Tell me if this sounds familiar? At the start of every season, you buy a brand new set of straps from Strapworks.com, and by the end of the season… they’re gone. I know, I hear it all the time from customers, they go out rafting with their buddies, they have a great time but by the end of the trip, their brand new made to order straps have grown legs and walked away. Now, I’m sure that this is an honest mistake, one buddy mistaking his old, worn out cam straps for your new, fresh ones… it could happen to anyone, right?
Not any more.
Let me tell about a call that I answered a couple of weeks ago; a gentleman called in to Strapworks with just such a problem, he had to order new straps because his last batch “got lost” on his last rafting trip with his friends. He wanted to know if there was any way that he could differentiate his straps from his friends so they wouldn’t get “lost” anymore. I said of course there is, and proceeded to tell him… briefly… the story of how Strapworks came to be.
It was the self, same story; my boss Tom and his family would go rafting with a group of people and sure enough, by the end of their excursion, Tom’s brand new straps would be gone. Now, the big problem was that back then all straps were black and as such you couldn’t tell yours from anyone else’s. Tom got the idea that he was going to make his straps out of different color webbing. He did and the problem went away… for a bit.
Tom began making specifically colored straps for his friends (thus spawning the idea for strapworks.com), but shortly his ideas took off and other companies started making colored straps.
So we were back to square one. Or were we?
I explained, as my customer listened patiently, about our sublimation process; briefly, sublimation takes polyester webbing, (our most durable) and permanently imprints it using high heat and special inks that turn directly from a solid into a gas, (I.E. Sublimation) permeating the webbing with an indelible image of literally, anything you desire. I explained about our 71 pattern choices (everything from Diamond-Plate to Camo to Tie-dye), as well as our 12 solid colors.
He was intrigued, but he still had questions. “Can I get an image of my own put onto the webbing”?
“Of course”, I told him. “If you can send it to us as a jpeg file, we can usually work with it.” He paused a moment and then asked if he could get his strap with his face on it? Naturally I said yes. Then he asked if he could have his picture AND some text, and again I said, yes. He laughed an odd laugh and said, “Can I write anything I want on my straps”?
At this point, I kind of knew where he was going… but it is not my job to second guess our customers, so I told him that, yes, he could have anything all. Again, he laughed and told me that he didn’t think we would print the text he wanted on his straps. So at that point I had to ask him what, exactly, he want printed on his straps that would be so questionable. He laughed again and said: KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY FREAKIN’ STRAPS!
We both laughed at that point and I told him that I wasn’t sure if we could print that on a strap, but I would ask. I placed the customer on hold and asked our owner Tom whether or not we could print, “John’s F#@&ing straps; keep your hands off!”; on straps for a customer. Tom pondered for a second and then said, “Absolutely! I know how he feels, if he wants that, do it”.
I returned to the customer and passed on Tom’s words, we all laughed, I placed his order as stated and the customer was very happy about it.
So, when you’re out there in the wilds or on the river, just remember…
THOSE ARE; JOHN’S F#@&ING STRAPS: HANDS OFF!
If you want some of your own, contact the custom department at Strapworks.com
(Custom@strapworks.com)
You see them everywhere you look; on backpacks, lunchboxes, computer bags, clothing, even bulletproof vests. They are as ubiquitous as they are utilitarian and you barely notice them at all… until they break. What is this little lynchpin of everyday living? Why, it’s the humble, Plastic Side Release Buckle.
You may not know them by name, but trust me, somewhere in your home, car or RV, you’ve got at least one. The Plastic Side Release Buckle is most often found on backpacks, it’s that 2 pieces buckle that allows you to open as well as adjust your back pack straps; you know the ones I mean.
Here at strapworks.com, we sell a lot of Plastic Side Release Buckles in a myriad of styles and adjustment types and it can get a bit confusing sometimes; so let me help with a quick rundown of what we’ve got and how you’d use it.
The Single Adjust Plastic Side Release Buckle: Most often found on backpacks and bags; the female half of this sturdy little buckle is usually sewn in place, while the male half remains adjustable so you can change the length of your straps for a more comfortable fit.
The Double Adjust Plastic Side Release Buckle: Same as the above, only now you can adjust both sides of your strap.
Okay, now you know that you can adjust your straps with you Plastic Side Release Buckles, but what else can you do with these versatile little buckles. Here at Strapworks, we endeavor to cover your every buckle need. From security, to strength, to safety, Strapworks has what you need.
