Packing camping gear?

[foxyrider]

I have some "mini bungee cords" that I use a couple off to hold my tent poles to the top of my rear rack. They are much thinner and shorter than a standard cord. I usually secure the poles by wrapping the cord a couple of times round them and then hooking the cord on the top rail of the rack. Seem very secure. However the hooks are a pretty small diameter metal with no plastic coating and are pretty nasty in terms of jabbing fingers!

What you want are toe straps - the only things I would use for extra strapping!

Used bungees and various other straps in the past with negative results but toe straps have always worked whether it's to strap a spare tyre under the saddle, restrain tent poles or secure a bike light!

[bikerta]

I have always used ROK straps on my motorcycle and for attaching my tent onto my rear cycle rack. I love the fact they have no horrible metal hooks and they are fully adjustable. Easy to shove a waterproof or any extras on to the top of the tent under the ROK strap and then cinch up nice and tight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUQD0S6DkrA

[Gattonero]

No, Velcro straps are not more secure, under load they will open. The only way you can open a Ladderlock is to break it (good luck) or to put the webbing to an angle down (like leaving it on the apex of a corner/round part).

Don't ladderlocks fall open if there's no tension on the strap? I think that's why I switched to cam buckles.

The only way you can have such situation is if you didn't tighten the strap in the very first place?
Or as said, if you leave the Ladderlock on the apex.

Put it this way, there is a reason why you see bags and rucksacks using webbing and ladderlocks to secure things, if not for the shoulder straps.

.

What's wrong with the good old bungee cord? Pack of 6 for £3.99 at ALDI IIRC.

You could, but as said: it's a fixed length and you need to find a point where the hook can safely go.
A flat webbing goes everywhere, it's immensely strong, can be used for a lot of things.
Like said, for small things a Velcro is a better solution, when you need strength the webbing is a better solution, in town for a bike with a proper rack the bungee is a good and very practical solution.

I make my webbing straps, often recycling buckles and fittings from old bags. Not only this makes them cheap, it's also a good way to kill time when it's raining out there

[Gattonero]

I have always used ROK straps on my motorcycle and for attaching my tent onto my rear cycle rack. I love the fact they have no horrible metal hooks and they are fully adjustable. Easy to shove a waterproof or any extras on to the top of the tent under the ROK strap and then cinch up nice and tight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUQD0S6DkrA

You can make you own ones, with very good quality materials (Polyester webbing, ITW buckles) for a lot less, though it needs a bit of skill to make them looking good

[mjr]

Don't ladderlocks fall open if there's no tension on the strap? I think that's why I switched to cam buckles.

The only way you can have such situation is if you didn't tighten the strap in the very first place?
Or as said, if you leave the Ladderlock on the apex.

Put it this way, there is a reason why you see bags and rucksacks using webbing and ladderlocks to secure things, if not for the shoulder straps.

Isn't the reason that gravity ensures the ladder lock is normally kept under tension on a rucksack? Rather different from strapping things onto a rack or frame.

It's quite easy for a load to shift or rearrange itself inside the bag and so release tension on the strap, especially over rough ground.

[Gattonero]

Don't ladderlocks fall open if there's no tension on the strap? I think that's why I switched to cam buckles.

The only way you can have such situation is if you didn't tighten the strap in the very first place?
Or as said, if you leave the Ladderlock on the apex.

Put it this way, there is a reason why you see bags and rucksacks using webbing and ladderlocks to secure things, if not for the shoulder straps.

Isn't the reason that gravity ensures the ladder lock is normally kept under tension on a rucksack? Rather different from strapping things onto a rack or frame.

It's quite easy for a load to shift or rearrange itself inside the bag and so release tension on the strap, especially over rough ground.

If you put a "Triglide" before the Ladderlock it will make impossible -under normal conditions- for the webbing to come loose.


End of the day, anything that is not strapped secure tight can work itself loose. A belt&braces is to use the metal cam buckle posted above

[Tangled Metal]

We've used bungee cords a lot without any issues. Years ago my dad used a car rack holding a load of suitcases held on with a large spider style set of bungees. It held all the bags together for many a long car journey.

My partner did 2 or 3 months touring the back of beyond in China I believe in the days before unbridled capitalism took over resulting in new cities appearing everywhere. Rough tracks and trails with everything held on with bungees. The others with her did the same. Also friends touring Australia with a bit of New Zealand for 3 years used bungees. One of them toured in India too. Not inexperienced tourists at all. The last I heard of one friend was that she was saving for a continuous, solo and self supported tour along the length of the Americas from north to south. Reckon she did it, she really was the type to do this sort of thing.

[mjr]

I have triglides on most of my ladderlock cords. They still come loose if the load shifts inside its bag on rough ground (including some of our rough roads), no matter how it is "strapped secure tight" - unless you define "strapped secure tight" as crushed and unable to shift inside the bag when bouncing over rough ground but that means it's pretty much not possible to know until you go over the rough which makes them rather impractical. So I still say most closeable buckles are an upgrade.

You can indeed use bungee cords for ages without any issues, but the issues are real and there remains a chance of encountering them, possibly in a catastrophic manner. They have the slight advantage that they self-tighten a bit if a load shifts - I've had boxes stacked on top of a rear rack start to fall and then be held to the rack side by bungees rather than hit the road, although I did have to stop and reload the bike because the steering was awkward and the bike was now nearly 3m wide, but I suspect the main reason it happened was that the bungees loosened over a speed table enough to let the boxes fall. In most ways, rigid luggage straps seem superior.

[Gattonero]

I would only add that one must make a distinction between a compressible item, and a solid one.
The first case, will need something that can cope with it's variable volume. Of course, things can get loose when the object can be easily compressed. though this means can move by its own.

There is a reason why panniers, frame bags, bikepacking bags, they all rely on non-elastic fixtures: they are solid objects.

[Gattonero]

Having seen a friend with his setup done, has just reminded myself of those straps: very solid and long lasting.
No, they're not like a bungee cord, as those Voile has very limited stretch; and the buckle+hole means they can be safely adjusted to fit a wide range of diameters -regular or not- to fit.
Not the cheapest, but seem to last forever. As often happens, way cheaper in US

http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/voi ... 2684-p.asp