Due to their high strength-to-weight ratio, fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are widely used as structural components in the aerospace, automotive, and marine industries. Composite structures are typically composed of multiple parts which are connected using adhesive joints. The most efficient adhesive joints use tapered adherends where the taper reduces the adherend stiffness over the length of the joint thereby reducing peak shear stresses in the adhesive layer. Typically the tapers are produced through secondary machining or stepped ply terminations. This research investigates an alternative method of reducing the adherend stiffness over the length of the joint through fiber tow steering (FTS). The performance of a double FTS strap joint is compared with a standard double-strap joint as well as double step-taper strap joint. The results show that while the FTS joint showed a 12% increase in capacity in comparison to the standard double-strap joint it showed much lower strength in comparison with the step-taper joint due to the presence of high peel stresses at the ends of the FTS joint. Experimental results in conjunction 1-D shear lag modeling and FE modeling are presented.