Security: Let’s say you have a pool or hot tub and you want to add an extra level of security. How do you keep the little ones out of the water when not in use? We carry two types of locking Plastic Side Release Buckle that can do the job.
The 1 inch, Locking Side Release Buckle, 
can be affixed to a wall or post on one end and sewn to your pool or spa cover on the other. Without the key, it will be a lot harder for the little ones get into trouble.
The 1 ½” Side Release Combination Buckle, actually has a 2 dial combination lock built right into the unit. Sew it onto any 2 part strap, fix your 2 two digit combination and you got an added layer of security for those items that you want to keep safe.
Strength: For those times when you need a super strong buckle, the 1 1/2" Heavy Duty Single Adjust Side Release Buckle takes it up to the next level. It’s been used for everything from amusement park rides to scuba gear, so you know that it can take what you can dish out.
Safety: Let’s say you’re a student, 
or have school age kids; often, especially in the fall and winter, you’re going to be traveling at dusk or even in the dark. The more visible you are the better, right? Of course; that’s why we’ve added Plastic Side Release Buckles with Reflectors built right in. Choose your favorite reflector color, (Ruby, Amber or Diamond) and get ready to be seen.
We also carry a ¾” Single Adjust Side Release Buckle with a built in rescue whistle. These buckles are often used for survival bracelets and this whistle is perfect for that application; with this Plastic Side Release Buckle you will be heard.
Of course, not all of our Side Release Buckles are Plastic; we also offer a Metal/Plastic Hybrid Side Release Buckle as well as an all Aluminum Side Release Buckle. One of the benefits of these buckles is that the metal portions of the units can be powder coated in any of our 24 vibrant colors. They’re fashionable as well as functional.
So as you can see, when looking for Plastic Side Release Buckles, Strapworks.com gives you a lot of options. There is one thing we find difficult to do... from time to time we have customers call us with a problem; one half of their buckle has broken and they call us in hopes of finding a replacement half. Unfortunately, there are so many different manufacturers of these buckles, that it is nearly impossible to match the two disparate halves. It’s like trying to force pieces of two different puzzles together. They’re both puzzles, but the part just won’t match up. Thankfully at Strapworks, we’ve got a Plastic Side Release Buckle to fit your needs.
Ratchet Buckles come in many shapes and sizes, but have some basic commonalities that tie them all together. Every ratchet I have seen has a spool, most of the time with a slot, which is built to turn in one direction. Most have a locking mechanism that prevents the spool from unwinding once the ratchet is tightened, and a leaver or handle, which will spin the spool to tighten the webbing or cordage.
Because ratchets will continue to tighten as 
you spin the spool, and will not release unless made to do so, they can exert a great deal of force onto anything you wish to tie down. The only limit to the force a ratchet can express is going to be the breaking strength of the webbing, the ratchet, and your fingers. Or nominally the item you are securing. I wouldn’t suggest trying to ratchet down anything amorphous, or easily squished, because the force the webbing will exert is going to be rather impressive.
Ratchet straps are going to come in two different types. Ratchet Only Straps and Ratchet Straps with End Hardware. Ratchet Only Straps are great for wrapping around anything and everything. This is the type that can squeeze a trashcan in half. The other type (Ratchet Straps with End Hardware), 
can be hooked via hardware to edges, pipes, trees, you name it. This way the strap will tighten between the two points trying to be a straight line, and forcing anything between it and a solid surface into place.
The point is, Ratchet Buckles can be used in a crazy variety of ways for many types of tie downs, and if you need something tied down (Or really REALLY tied down), a ratchet is a good way to go. If you do not see anything like what you are looking for on the site, please contact us via Custom@strapworks.com , and we can make near to anything you want.
Around here we have quite a few people who enjoy 
hammocks, even more so now that the rain (sleet, hail and snow) seem to have come to an end. Been reduced in frequency? All right, now that we get a day of sunshine between the weather. Sometimes.
The real trick though, is getting the hammock set up. Personally I like to be able to take my body sling out to the woods (next to the creek) and set up for a great day of relaxation. Or fishing, whichever. But finding the requirements for easy set up can be a trial all on its own.
