Ratchet straps come in many different lengths and widths. If you want to strap a bike down in the back of a truck, you might use some 1 inch straps about 6 foot long. If you were to strap some oil drill pipe on the back of a big rig, then you would use a 4 or 6 inch wide strap about 20 feet long. The size and width of the strap is not what matters, if you use it right.
Before you hook the strap to anything, you need to know if the load needs to stay 'centered' and not able to slide from side to side, or if it just needs to be held down. If it just needs to be held down, move on to the next paragraph, but it is still good to know the 'belly wrap' just in case. The belly wrap is wrapping the load into place with the strap, with the straps coming off the top side of the load, to hold it down. The Belly Wrap is good for really making things stay in place, like if you had to carry a cattle fence on the top of a car, without it sliding off doing 70 down the freeway.
You always work with the hooked end of the strap. It is best to wrap the strap under the piece that you hook it to, and hook it from the top on the inside. This way the more the load tries to shift, the tighter it is held in place. It minimizes the possibility of breaking the strap like this as the load bounces around in transit.
If you are carrying something that you don't want to damage from the strap 'flappin in the wind', then you can give it a twist on the top of the load. This makes it more rigid, and the strap will not bounce around and start 'humming as it beats against the load that is is supposed to be protecting.
Now it is time to tighten the strap with the ratchet. Once you hook the ratchet side in, and open the ratchet all the way so it is straight. The point that it bends, should be away from you. Pull on the end of the strap that you are about to feed through the front of the ratchet, and make sure there are no twists or knots in it, except for the optional twist on the top side of the load. Once it is straight, feed it in through the ratchet strap slot towards you and pull out as much slack as you can, without trying too hard. Now, your ratchet is ready to go, start tightening it, but don't lock it down quite yet.
Now you have this big long 'tail' left from the strap, what do you do with it? Some people just throw it in the bed of the truck or whatever, but I prefer to secure it, somehow. What I usually do is fold it in half a few times and make it a nice stack of layers about a foot long, and place it under the strap holding the load. It helps protect corners and you can tighten it down good enough to still easily get it loose.
So now your load is strapped in securely, belly wrapped, with a twist because it is a big cardboard box that you don't want to tear up, tightened up to the vehicle, and the tail from the strap is also secured, and looking good. The only things you need to do now, is make sure the handle is facing down, and the ratchet is closed, so everything is locked into place. and give the strap a good tug, tighten as necessary. If you have a big load, or something that you don' t want to shift around, you will want to stop after a few miles of stop, go and turning and check the load. Sometimes they can 'settle in' and the straps can get loose.
That should be good to get your load home. Be sure to strap as close to the corners as possible. You don't want to look like the person who just spent a thousand dollars on a bed, and strapped it to the top of the SUV with one strap right across the middle! So, use some common sense, too. Stay safe, and thanks for reading.
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