Ratchet straps or used climbing rope?

[GhettorigMechanic]

Hey all, I'm building a new shade structure for my camp at Battlestar Erotica this year, and I was hoping some of you could chime in on the pros and cons of using ratchet straps vs used climbing rope or something similar. I haven't used the repurposed ripe before, but I don't know if I should need it or not. It's a 20x30x7 square shade structure with shade cloth top. We'll be using 3/8" by 14" lag bolts for securing it.

I use ratchet straps for my monkey hut and they work great, but they're also static and don't have much stretch in case of a wind storm. Not sure how they compare to used line for price either. The lines I was looking at online were about $80 for 100'

[LowePro]

+1 for ratchet straps. They are easy to adjust as the week goes by and things wiggle and loosen up in the wind.
I have some used climbing rope that I always bring along for misc, but have not found a need for it that my ratchet straps couldn't do better.

[fernley1]

Yes to ratchet straps for the same reasons listed above.

[Token]

Rope 100%. Ratchet straps vibrate and are noisy, no matter how many twists I put in them.

A truckers hitch is just as adjustable as a ratchet strap.

YMMV but for me it was rope all the way over the decades.

[BBadger]

With rope, you can use some nice running rigging with the rope, which will balance the load for you. Another nice thing is that if the rope you used is cheap enough (or you don't care about it), you can just cut it instead of pulling it out.

If you use paracord, you can also use a Blake's Hitch and a nice slip-knot to keep things as rigid as you need. It really grips and doesn't slip.

[Jackass]

Taut line hitch in the house



With 3 or 4 good knots under your belt, you can turn and ordinary piece of rope into numerous mechanical advantages. I use rope and straps and mule tape, dependent on necessity and laziness factor.

[Ratty]

I have a bag of used climbing straps as a back up. I love them. Easy to tie and untie. No wind noise. Impossible to break them. I used them this week-end for an event. Oh, and they come in bright colors to fit into your decorating scheme. At the Burn I use ratchet straps for the ease of it.

[Token]

With the OP having their tag as Ghetto-Rig-Mechanic anything short of rope would be a disgrace

[motskyroonmatick]

I use paracord on everything that I tie down. Some of my over zealous camp mates use ratchet straps that attach to the nice paracord loops I make that hook on to the lag bolt chains. I go through about a roll of paracord every 2 years most through shade expansion.

[GhettorigMechanic]

Sailor by trade, knots are my specialty actually. My structure is going to be made of steel top rail though, so paracord is definitely out.

I think I'm leaning towards ratchet straps for ease, I just figured I'd get the vets to lend their opinions on what's worked best for them in the past. I know the climbing rope has massive break strength and some stretch, and I guess less noise. Ratchet straps might end up cheaper tho. I'm a big fan of overengineering, so I just want this thing to be apocalypse proof

[Papa Bear]

Having used both, I definitely prefer ratchet straps (and have never had noise issues with them).

The big reason is ease of use - not just for me, but for my campmates. You may be an expert with the right knots, but if you're the only one in the camp who is, then you're also going to be the only one tying things down and maintaining the lines. Ratchet straps require a little knowledge to get started correctly, but after that anyone can add tension to them.

[Canoe]

As above:

• ratchet straps for the ease of adjustment, high visibility
• rope to avoid the noise of straps vibrating in the wind, you'll need to hang stuff on it so people notice it

If you're familiar with climbing rope, you should have no problem with securing it. If not, as above, the Trucker's Hitch.
It's hard for camp-mates to screw up ratchet straps. It's more likely they'll leave ropes alone so won't mess them up. Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. Do you have idiots who touch things they don't understand? Will something happen while there's only idiots in camp and they need to do something. Depends on what happens... and a good idiot can wreck anything.

Look at the PDF BBadger provided the link to.
And if the structure is going to be big, you can also have multiple stakes per guy-line: "picket" as in the PDF, and/or with a balanced load like multiple anchor points in climbing.

Either way, appropriately long lag-screws is such a secure way to go. And their head is at the ground for low/no puncture injury risk.

[motskyroonmatick]

All my shade structures are steel and have not worn through any paracord yet attaching to the structure or the lag bolt chains.

[art walsh]

One thing to consider in your choice is elongation.
Climbing rope - static elongation <6%
9mm climbing rope has roughly 5000# strength and an elongation of 3% with load of 300#
climbing rope - dynamic elongation 6-10%
para cord (550) - up to 30%
ratchet straps - i'm not sure but its probable pretty low

So, if you want your structural hold down to be able to "give a little" so as not have a point load develop (ratchet straps) at the tie point (in a 50 MPH wind), you may want to opt for rope with some give.

Note::: elongation is usually measured when loaded at manufracturers "safe working load"

A 1" ratchet strap with plastic ends has a safe working load of 500#
9mm climbing rope has a tensile strength of 5000#
550 paracord has a min break strength of 550# (I would never load over 200#)

[art walsh]

Added note:

550 paracord 100' costs about $10
static climbing rope 100' about $75

Do you really need a tiedown rope capable of holding 5000#

[Sham]

Added note:

550 paracord 100' costs about $10
static climbing rope 100' about $75

Do you really need a tiedown rope capable of holding 5000#

Wind can get pretty violent out in the Black Rock Desert. I've seen trailers flipped upside down. Plan for 60 mph+ winds with lots of white out dusk. There's nothing like a blinding dust storm to revive your soul.

[art walsh]

60 mph wind

force on verticle surface is approx .07psi

or approx 10 #/SF

So, an 8'x30' surface ( an RV) would be approx 2400#

I won't show the math, but for an example an 8' dome tent, would have equivalent frontal area of 15.3 SF
(with several assumptions re air density, reynolds number, semi turbulent flow etc). pressure would be approx 153#.

[The Rod]

Ratchet Straps. Way more versatile and idiot proof than rope. Unless your budget is super tight and you want to spend the week showing your camp mates how to tie and maintain knots.

Though not all ratchet straps are created equal. The harbor fright ones are actually fairly decent for the price. The store brands from the big blue and orange box hardware stores are crappy and expensive. A shitty ratchet strap (stiff & brittle webbing, flimsy ratchets and unnecessary features like extra springs or enlarged rubber handles that will break) is a good way to ruin your whole tie-down experience.

The best ones I've found in terms of cost and quality come from a metal yard in Delaware of all places.

[Isso09]

Man, it’s a shame suspended animation isn’t going to be there this year
That guide was so good. They know their stuff.

[unjonharley]

Cambuckel straps are good. Roll (tighten) with linemans pliers . Quick release