⚡ Ships within 5 business days — Orders under 10 pieces ship fast. We machine these in-house and are often faster.
IMPORTANT NOTE! The Pin Ladder Lock offers an absurdly durable alternative to plastic buckles that can be installed without any sewing. This CNC machined aluminum buckle is lighter than most plastic side release buckles but seriously stronger.
Three installation options:
- Pins come uninstalled (for retrofit) — Press pins in through existing webbing loops using a bench vise or Knipex Plier Wrench. No sewing required.
- Pins come installed (requires sewing) — For new bag builds. Sew webbing loops around the installed pins.
- Screw Variant — Uses an M3 screw to retain the pins. Comes with an Allen key. More expensive due to CNC time, but you can remove and reinstall on a new bag later.
Buckle Specs: Designed for 1" webbing · Sold in pairs of 2 · Machined from billet aluminum · Titanium or stainless steel pin options
Sometimes our anodizer takes extra time to ship, which can affect lead times.
*Austere Manufacturing buckles are tough, but they're not meant for anything safety-critical. DO NOT use these buckles, straps, or any other Austere Manufacturing product in any application where a failure or malfunction could cause damage, injury, or death. Our products are NOT certified, and we cannot provide any guarantee of their suitability for any particular purpose.
I thought the version with the screw post would be better but I think I'd like the variant with the press fit post better since the screw sticks out and detracts from the aesthetic.
Simple, yet genius. Really cool upgrade, form and function. I love them, would highly recommend.
I purchased these pin ladder locks because I liked the idea of switching my backpack’s to something that wasn’t plastic. They look beautiful and were easy to put on. Unfortunately installing them requires destroying the previous ones and after replacing them, I found my backpack straps will no longer stay at the correct position (the straps slowly slip over time). So these essentially made my backpack worse.
Totally understood it could be my fault (despite seeing for almost 30 years and making bags for 20), so I contacted customer service. Unfortunately after messaging them on 6/26 I received no response, so I tried again 7/1 and finally received a request for a photo, which I provided same day. Since providing a photo I have received no reply despite contacting customer service an additional two times.
Total times I contacted the company:
6/26
7/1 (received initial response)
7/2
7/8
7/14
I find this very frustrating and irresponsible, especially because as I said, replacing these with Austere’s 1) inherently involves destroying the originals and 2) nothing in the product description states it will only work with some straps or how to find out which it won’t work with (besides ensuring you have the correct size which I do)
Added these to my GoRuck backpacks, and they're absolutely amazing!
These definitely are an awesome addition to my OG Kletterwerks backpack. I am going to have to get some more for other bags.