Everybody likes a good cam strap, right? If you don’t know what that means, you’re probably not familiar with cam straps as tie-downs. Maybe you’re more familiar with ropes and bungee cords. Regardless, here is something everyone who uses cam straps should know – they are only as effective as their fittings.
Consumers can choose from among several different types of fittings for their cam straps. Fittings are those devices that connect a cam strap to an anchor point. The only time you wouldn’t need to worry about fittings is if you were using a single strap wrapped around something and then threaded through its own cam buckle.
Securing Cargo in Place
Cam straps are ideal for securing cargo in place. The folks behind the Rollercam brand say they are a big hit among overlanders who need to tie down nearly everything they carry. Cam straps are also popular among hikers, campers, contractors, movers, and just about anyone else who needs to tie something down but doesn’t want to use a rope or bungee cord.
Using a cam strap is pretty simple in principle. Whether you’re using one or two straps, the open end is threaded through a cam buckle and held securely by a spring-loaded plate with teeth that dig into the strap’s webbing material.
Let’s say you are rolling up a sleeping bag and securing it with a cam strap. You only need one strap. On one end is the cam buckle while the other end is open. That open end is what you thread through the buckle. But if you are using two straps to span the bed of a pickup truck, each of the straps needs to have a fitting on one end.
Different Kinds of Fittings
The Rollercam folks say there are different kinds of fittings. The four most common are loops, S-hooks, D-rings, and carabiners. Let’s look at each one a little more closely.
- Loops – Straps with loops have the loops sewn right into the material. An open end is looped around and sewn to the strap at a location slightly higher up.
- S-Hooks – The S-hook gets its name from its shape. It is nothing more than a piece of metal fabricated in the shape of an ‘S’. You see them a lot with bungee cords.
- D-Rings – Like the S-hook, the D-ring gets its name from its shape. A D-ring is a closed fitting fabricated in the shape of a ‘D’. It is usually attached to a cam strap with a small loop in the fabric.
- Carabiners – Carabiners are similar to D-rings except for the fact that they have a built-in release mechanism. Think of this mechanism as a tiny post on a hinge. Pushing it open allows you to hook it to an anchor point or another fitting, like a fixed D-ring for example.
The thing about fittings is that they need to be appropriate for the job. They also need to be strong enough to withstand the force they must endure. If a fitting is inadequate, it could break while the strap is under load.
A Fitting for Every Job
If you are already a big fan of cam straps, you probably know that there is a fitting for every job. Perhaps that’s one of the things that makes cam straps so popular. Between different fittings and the flexible nature of the straps themselves, cam straps offer a tremendous amount of versatility. I would always choose them over ropes and bungee cords. As long as I had good straps and the right fittings, I would be good to go.
