Keeper Keeps My Stuff Safe
Written: Jun 16 '08 (Updated Jun 16 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: durable, versatile, and easy to use
Cons: usage instructions a bit vague, ratchet release slightly tricky
The Bottom Line: A few Keeper Ratchet Tie Downs will help you keep loads secure on the road or on those windy days around the house.
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| scmrak's Full Review: Keeper Corporation 2000lb 15' Ratchet Tie Down 055... |
The Keeper Corporation specializes in... well, they specialize in helping their customers keep things. Keep them from falling off, keep them from blowing away, keep them from coming apart - that kind of "keep," as opposed to stick in a bank vault somewhere. What they sell, then, is a variety of straps, hooks and other hardware for attaching loads to vehicles to keep them from blowing away.
Mine - the 15-foot Ratchet Tie-Down (5515) - is designed for use in securing light to medium loads. It's a pair of one-inch wide nylon straps firmly fixed to ¼-inch diameter double J-hooks. The long strap (fourteen feet, give or take) has a plain end, the shorter strap (a foot or so) ends at a brass-finished steel ratchet. Thread the loose end through that ratchet and give it a few cranks, and the strap winds itself around an axle to tighten the works. It's simple to set up and easy to release. If there is no suitable ring for attaching the J-hooks, the straps can be wrapped around a larger item - a pipe, for instance - and the hooks attached to a D-ring riding its strap.
Keeper Corporation rates the 5515 Ratchet Strap for 2000 pounds breaking strength and a 666-pound live load limit. I've used mine for strapping down loads on an open-top trailers or pickup bed, for instance; Keeper suggests the model is excellent for tying things to ladder racks and other rooftop racks. The nylon is abrasion-resistant (not abrasion-proof, mind you), and the ratchet release is spring-loaded to prevent accidental release.
I've also found an interesting alternate use: when wrapped around a small tubeless tire (lawn tractor or hand truck tire, for instance), the ratchet action can be used to compress the tire into the bead on the rim so that it can be filled. Tricky, ain't I...
Keeper makes dozens of different varieties of ratchet tie downs ranging from eight to twenty-seven feet in length and one to two inches wide, with break strength up to five tons and a live load of 3333 pounds.
Recommended:
Yes
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