I bought a set of these awhile back and the ends are soft or so hard they are brittle, however you want to look at it. I had an extra pack of Arrma ends so I cut them to the length of the ones that came on the GPM buckles and threaded them on. Holding up really well so far. Note that only the Arrma ends made for the back have a hole to fit the GPM ones. Ar330230 is the part number for the ends I used.