Of course, for the record I don't own a pair - I always deadlift raw, particularly because i'm too lazy to buy a pair, and my grip and forearms are good.
There was a period in 2005 where I used straps for 12 weeks (a mate of mine had them, and because we trained for MMA together, we trained with weights together in that block) I regularly mix my training up, but my favorite training style (particularly for blowing up) are super setting/tri setting/drop setting every massive compound.
Eg, Chinups (+15kg), Chinups (+10kg), Chinups (+5kg), Chinups (Bodyweight - which was 93.5kg at the time) (2-3 sets) with maybe 5-10 seconds between for the changeover in weight. Follow that with pullups, dips, shrugs & pressing etc. The straps in this case helped not because my grip was necessarily weak, but the sheer fatigue induced by this type of training to both your grip and forearms. Different bodies respond differently to training (funnily enough, the psychological side of things can often make or break it - we spent so much time fine tuning nutrition and training, that the third variable, mindset, is often neglected). So I always suggest to everyone to take time to find their niche and tweak it (it will always revolve around compounds, no matter what, however). But yes, after being skeptical with regards to the use of aids (and having the mentality of 'if you need to use them, you need to get your test levels checked') that training block had a profound impact on the way I thought of them - and to not be so condescending if people chose to use them.
Those were the days. Saturdays comprised of eat, MMA training 3-4 hrs (liquid meal in between) meal, resistance/strength 45-60 mins, eat, power nap, eat, pop a nut on the missus or by myself if she had sand in her vagina on that particular day, eat, eat, sleep. I digress, but I also reminisce