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The other day I was getting ready to take our annual trip camping at Backbone State Park and was tying down some camping equipment to the top of my SUV. I needed something to tie down the equipment so I went to the back of my truck and grabbed my cam buckle strap.
I threw the strap over the top of the vehicle to my wife on the other side (so I wouldn't break the window of course). After looping the strap a few times and using additional straps, it seemed I had it laid out pretty well to keep everything from moving. I proceeded to pull the strap through the cam buckle to tighten it down and noticed I could not tighten it to my satisfaction. So in frustration, I hollered out "Man, I wish I had a ratchet strap right about now!" My wife quickly rebutted with "What is the difference?"
I told her that a cam buckle works on the basis of a pull to tighten method. It is good to have cam straps in case you are hauling some delicate cargo that cannot be crushed or you are tying down something that you don't want to crush. They are very handy for camping expeditions when you need a quick fix or need to tie something down in a hurry as they are very quick to pull-tighten and it is done.
A ratchet strap will keep tightening as long as you keep cranking the handle so if you need something really tight, a ratchet strap will give you the extra leverage you need. However, it can cause problems when you secure delicate cargo as it may actually crush your items if you don't watch your tension carefully. Ratchet straps also tend to be stronger as they have the webbing actually wrapped around mandrel of the ratchet and the handle can be locked into position. A cam buckle holds the webbing by "pinching" it between a ridged base and the teeth of the lever. Not as strong as the ratchet mechanism.
I readjusted the straps to put the cam buckle on a flat surface with a little room in front of it and back of it. This allowed me to get better leverage and pull it to tightness that I was satisfied with. In the end, I secured my camping gear with my cam buckle strap (still wished for a ratchet strap in this case though) and I only had to argue with my wife for a few minutes. Not bad for a Friday afternoon.
An experienced owner-operator, Scott Brunson now helps members of the transportation industry each day as a product specialist for US Cargo Control, an online retailer of logistic straps and other cargo securement products. Find what you're looking for at US Cargo Control today, http://www.uscargocontrol.com/Ratchet-Straps-Tie-Downs.
