In a hardware store you can find four types of tie-down strap hanging from the same display, at prices ranging from three to thirty euros, and not one label explaining which one you need.
That is what this guide is about: choosing correctly the first time.
Ratchet strap
The classic: a length of webbing, a ratchet mechanism and a handle you work back and forth to tension it.
What sets it apart: the ratchet multiplies your force. You can reach a tension that is impossible by hand, and it holds without you having to keep hold of anything.
What it is for: motorcycles, quads, machinery, heavy furniture, any load that will not forgive movement.
Its weak point: it is easy to overdo. With a ratchet you can apply so much tension that you dent what you are holding down. With a motorcycle or a washing machine, tension until the load is firm and stop there.
Cam buckle strap
No ratchet. You feed the webbing through a spring-loaded buckle, pull by hand, and the spring stops it slipping back.
What sets it apart: you apply the tension with your arm, and that is an advantage when the load is delicate. There is no way to crush anything by mistake.
What it is for: bicycles, surfboards and skis, boxes, luggage on a roof rack, light removals. Anything you want held still without squeezing it.
Its weak point: it does not reach high tensions. For a motorcycle it falls short.
Retractable strap
A ratchet or a cam buckle with a reel added: the webbing lives coiled inside the housing, you pull out what you need and on release it returns on its own.
What sets it apart: no excess webbing. Not flapping in transit, not balled up in the boot, not tangled with the other three straps.
What it is for: anyone who straps loads down often. If you take the bike out every weekend or carry the bicycles all summer, the difference is not in how it tensions, it is in how long it takes you to pack everything away.
Its weak point: the length is limited by what fits on the reel. For long loads, or for lashing down on a lorry bed, you need conventional straps.
One important detail: on a retractable strap the tensioning is still manual. What is automatic is the webbing being drawn back in; you tension it yourself, with the ratchet or the buckle, exactly as always.
Fixed-mount tie-down
Bolted permanently to the trailer. You hook up, tension and you are done; there is nothing to go and fetch because it is always there.
What it is for: boats on trailers, above all the transom tie-down, and trailers dedicated to always carrying the same thing.
How to choose in thirty seconds
| If you are carrying… | Choose… |
|---|---|
| Motorcycle, quad, machinery | Ratchet |
| Bicycles, boards, luggage on a roof rack | Cam buckle |
| Furniture, house move | Ratchet for the heavy items, cam buckle for the delicate ones |
| Boat on a trailer | Fixed transom tie-down + ratchet at the bow |
| Frequent loads, of any kind | Retractable |
Three things to look for on the label
The load figure. Check it and do not exceed it. And take note: the load the webbing can withstand is not the same as the load that may be applied to it in use. If in doubt, go over-specified.
The width of the webbing. 25 mm for light and medium loads, 50 mm for heavy loads. Wider webbing spreads the pressure better over whatever you are holding down.
The hook. A hook with a keeper will not come off the anchor point when the strap goes momentarily slack over a bump. It is a small detail you come to appreciate.
How many you need
As a practical rule, four straps on the diagonal for any load that must be held completely still: two forward and two back. With two, the load pivots.
And always on the diagonal, never vertical: a vertical strap only presses downwards and leaves lateral movement free.
When a strap must be taken out of service
No argument: if the webbing has cuts, is frayed, shows burn marks or is clearly faded by the sun; if the hook is deformed or opened out; or if the mechanism no longer holds properly.
A strap costs a few euros. What it is holding down does not.
STRAPTOR makes retractable tie-down straps in ratchet, cam buckle and boat trailer transom versions. Manual tensioning, as always; the webbing is drawn back in on its own when you are finished.