Anyone still use rope to tie things down?

[dragoneggs]

I use rope, ratchet straps and high quality bungee cords, it depends on what I am tying down. I use one type or a combination.

Com'n... no low quality bungees?

 

[stuckmotor]

Using rope for tie-downs requires knowledge. Using bungee cords requires none, and ratchet straps require a little.

An old sailor showed me how to secure a load of hay with a truckers hitch years ago. I don't think he told me whar it was called. Thanks James, now I know.
Stuck

 

[Wagtail]

Com'n... no low quality bungees?

Although 'bungee cord' is a familiar term here in Aus... of course we've got an alternate for them (and straight rubber straps with hooks), which is 'ocky straps'.

[Australian... it's English, but not as you know it! :laughing:]

 

[Deleted member 216442]

I have carried a tool bag with ratchet tie downs and ropes in my pickup trucks for the last 40 years or so. I generally choose rope as faster and easier. Tie downs are too much hassle to arrange, work, and store. I seldom use them. I also see them along the road when they loosen, flap, and the shallow hooks let go. I spend way too much frustrating time monkeying with them and wrapping them up to put a rubber band around them. Then the rubber decays and they end up tangled. Ropes don't do that. The trick with ropes is finding good quality rope, which in my case is braided nylon, cutting it into convenient lengths about 15 to 20 feet, and burning the ends to prevent fraying. If you leave a rope 50 or 100 feet it will guarantee a headache and tangle. A few months ago I got some new rope and made some lengths up to replace missing ones - most of which I gave away to folks needing them, and some which were wearing out. I had to shop a long time for quality rope. Skip TSC, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. as I shopped there and for this purpose their rope is NFG. A lot of modern rope has a solid cotton core and it is NFG for this purpose. Also, do not buy twisted strand rope - it does not lay or drape well. I ended up ordering it online, and I think it was 5/16". As soon as I remove a rope to store it I coil it and bind it with the last few lashes - just like my Dad did. It takes about 10 seconds, never tangles, and is instantly available when needed. He learned to handle ropes in the Signal Core US Army and at NJ Ma Bell. I learned from him. It is interesting that the original thread author ended up completely opposite on this choice. Shows how different folks are, and we are free to do as we please. I have good quality ratchet straps of different sizes and I still don't use them. I should start giving them away but I want people to arrive home without incident, so I give them rope.

 

[IslandTractor]

My favorite rope/line for general purpose use are used dacron polyester sailboat running rigging lines. Not as slippery as nylon 3 strand and easier to coil. A bit expensive new to use for tiedowns but easy to find used as sailors tend to replace halyards, jib sheets etc at least once a decade and the lines have lifespans much longer than that. NEW ENGLAND ROPES Color-Coded Sta-Set Polyester Yacht Braid, Sold per Foot | West Marine

 

[hslogger]

I can tie stuff down with rope and hitches quicker than anyone can with all their monkeying around with straps and wraps and paddles and latches. I keep hanks in twenty,thirty, and forty foot wraps. Keep the ends melted
with some electrical tape and they last a long time. I always retire them before they break.

 

[TomSeller]

Com'n... no low quality bungees?

Well I guess I could collect the broken ones from the side of the road and tie two together to make a new one.

I use the better ones and store them out of the sun. Mostly I use them to keep tarps from flapping or to put some tension between ropes for when the load settles.

 

[dragoneggs]

Well I guess I could collect the broken ones from the side of the road and tie two together to make a new one.

I use the better ones and store them out of the sun. Mostly I use them to keep tarps from flapping or to put some tension between ropes for when the load settles.

Me too. Tarps and garbage can lids are about all I trust bungees for.

 

[Looking4new]

Bungie cords are what I use to tie things down on the big truck. Stuff like my pin puller, the fuel nozzle when I am fueling, my air lines when I am bobtailing, and a milk crate that I carry extra oil and windshield washer fluid in, which is ratchet strapped to my battery box and a bungie cord across the top to keep stuff from bouncing out. As if anything is going to bounce out of a box 12" high that is in the middle of the axle spread of an air ride tractor.

 

[IslandTractor]

Me too. Tarps and garbage can lids are about all I trust bungees for.

I will admit (shame shame) to using fresh bungees to hold down something like a couple of 2x4s on a roof rack. Tough to get a ratchet around such a small load on a car and tough to get tension using line.

Line, ratchets and bungees each have their places but if I had to choose just one it would be the line.