First, a few reviews exist of straps but they didn't really help me only be able to buy one. I still ended up buying two strap and a cart before I figured out what worked best for me. Maybe this review will help some people save a few bucks and buy only one item.
If you aren't familiar with these straps, you can visit their product pages here:
Tom Bihn Absolute Shoulder Strap:
http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/ACC/TB0505
Red Oxx Claw Shoulder Strap:
http://www.redoxx.com/Cool-Luggage-A...aw/170/Product
Second- I've recently switched to the one bag method of travel, and tried a few bags before I landed on the Red Oxx Air Boss. Great bag, and I'm a total one bag convert now, but I'm a big guy (6'2, Size 50 suits, size 14 shoes, etc.) and although it fits what I need for most trips, it was heavy when I was done. Even with bringing very minimal 'stuff' and doing lots of laundry in the hotel it was around 23 pounds with my netbook in there. Doesn't matter how big you are, that gets heavy walking through a large airport.
I picked up one of those Samsonite Micro Mover folding carts, which is very cool, but it takes up more room in my bag than I had hoped, and went back to lugging it.
To make sure I had the best possible shoulder strap, I purchased a Tom Bihn Absolute Strap to compare it to the 'claw' strap that comes with the Air Boss. I used the claw for the outbound portion of my last trip, and the absolute for the return. Here are my comments.
Claw:
Summary: Just plain refuses to come off your shoulder. In fact, when I had my suit jacket and a trench overtop of it, it's actually HARD to get the claw strap to un-bunch itself from the material and remove itself from your shoulder. This is really nice compared to many of the nylon or leather straps I've used in the past. It is skinny and did not really do a good job of distributing the weight on my shoulder or padding it. Even with the suit jacket and trench, my bag still felt heavy and somewhat painful.
Pros: Absolutely positively won't slip off your shoulder. Built really well- the buckles and adjustment points are heavy duty stainless steel that I could probably tow my car with. Least expensive of the two straps ($20 vs $30), and included by default with the Air Boss. No stitching to come un-done or rip over the years, it's made of molded rubber around a nylon webbing strap.
Cons: Poor weight distribution - it's too skinny and has no padding beyond the molded sticky-rubber. If my bag was 12-18 pounds it would probably be perfect for me. The hardware is heavy-duty, but not very 'polished' - I felt like I was going to cut my hand on the edge of the strap adjustment ring.
Tom Bihn Absolute Strap:
Overview: Looks much less unique than the claw when you first take it out of the box. Nylon, neoprene, galvanized-looking black buckles and adjusters. However once you snap it on to your bag, it makes up for all of that. The neoprene is just the right width to distribute the weight well. The underside (shoulder contact points) are rubberized to keep it from slipping off. Not totally rubber like the claw, but rubberized. You don't have to struggle to get it off your shoulder if you are wearing a coat. It did find myself doing a little re-adjustment every few minutes of walking because it moved a little, but that's still less than the readjustment I was doing with the claw because the claw hurt. My ~23 pound load on my return flight felt like it was 1/2 the weight as it was outbound with the Red Oxx Claw. The combination of padding at the contact points along with the 'springiness' of the neoprene segment acts as a two-way shock absorber, taking much of the pinch and jolting action out of the weight as you walk with it. I can't imagine fitting enough in the air boss now with the absolute strap to need the samsonite rolling cart. My vote for future trips, without a doubt is the Absolute Strap. Now... if I had a bag that weighed 10 pounds less and needed to run through the airport in a t-shirt, I'd probably pull out the claw.
Pros: Thick padded contact points with a wider strap than the Claw. Neoprene shoulder section has spring/give to it, allowing the bag to 'bounce' (not even so much that you notice it, but enough to make a difference in weight) so that added pressure from your stride is absorbed by the neoprene, not by your shoulder. More elegant hardware than the claw, no sharp edges, more business-like black matte look. The stitching is heavy duty and I expect this to last a long time. Long enough that at 6'2 I had maybe 5" of extra strap after finding a comfortable setting. Magically reduces what feels like 10 pounds from your bag.
Cons: $30 plus ($6 ground) shipping that took 9 days to arrive on the east coast. Could have a -little- bit more or stickier rubber on the underside (20%?) to keep it in place more snugly.
Bottom Line: If you need a strap that never-ever will come off your shoulder, and you don't have a heavy load or can deal with shoulder pain, the Red Oxx Claw Strap is for you. If you have a heavy load and want it to be comfortable and feel lighter, go with the Tom Bihn Absolute Strap.