Something that I personally value in a 1911 is front strap checkering. It's attractive and offers great grip. For a while, I was looking for a gunsmith who could checker my Springfield MC Operator, purchased from another user here, but I didn't want to be without it for months on end or pay comical amounts of money on shipping. The only aspect about the MC Operator I didn't like was how the rubber-grip models came with a smooth front strap, but I could live with it. Talon Grips made it easy. However I just couldn't stand the look and feel of any of the three textures offered. My favorite is the Pro texture, which I sport on my HK45C, but it looks so awful on the green frame and is so thick that pinning it under the grips resulted in a pretty wide gap. Eventually I settled on a very thin strip of granulate centered down the front strap. It was alright, I guess, still never really liked the granulate.

One Tuesday night I was up much too late and scrolling away at youtube about checkering, grip tape, etc. when I stumbled on a video showcasing a pretty unique product, the "1911 SnakeStrap". It's an add-on for the front strap of your 1911 made of genuine rattlesnake skin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHsG796Ak2o

I was intrigued. This was new to me. I had 30 bucks to spare, so... I ordered one. I opted for the black color to match with the slide and grip panels of my MC Operator. RJ, the owner of SnakeStrap, uses vegetable dyes to turn the snakeskin black (the dye will rub off onto your hands for a while. A week in, I am still getting black dye on my hands, but RJ says that this is temporary and expected). There is also a "natural" color that is undyed that I would love to see on something like an M45A1.

No one was talking about it. I never found any reviews or pictures, so I'm putting mine up to help spread the word. I'm a big fan of the SnakeStrap now.

https://1911snakestrap.com/

It took a bit longer to get than I would have liked, but RJ was quick to respond to my email and apologized for the delay in shipping. All in all it took about two weeks to get, but my smooth front strap wasn't going anywhere. I didn't mind the wait.



The kit that RJ sends out contains the snakeskin piece, small paintbrush, adhesive, a fresh razorblade, and a sticker. One thing that RJ stresses in the install videos is that you've gotta go slowly, it's not as forgiving as Talon Grips. You spread a thin coat of adhesive on both the 1911 front strap and the back of the SnakeStrap, then let it dry for a few minutes. RJ recommends using a pencil to mark where the top curve of the Strap will sit before applying the glue, because once you stick these two together, it's an instant bond, so go slowly. I forgot to do this, so I wound up working from the bottom. Once it's on, use your razorblade to trim away any excess from the windows and the magwell.



All that was left was to put the grips back on, and I was pretty satisfied with the final result.



Compared to Talon Grips, the SnakeStrap is hair-thin (as you might expect from snakeskin) and doesn't interfere with the grips to a significant degree. The vertical texture is smooth, but the lateral texture is very grippy. Pair this with some checkered wood from Hogue or G10 and you have a solid package without any checkering files involved. It's pretty attractive as well, even as black against the green frame. I want to see these cut for P226s and Berettas in the future.

Do I think the SnakeStrap is worth thirty bucks when you can get a Talon front strap for five or six dollars? Well, the SnakeStrap came with its entire kit and shipped free. Talon doesn't come with a free heat gun either. You be the judge. But even if you really like Talon or just rock skateboard tape on your smooth front strap, I think there's a pretty cool product here and for carry and range play, this is my personal favorite of any other front strap add-on I've tried. I will update this review when the ammunition budget affords it.

Thanks for reading!
Kyle

Great review Kyle! I really like the look of the product! What are the removal instructions if you decide to take it off? Have you read any review on long term durability of the snakeskin?

I haven't seen any removal instructions personally but the glue itself rubs off easily with fingers, like Talon's glue. There's absolutely zero discussion about SnakeStrap, I think this might be the first, so no user reviews, but RJ says that he's been putting these on his 1911s and they last years. We'll see how it goes, but I don't feel any play and that glue is no joke.

So for those like me that didn't click the link right away, this is actual rattlesnake skin. I'm genuinely intrigued.

I ought to make that more abundantly clear, will update.

I decided to order one of these.

If you scroll to the bottom of their website and sign up for their newsletter then you get ten percent off your first order and it's free shipping so that brings the total down to $26.99.

Good eye. Share pics when you get it!

This will go very nice with my mastodon tusk grips!

Wondering what “non tanned” is? Didn’t come up with much on a google search.

Great review. I have 2 1911's that don't have front strap checkering. I wish they did.

Interesting product, thanks for sharing..