"Doug White" wrote in message
. ..
"Paul K. Dickman" wrote in
:

Check Ohio travel bag.
They may have the hardware.
http://www.ohiotravelbag.com/
Unfortunately their online catalog is some annoying "Flash" software.
but if you rummage around long enough, you just might get what you
need.

OTB has a lot of really useful hardware. If you could meet a minimum
order, they used to sell to individuals. The last time I checked, you
had to have a business account to buy from them. I built a number of
cases using their hinges, handles, feet & latches. Much better stuff
than you could get from any other hardware source I've ever found.

Now, if you are an individual, you have to purchase through someone with
an account. Any luggage repair shop should do, I just haven't bothered
to hunt one down. Because of the minimum order requirement, I bought a
LOT of extras when I found something I liked. They have a form you can
fill out & they will send you a list of local vendors.

I've got a Zero Halliburton aluminum camera case I've used as a pistol
box for about 35 years, and the latches are getting tired. I filled out
the form, and I'll see if I can find someone easy to deal with who
handles their stuff locally. I'm sure I can get new latches from Zero,
but this is a good excuse to find a way to get other OTB products, and
probably cheaper than Zero will sell them.

On the orignal topic, I used to have a sort of minimalist briefcase that
used the same mechanism. It was a bit bigger than the average fishing
creel. The mechanism had four stiff straps. Each side consisted of two
straps with a piece of flat spring steel connecting them in the middle.
The two sides were hinged on the ends. Unfortunately, I can't quite
remember the details of the hold-open mechanism. I think there was a
flat leaf spring and some sort of cam that had a flat spot located where
it sat agaisnt the spring when the sides were opened.

Doug White

I forgot about those. Yep. The same mechanism and about the same strength.
I think a trip to Staples is in order.