Ocky Strap Danger!

Odog - I can recall quite a few years ago, almost the exact same thing happening to a W.A. senior court judge, who was using an ocky strap to fasten down a load.

It didn't take his eye out, but it did give him a moderate eye injury that he recovered from.

He got onto the media and made his opinion known about the hidden dangers of the things.
There's a lot of power hiding in a tight ocky strap - and when they let go, it's the equivalent of a slingshot ball-bearing to the eyeball.

Anything you pull on that is held fast, and which then lets go with hidden recoil power, is extremely dangerous to the sensitive parts of your face.

Had a farmer friend who nearly lost an eye to a piece of fencing wire caught on something in his shed, when he pulled on it.
He gave it a good yank to free it, it sprang free, and the end of the wire got him right in the eye. He lost some vision, but kept the eye.

Cheers, Ron.

My Mum copped one between the eyes that put her on her ass, luckily we were in the driveway at the time. The quality of the straps has also gone down since then.

I used them on the motorbike and got smacked in the head once, lucky I had the helmet on still though. I gave them up after that, I only use cam lock or ratchet straps now.

There are places where an elastic strap is fine, in which case I think these are better than the common ocky strap. Treat them with care and caution, discard if damaged. They seem firmer than the conventional type. They come in a range of lengths from Bunnings.

Cheers

Eye Warning as Occy Straps Lash Out

Small ratchet straps.....will do almost anything an occy strap will do....and you can adjust the tightness.

Thing is, they are so handy... But, if your careful, and I always expect it to let go, and make sure your out of the way, and I guess, don't over do it.. Use with caution, and buyer/user beware.. Odog

Odog raises a very good point. Sadly some years ago in Karratha a supermarket trolley collector was hit in the throat when an occy strap failed and he died from his injuries. There are many cases on record where eyesight has been lost or permanently damaged by these lethal weapons. The use of occy straps is illegal in work places in WA. This raises the question: If they are considered unsafe in the workplace why would you use them at all? There are other alternatives that do the job just as well and are far safer. It is one thing to take a risk using them yourself but how would you feel if a traveling companion, partner or grandchild was seriously injured? They do not even have to fail to inflict and injury. Just losing your grip while they are under tension can r5esult in a recoil. I agree the quality of them is rubbish, like most products where the majority of our imported products come from, and there is no warning signs before they fail.

I had a spectacular failure with ockies when a heavy plastic canoe came off the top of the wagon when doing 110 kmh down a busy freeway. I saw it bouncing end on end among the cars behind me. Luckily no harm was done.

They were overloaded and stretched too tight so there was little give left in them.

All load fixing methods have to pass the Sigmund Law of Sufficiency. Ockies can work fine within their limits. There needs to be a bit of give in them and not too much stretch used in hooking up. I like the Masters brand that have stiff cord and steel (not wire) hooks. Some used to be available with a repositionable hook at one end so you could manage the give/stretch balance.

Some ocky straps came with a length of vinyl tube around some of the cord length to restrict the amount of uncontrolled contraction. Are they still around?

For tie downs I find best the cam lock types with hook ends. Loop ends mean too much doubling back of the strap. Ratchets are good for heavy loads but over the top for most of my needs.

ROK straps are great - webbing loop ends so no steel is involved. I use the pack straps for light loads on the motorbike.