Because of Strapworks I have
had a couple of solutions to my hammock needs. The first option I came across is somewhat perfect if there are two poles (trees, posts, truck bumpers) nearby, or even just close. The Simple Sling is a strap that is made from your choice of webbing (Nylon, Polypropylene, or Polyester) sewn into a single length with a loop at each end. All you need to do is wrap the Simple Sling around your upright object a few times until the length is right, which can be quite a few times if you get a large sling, and hook your hammock to the loop after it has been fed through the other. This works fairly well, and is somewhat adjustable by wrapping the strap around your object, but can be a bit of a hassle with lengths of webbing.
Another option is our Ratchet Loop strap, with a metal ratchet buckle. This is a small length of webbing with a loop, sewn onto your choice of metal ratchet buckle. The second half of the strap is a longer length of webbing that feeds into the ratchet. By wrapping this length around a tree (or other object) you can use the ratchet to tighten the strap and apply the proper tension to your hammock.
Personally I am going to use one of each, made out of Polyester (the most durable outdoors), and get my camping setup done right. These are just a couple of ideas for easily hanging your hammock by strap. If you have one you think would work better, let us know! We may be able to make your idea through our custom department (Custom@strapworks.com). I'm always interested in making use of my hammock, instead of putting it up.
Elastic is a versatile, widely used, impressive textile. It has its uses in many hi
dden functions of clothing, bags, sports equipment, costumes and more. When it comes to functionality, elastic has no faults. However, when it comes to design, Elastic is somewhat more lacking.
You can find solid color elastic in white and black fairly easily, and sometimes in other colors, but if you need elastic that looks great you're out of luck. With Strapworks' sublimation methods we can now color elastic with almost any pattern (check out our stock patterns if you want a good idea of what I'm talking about).
Better yet, Patterned Elastic is easily customizable. Taking any of our stock patterns and adding a logo, or a phrase, requires a little tweaking to the pattern before it can be run, and after it is set up it can be printed as easily as anything else. If you would like a pair of suspenders with customized logos, or your name on them, we can do that. If you want a headband that looks like snake skin, we can do that. Just contact our custom department (Custom@strapworks.com) and we will help you get the color or design you are looking for.
In addition the elastic looks fairly the same when stretched out. The color may lighten a bit, and the pattern will lose a little definition, but overall the image will remain recognizable.
It all comes down to the sublimation. With sublimation we can match (closely, with in a shade or two) almost any color you could wish for. If you have need for specialized elastic, we can help.
EPISODE ONE: YOUR ORDER FROM A TO Z
If you are anything like me, ordering products online can be a mystifying experience. I see something I need on a website, I hit a few keys and then BAM, there’s a box on my doorstep with said product inside and my credit card is a few bucks lighter. Now, I know that the box didn’t appear by magic and that neither elves nor pixies were in any way involved in the process; so how does the “magic” happen?
Since coming to work for strapworks.com, I’ve had the mystery that surrounds online ordering cleared up for me. I’m John, and I take phone orders from you, the strap-buying public. It’s a great job, and I talk with lots of interesting people, just like you, from around the country and around the world.
For me, the process begins with your phone call
(you can order online of course, but that takes all of the fun out of it for me). When I answer your call I’ll take your personal information, (shipping and billing addresses, phone number, E-mail… that sort of thing) and then we can find the right product for you. If you know what you need, fantastic, we can hook you right up and get you on your way fast; but what if you’re not sure what you need? That is where the trained strapworks.com customer service representative can help.
We will scour the website for exactly the right products that will work for your particular job. For instance, should you require straps to secure or tie-down an object, we can help you;
- Determine the correct webbing type
- Determine whether a cam buckle will do or maybe your job needs a good strong ratchet.
- And finally, what type of end hardware would best suit your job, flat hooks, S-hooks, wire hooks, etc.
You get the idea.
Once we’re done taking the order on the phone, the order is placed and you receive your e-mail conformation; but the process only begins with the end of the order.
The next step is Production 
and once your order reaches the Production desk a flurry of activity commences. Pullers swing into action getting your webbing and hardware together; no mean feat with the thousands of choices on our warehouse shelves.
Your webbing then goes to a cutter, who will use an electric hot cutter to cut your webbing to the proper length as well as seal the ends of your webbing.
Now that your webbing is properly cut and sealed, it’s time to put the strap together. In the Sewing department, our experts sew on your hardware using T92 bonded polyester thread on industrial grade swing machines. For heavy work straps like the ones we’re putting together for this example they will use a super strong Box-X stitch, a stitch so strong we’ve used it to lift a car several feet off the ground. (Shown here, if you want to see.)
