.

Peak Design loves to address pain points, and they continuously address them incredibly well. Their solution here is the Anchor Links. Today we are going to give you five reasons why you should add the Peak Design Anchor Links to your camera. This accessory boasts a ton of value at an especially affordable price point, something we’re all about here. Let’s get started.

1) Quick Disconnecting

For those who aren’t aware, there are two parts to the Anchor Links that work together. You have a small circular link with some embedded Dyneema cord: this cord attaches to your camera. And the second component can be attached to a camera strap and connects with the circular link.

This turns your current camera strap in to a quick disconnect strap. And it is, in fact, very quick to remove! This makes it very easy to remove a camera strap when needed, and also swap between straps quickly. I like to have a wrist strap most of the time. However, occasionally, I switch to a neck strap to keep my hands free.

Before Anchor Links, I would have to go through the entire process of un-routing and re-routing the straps on the camera strap mounts. A super tedious process that I’m glad I will never need to do again. Those days are over!

Now I have Anchor Links on every camera that I want to have swappable or removable straps.

2) Single Hand Process

Part of what makes the links so quick to disconnect is that they can be done with just one hand. You simply depress the link inside of the link holder, and slide it outwards. Done! All with one hand.

Photographers have lots of things keeping their hands busy. We could be holding the camera itself, a lens cap, binoculars, a beer, anything! A one handed operation is always welcome and ensures you don’t have to stop everything you are doing to remove or replace straps.

Accessibility is not going to be a problem when using Anchor Links.

3) Custom Straps

Anchor links come included with all Peak Design camera straps. Their straps are great and probably deserve their own review. I use the Peak Design Slide Lite Camera Strap.

Back to the links. They are also sold alone which means they can be combined with your existing straps, or any other strap on the market.

Peak Design made sure you were not limited only to their strap selection.  I’ve even come across boutique camera strap stores selling straps with the Anchor Links preinstalled! Not only do you get a unique strap, but it is plug and play if you already have Anchor links on your camera.

I personally use a Joby wrist strap as my primary, with the Peak Design Slide Lite neck strap as an alternate.

4) Minimal Profile

A comparable product here would be classic buckles. Buckles work fine and all, but they aren’t a very clean solution. Nor are they as dependable. The slender plastic flexible clips can break after many cycles. Most of my buckles on backpacks that I own have broken if used under constant tension with many clip cycles.

Back to the looks, they’re a bit old school and busy in comparison. Peak Design Anchor Links offer a renewed, clean, and low profile solution. What else do we expect of modern camera gear and accessories?!

5) Durable and Safe

There are two main features that deserve highlighting here. Peak Design advertises that this product can support up to 200 lbs. of load! That’s a heavy rig. The average tripod is not rated over 25 lbs. But this speaks to these links’ ability to last very long. A large safety factor usually contributes to better fatigue performance over a longer time span.

Second, Peak Design has a clever way of making sure you know when it’s time to replace your links before an accident ever happens. The Dyneema cord attached to the link has a black exterior, and a yellow interior (or red, depending on which version you have). When the red or yellow interior is visible from the outside, this is a clear indicator that the strap needs replacing. No other strap manufacturer I know of has such a critically useful feature designed into their products.

This safety feature is supporting and protecting thousands of dollars worth of gear. For normal straps, you’ll just have to take a wild guess on how much wear you are willing to deal with. This point alone made the purchase easier than it already was.

Quick, easy, customizable, sleek, and safe. These 5 reasons make the Peak Design Anchor Links almost a no-brainer coming in at $19.99. In terms of affordable accessories, this one is at the top of the list! Not many items under $20 can offer as much convenience as these links.

Hope you learned something here today, and if you think there is a superior quick disconnect out there, I want to hear about it!