7 Ratchet Strap Pro Tips

So whether big or small, a

ratchet

strap

is a modern marvel that is both super convenient and super frustrating when you decide to grab a

ratchet

strap

once you find it and use it to securely tie down a load, first thing. What do you have to think about? The question is how do I unspool this from the last time I used it, now this is the way I normally do it so at least you have a chance to put this into play without a bunch of knots in the line which is element one To the next one.

The puzzle is how do I tie The Bitter End of This, which by the way almost always has some kind of hook, how do I tie it to the other side of my truck or trailer, or to the headache rack or whatever I'm securing ? load it up and keep it there while I work back to this side to operate the windlass, so on trailers or at least heavy duty trailers you often have two alternatives to tying a ratchet strap to the trailer, there is often a small hook and often there is a pocket for stakes. A stake pocket is a friendlier solution if the hook is small enough to pass through the stake pocket, because if you hook it like that, gravity becomes your friend.

Now you have encountered the opposite problem and this is what you are trying to solve. hook the hook on a hook and go to the other side and when you get there it will have come off, so you have to bring your girlfriend or call a friend or get a kid or you know, do whatever you want. An alternative if you don't have meat pockets or if the hook is too big to fit through the pocket is to use the eye of the hook instead of the hook, sometimes gravity will hold the thing there while you go to the other side of the trailer and tighten it, like this which is my preferred way to drop the hook through the stake pocket, bam, go back to the other side of the trailer and do whatever you want because it won't come loose until you remove it, so now we're back to the action side live of what we are trying to achieve, that is, I can see, manipulate and play with where the action will happen after running it without wind and pointing it at the other side of the load. maintain tension operate The Windlass slick now here's a big problem and that is if you're running a tight piece of nylon tape across the edge of something sharp like the top of that plywood and if you don't give it a twist line and if you travel a considerable distance through the fast-moving 70 mile per hour wind that blows here, you get the right resonance and it sways and vibrates and cuts itself in half.

I almost cut my ratchet strap two days ago when I took this up north, I didn't turn the line around and when I got there I thought, hypocrite, you know, take a little of your own medicine once in a while and lend a little more of attention to safety, not just of the people around you. you, but for the safety of the strap itself, now let me drill a little deeper and the reason why a turn, half turn or a full turn in a long stretch without support, the reason that eliminates residence is because the wind does not push. the edge of a tight line, but it pushes on both sides and therefore pushing on both sides keeps it still and in fact safer for everyone on the road long before you get to this point of tying your load with your ratchet strap, if you have the luxury of having different size straps available, spend some time thinking about properly balancing your strap with the load.

I mean, ratchet straps come in a wide variety of sizes and capacities and we have two ends of the spectrum here. This means it's the smallest strap you'll ever come across and it handles this load quite well. This is a much larger, longer and heavier strap. It will hold a significant load and sometimes you really have to hold something. down and sometimes too much is always enough. I mean, it's like concrete. You never regret it when you have enough and as long as you can deal with the long, flexible end left after tying a short load with a long strap.

No harm, no foul, that's how I do it. The downside to this particular hook is that it won't go through this particular stake pocket, but if you're careful with this thicker, heavier strap, it will stay where it goes once you do. You have your load tied and you have the Twist and the line and everything tight and your hooks are there and everything is secure. You have to figure out what I do in this case with probably 20 feet of extra tape because If that thing comes loose on the freeway and gets under the tires, let's say it's a catastrophe, so something that I always use because it's fast and reliable is my old chain stitch, daisy chain or single knit crochet method that I use to store. my extension cords in this case are like this: the first move, like winding an extension cord, is to create the loop by pulling a bite, there is a bite, the bite goes along the line and another bite, another loop goes through there and now You're off to the races, just take a bite, take a bite, take a bite and then, because you don't want that conglomerate of Loops flying out from under the tire, you place the Loop in your left hand on the other side of the line . and take the new loop around the line, thus securing it to something that will keep it off the road and you do it again and wherever you want you do it again and then to finish you take The Bitter End, stick it on and give it a pull and Although it sounds like an OCD nightmare, it works so well that it takes no time and, most importantly, when you get to work, bam, you're already discharged.

I admit you don't see that snarl of straps wrapped around the leash. same going down the road very often what you see most often is something like this I can't even do it forget it, you just can't in a reasonable period of time with a leash as long as it secures The Bitter Terminate safely any other way, except sewing chains around the foot part, so you may have seen. I know I've seen situations where people don't know what to do with The Bitter End and just take the extreme and go somewhere down the road. trailer and just tie it, you know, with a knot, they just tie it to something you know with the Mickey Mouse series of half knots or whatever they do and that's fine, just make sure you do something to keep Bitter End from getting under it I get tired of towing when you're going down the highway at 60 miles an hour and destroying your world, exactly the same way I like to get my fuel, my gasoline on the way home from work instead of on the way to job.

I like to save time when I tie my loads and deploy the strap and take a little more time when I put them away because there are few things in life worth more than having to tie something and realizing you have a knot. on the rope or on the strap, now there are different ways to do it, you can put them in a five-gallon bucket. Some people sent us a really clever camouflage duffel bag method of getting the strap in there and it was admirable, but my one habit and what I'm convinced is best for me is to just roll them up like that and by the way, you'll find that the Strap manufacturers tend to make the length up to the locking hook somehow convenient for attaching things that might fall apart.

It might break down in the back of the truck, but at least it started out, you know, organized enough to be able to get the job done the next time I need it. Ratchet straps are fantastic, they will save you time and money. a shipwreck, but you probably have more ideas about things I don't know or that B forgot to mention in this video or the previous one, so you could put them in the comments because that's where we learned about the meat and potatoes. this channel now one more thing, no matter how good a ratchet strap is, it should never replace understanding knots, ropes and rigging, so don't stop because you can operate a ratchet strap, go ahead and get a piece of rope and learn to use it. that tool too, thanks for checking out Craftsman essential and keep up the good work.