Now that your strap is 
complete, it’s inspected and sent to packing where it is made ready for shipping. In shipping it’s weighed and labeled and handed over to the proper delivery service; it then goes from their hands to yours.
Our end of the process from order to completed strap to shipping can average about 24 hours (times may vary depending upon workload and other variables), if you were only ordering webbing or hardware your order could ship the same day.
So, there you have it, the ordering process from beginning to end. I hope you enjoyed the ride.
Next week: Webbing Sublimation.
The holiday season is here and where most folks are dreaming of what will be waiting for them under the tree on Christmas morning, I’m thinking of tie-down straps; odd, maybe, but not if you work at strapworks.com.
Here’s the story; it was the weekend after 
Thanksgiving and I had taken my family out to the Christmas tree stand to purchase this year’s tree. As my family raced from tree to tree, weighing the pluses and minuses of each one, I was contemplating the horror that is tying a six foot tall noble fir to the top of my car. The mere thought of that morass of plastic twine wrapped around the tree, then crisscrossing the cabin of the car and then finally being secured around the door posts made me cringe.
But then I realized, that was the old me, the new me works at strapworks.com where our motto is “We’ve got a strap for that”. My mind reeled with the possibilities; I had visions of webbing and hardware dancing through my head like sugarplums… (Whatever they are), and then it hit me like a perfectly packed snowball to the head! Flat Hook Straps with 1 inch Webbing! It was perfect! Quick, easy and guaranteed not to cause bodily injury to your passengers when you have to stop short to avoid hitting the ’93 Toyota Corolla that was being driven by the teenage girl in the Santa hat as she was busily texting with one hand and cutting me off with the other… but I digress.
The Flat Hook Straps with the 1 inch Webbing was the perfect solution
for my little problem. I had a pair made up choosing the coated flat hooks with rounded corners, (to save my paint job) and the standard metal cam buckle, with buckle pad, just in case. Now you can use flat nylon webbing and that is great for most applications, as is the polypropylene; but because this was my holiday tree tie-down brainstorm, I had them made with 1” patterned polyester that had been sublimated (using our special sublimation process that literally tattoo’s the image onto the webbing), with a festive holiday pattern.
When I got the tree on top of 
the car, I placed the straps through the limbs of the tree, hooked the hooks, gently, to the rain gutters and tightened them down with the cams and locked them down. Now, if your car or truck doesn’t have rain gutters, you can simply roll down the windows a bit and secure the straps to your window track.
For me, it worked like a charm! The tree stayed safe and undamaged, as did my car, and my tree is now twinkling brightly in our living room window.
Of course, at strapworks.com we understand that each idea may n
ot work for everyone, that is why we always have options. For instance; if the Flat Hook Strap won’t do it for you, you could try our Ratchet Strap with End Hardware. With this strap you have the option of coated or uncoated Flat Hooks, coated or uncoated S-Hooks, O-rings, Wire Hooks or Bolt Snaps. It’s up to you and your needs.
And if your needs don’t link up with these straps, you can create your own strap to match your specific job. Just e-mail our custom department (custom@strapworks.com) with you idea and spec and they will hook you up… Pun intended.
You know, it’s true… at Strapworks.com, we really do have a strap for that.
Lately I have been changing my lifestyle to a healthier one. Getting up early, and going to the gym; not eating fast food, and eating more balanced meals; even using my breaks, sometimes, to exercise at work. Not to mention the standing desk, and generally being more health conscious.
It feels good. I have not done much, really, but what I have done has had a small impact on my health; enough of one that I can feel the difference. Around the office we have talked about doing a fitness challenge, and brought a couple of plans up with the bosses. If it goes through, we'll have a sponsored attempt to be healthier. The question is what can we do in the office, or around the work place, that constitutes exercise?
W
hat I came up with was; walking, just about any movement you can do helps; Jogging, a more strenuous version of walking; Running, I think you may be getting the idea here; Isometrics, maybe a painful way of wearing yourself out; and the perhaps most versatile, suspension training. If you have never heard of suspension training, it is a bit like isometrics, but the weight your holding is you; and mostly off the ground, instead of in the air.
