The Bosun canvas rubber watch strap for 20, 22 and 24 mm lugs

Canvas on top, rubber underneath

The Bosun is a two-piece strap: a buckle piece and a long piece with the holes, each with a straight end for your watch's spring bars. The top layer is woven canvas with a visible, slightly coarse weave, the look of a classic field strap. It sits on a black silicone rubber base. The base forms the underside that touches your wrist and runs around the canvas as a thin black border, and the keepers that hold the tail are black as well.

Against your skin you get rubber instead of leather or cloth, so sweat stays on the surface and wipes off, and a wet band dries without a soggy lining. That makes the Bosun an easy pick for a dive watch on vacation, a field watch on a hike or a steel sports watch that usually wears a bracelet.

Each color comes in two versions, and the name tells you which buckle you get:

• Olive, Black, Navy, Gray, Khaki, Red and Orange: the canvas in that color with a silver-tone pin buckle.
• Olive/Black, Navy/Black, Gray/Black, Khaki/Black, Red/Black and Orange/Black: the same canvas with a matte black pin buckle.
• All Black: black canvas with the black buckle, the most low-key version.

Olive and Khaki are the traditional field colors. Black, Navy and Gray go with almost any dial, and Red and Orange bring some color to a black dive bezel.

Widths, length and the 20 mm colors

The Bosun comes in 20, 22 and 24 mm. Order the width that matches the gap between your watch's lugs, measured from one inside edge to the other. Many watches up to about 40 mm take 20 mm. Larger divers and field watches often take 22 mm, the Seiko SKX007 among them, and 24 mm suits big pilot and sports cases with wide lugs. The 22 mm band narrows to 20 mm at the buckle, so the buckle end is a little slimmer than the end at the watch.

Not every color comes in every width. In 20 mm, the black, gray and olive canvas come with the black buckle only: All Black, Gray/Black and Olive/Black. All Black isn't made in 22 mm. The product page only offers the combinations you can order.

The long piece measures 4.7 in (120 mm) and the buckle piece 3.1 in (80 mm). Lay your current two-piece band flat and measure both pieces: if they come close to these numbers, the Bosun will close on your wrist in about the same hole. The watch case counts toward the total length too, so the same band closes on a slightly larger wrist when it sits on a big dive case than on a small dress watch.

For 18, 19 or 21 mm lugs, browse our watch bands by lug width. Our fit guide shows how to measure your lug width and your wrist.

Fitting it to your watch

The Bosun is made for quick-release spring bars, which have a small lever that lets you change bands by hand. Work over a soft cloth, so a slipped bar or a dropped watch lands safely:

1. Pull the lever on the spring bar toward the middle of the band and set one tip of the bar in a lug hole.
2. Line up the other tip with the opposite hole and let go of the lever.
3. Fit the buckle piece at 12 o'clock and the long piece at 6 o'clock.
4. Tug each piece gently to check that both tips of every bar have clicked into place.

On plain spring bars without a lever, use a spring bar tool instead. The Bosun fits watches with standard straight lugs. It does not fit a watch with an integrated bracelet or a smartwatch that uses its own connector.

Care after rain, sweat and salt water

Silicone rubber doesn't take up water, and the canvas dries in the air after rain or a swim. Salt and chlorine are what wear a fabric band down over time, so rinse the Bosun under the tap after the beach or the pool, press the water out with a towel and leave it to dry flat, away from a heater or a hot dashboard. The band doesn't change your watch's water resistance, so check the watch's own rating before you swim with it.

Canvas collects dirt in its weave. A soft toothbrush with a drop of dish soap lifts it out; rinse the soap away afterwards. Khaki and Orange show grime first, while the darker colors hide it longer. If you'd rather have a band that is rubber all the way through, see our rubber watch straps.

Delivery and returns

Delivery is $6.95, or free on orders over $49. The delivery time for your country shows on each product page and at checkout.

You can return an unworn band in its original packaging within 30 days of delivery. Return shipping is paid by you, unless the item arrived faulty or incorrect. Read the full terms on our delivery and returns page.