I use nylon webbing camera straps with a lot of mine and to be honest they seem to work just fine. They may not be the very last word in comfort but I hardly notice it when wearing a coat, and they're pretty durable. 1.5 inch width seems to go well with x40s and x42s, I use 0.5 inch for my light 8x30 porros and I guess a one inch wide strap would suit the larger modern 8x32s.
When you said Namibia the first thing I thought of was lots of wind and sand, in combination probably the worst situation you could use a binocular in. I had to wonder how your FL would have withstood the same treatment. If I had to bird in such an environment I'd be seriously tempted to purchase a military grade binocular. There's no doubt that some conditions are much much harder on equipment than others - and most birders seldom if ever have to contend with them, but somenutters dedicated folks do.
When you said Namibia the first thing I thought of was lots of wind and sand, in combination probably the worst situation you could use a binocular in. I had to wonder how your FL would have withstood the same treatment. If I had to bird in such an environment I'd be seriously tempted to purchase a military grade binocular. There's no doubt that some conditions are much much harder on equipment than others - and most birders seldom if ever have to contend with them, but some