There are quite a few suspension trainers out there, couple of brand names, but the easier (well, easier is debatable, but perhaps cheaper) thing to do is build your own. The simplest thing to do would be to get a Simple Sling (a strap with a loop on either end), flip one end over something immobile, and then proceed to lift your bodyweight to your heart’s content. Of course there are more adjustable ways to make the strap; with cams to lengthen and adjust, or loops to make easy setup.
With our Custom department I am going to make a set of these for here at work, something I can set up on my break or lunch, and get a little work out in. What I am planning to do is to get one of our Daisy Chain straps, slightly modified, with 4-5 chain loops, and then a loop at the far end. This will form the adjustable part which can attach to anything horizontal, say a cross beam of our break shelter (outdoor covered area), and
be secure with the carabiner (locking to prevent anything funky) holding the strap in place. Next in line is going to be a 
custom piece of webbing with two long tag ends with a loop at the middle. This loop is also fed onto the locking carabiner. At the end of each strap I am going to feed a Cam Loop strap with an 8 inch loop. These will form the hand and feet supports for the suspension strap. This are just what I plan to do, for a custom suspension trainer. It should be fairly simple to get done.
With the different types of webbing and strapping we have, I should be able to come up with something compact that will work great for my application. I'm not the most delicate (read: Lightest) flower in the garden, so I am going to have this stuff made out of our polyester webbing. If the stuff can hold up a car, I'm sure it can hold me as well.
The trouble with always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind. ~ G.K. Chesterton
Everyone who travels has experienced a little of the frustration of dealing with luggage. If it doesn't get lost, it is impossible to find. Most people put some sort of luggage tag on their property, but most are a one off, and get destroyed in the process. Because of our sublimated webbing, we can do better.
One of our solutions here is to make a
custom luggage tag. Using our photo quality polyester webbing we permanently brand a small length of webbing with personal information, attach a piece of hardware, and make a somewhat more usable tag. My idea is to use the Steel HK snap , in the one inch size, with a piece of photo quality webbing attached. The other key thing would be to get the end of the webbing dyed a bright and unique color, thus making it easy to spot my bags. The Sublimated webbing will hold an image like nothing else, and on the photo quality the detail is phenomenal. This way I can have my name and address on both sides of the tag, with a small swatch of color to identify the bag, all sewn onto an HK snap. Pretty much assured that the strap will not come off the bag unless the bag breaks, or it is taken off.
If you have a duffle, or another similar style of bag, a strap with a side release buckle can be made with your information on it and attached around the bag to give a 360 degree method of identification. Another simple method would be to have your personal information sublimated onto a piece of webbing which is colored, and then have a snap attached to one end so that the strap snaps to its self, basically like one of our wrist bands, but with other intentions. This way you could just circle the tag around a baggage handle and be ready to go. This is a simple yet effective way to make a reusable tag to clip onto luggage, and somewhat fun to boot. And if you want something that you can be sure will not get lost or come detached, the webbing can be sewn onto your bag to make a semi permanent ID tag.
Of course these are not the only methods, just one of many we can make here. Our custom department can make up almost any design you like, so if you have a method that is better for you, send them a drawing or description and they can help you out. They are just an e-mail away, at Custom@strapworks.com.
"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." ~Robert Louis Stevenson
This is the video from our recent car escapade. As I previously stated, some of my co-workers here got to make up some straps, in a variety of webbing types, and test them by trying to lift a car. There were a few surprises for us, as well as a crushing conclusion.
The first strap we tested was our Heavyweight Polypropylene with a double box X stitch. The webbing has a breaking strength of 900 lbs, and the thread a breaking strength of 14 lbs per stitch. This is the only strap in which the WEBBING failed, and it only failed after the car was mostly off the ground. It was almost when the full weight of the vehicle came to rest on the strap did the webbing finally fail.
The next webbing we tested was our Flat Nylon, again with a double box X stitch. The webbing has a breaking strength of 3400 lbs. The car itself weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 tons, so we fully expected the webbing to fail, if not the stitching. The first time around the car lifted off the ground, no trouble. So we lowered it, took the strap and removed one of the box Xs, and raised it again. The car again lifted off the ground with no sweat. This time as soon as we jolted it, the stitching failed, and down came the car.
The last shot is with our Polyester 10K webbing. This wasn't going to break. I am pretty sure we did some special stitching on it as well; just to make sure the car reached its zenith. Which it did, at which point we let it go.
"It's the simple things in life you treasure."
~Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub), Galaxy Quest
