I normally just use bungies to hold extra stuff that doesn't fit in my panniers when I commute but I don't like the look of how much they press into my sleeping bag and thermarest when I crank them down. Plus they always seem to be too long or too short for what I need to strap down. Should I worry about them rubbing a hole in something over a long haul? Anyone use long velcro straps or something else that offers a little more adjustability to get things tight but not so tight that it causes your sleeping bag looks like a tube of toothpast that got squeezed in the middle?

I usually prefer to use webbing straps with buckles for lashing the major bits of gear to the top of the rack. Webbing can be tightened down to whatever length you need, it doesn't stretch, and it tends to remain in place once adjusted. It also won't suddenly let go and take your eye out like bungies. I do like to use a bungee cargo net over everything else, but not to keep the big stuff down - rather, this just gives a handy place to stash small items like handkerchiefs, bandannas, jackets etc when not in use or drying out.

Neil

Having your sleeping bag look like "a tube of toothpaste that got squeezed in the middle" is far better than what your sleeping bag looks like after a car has run over it That's what happens if the bag falls off because you don't have tight enough straps. Compressing the bag doesn't do it any harm since you already compress it to put it in a stuff sack.

Personally, I'm more concerned about the hooks on conventional bungees and what they do to the bag and stuff sack. I use ball bungees (4, one at each corner of the rack) because they are easier on the bags.

I have a webbing bungie strap and also have one of those super hold velcro straps.

I like the Fastex Buckles that are made to go on webbing .. that let you tighten both ends ..
you don't have to sew them on.

use more than one .. get a stuff sack to put everything in that goes on the rack top..
side opening duffles like Ortliebs rack packs are great.

river dry bags are fine they load from the end..

I used 5 straps .. 2 run across 3 run fore to aft.. so nothing moves to affect handling either ..

Bungies in multiple lengths for me with plastic coated hooks. Also use the ball bungies. They all work great.

Webbing straps with buckles here. I tighten them pretty tight, so much so that I tend to break buckles.

Bungee cords stretch. Either pull them tight enough to eliminate their stretch or risk something falling off when you hit a bump.

I use a pair of webbing straps. They're infinitely adjustable. They cinch tight and hold tight. They're lightweight. They never pop loose and hit you in the face when you're lashing things down.

The only problem with nylon straps is that nylon stretches when it gets wet...significantly. Make sure you adjust them if you get caught in the rain. Bungees don't have that problem.

I made my own bungy cord from purchasing the cord and hooks from a hardware store. I made a cord with 4 hooks and the cord joined in the middle to secure a load on top of the rack. You just have to take a little care to secure the bungy well at the hook end. I used some wire to wrap around the doubled end of the cord. Do not tie a knot only as it will slip over time.

A tightly woven 1" wide strap has No significant sag when wet .

Cheap common Bungees un hook and get in your wheels and you tear them up,
that is If you don't crash.

I made my own rain covers , the straps that secure them is both side release buckles
and snubbers... a 2x loop of shock cord between the strap and the buckle,
sewing a loop in the strap belt ends,
that you have to pull on tight to close the buckle.

I've had the (ahem...) pleasure of riding in all day, soaking rains a couple of times while touring. I've never noticed anything getting loose due to nylon stretch. They were cinched over some compressible items, like a tent and sleeping bag, so that might accommodate any wet nylon stretch. If things loosened in the rain, I'd merely stop, cinch things a bit tighter and move on. It won't keep getting looser.

use a bag that fastens to the rack with straps attached on the bottom only. buy one, or make your own by sewing straps to the bottom of your choice of bag, the width of your rack. reinforce with vinyl reinforced cloth if you're really worried about abrasion.

Jannd makes a rack duffle, i think ortlieb does too.

I've never noticed my nylon webbing stretching significantly (or at all, actually) in the rain. It would be pretty useless if it did that, but it doesn't seem to.

Neil

there's different kinds of nylon straps, different types of buckles. Cheap straps made with coarsely woven, loose strapping tend to slip.

I like fastex bucklelocks myself, the kind backpacking sternum straps use, but i try to pack light enough i never need to strap something big like a sleeping bag or tent to the rack, just drying clothes and stuff. which usually stay put with a flat bike bungee.

Agree.

I prefer nylon straps or velcro straps. For short lengths I have also used toe clip straps.

If you are dead set on bunges - I use bunges to strap light weight stuff like a jacket or a cloth briefcase on the back of my motorcycle seat. I have pulled some of the bunge through the metal hook and put a slip knot in the bunge to shorten it. But I have never used a bunge to haul touring gear on my bike.

most webbing is polypropelene. It doesn't stretch when wet or shrink when drying. Nylon is used where stretch is desirable.

1. put your sleeping bag into a compression sack so it's more solid.
2. make your own bungies with 3/16" bungie and plastic hooks so they're of a length that is convenient to you. Multiple wraps over the bag instead of overtight wrapping one time.

Really? My webbing came from REI back in 1998 or so. I'm not certain what the exact equivalent product would be today, but all the same looking ones listed on REI say they are made of nylon:

https://www.rei.com/product/813836
https://www.rei.com/product/783605
https://www.rei.com/product/603006

Neil

I minimize the super-compressed sleeping bag by wrapping the bag around my rolled up tent (in its own sac for those days the tent doesn't dry out enough), and then stuffing the whole thing into a dry sac, which I then strap to the top rear rack with polypropelene webbing. I cinch it tight enough to eliminate all wobble. The trick is to leave a tiny bit of air in the dry sac when you close it so that when you cinch it super-tight you're biting into air rather than into your sleeping bag. Make sure the dry sac is a durable one.

use panniers...

Buncha Sanford and Sons bike tourists we got here...

My wife uses a net type bugnee, and thinks it is great. She has used them for a couple of years with no problems


Placing sleeping bag, tent, thermorest pad, pillow and groundcloth into something like this Ortlieb rack pack make them managable, while protecting them and keeping them dry. It doesn't have to be an Ortlieb-just about any drybag or nulon duffle will work.


I use just 2, 3/16" bungees that I fabricated from shockcord from our local outdoor supply store. I've used these for several years without a problem.

On my last 6-week tour I used old 700c inner tubes to lash my tent and bag to the rack top. One for the tent and one for a drybag containing bag and small sleeping mat with a non-inflatable sitmat rolled up longways on the rack.
I used about 4 wraps to prevent pressure points and tied the ends (where I cut the valve off). It proved very secure even over rough tracks and the tubes lasted the whole journey.

https://www.rei.com/search?query=cam+...x=0&button.y=0

cam straps I use to secure kayaks/canoes to roof racks are made of polypropelene. That REI webbing is nylon and good for making harnesses and reinforcing straps but it would make absolutely no sense to use them for kayaks/canoes that have to be secure on roof racks going 60mph. The relatively low tension involved to hold bike gear on with 1" nylon strap won't stretch it much compared to it's breaking strength, 1500lbs+. Yeah, I'm thinking of a different application.
I guess I've got so accustomed to thinking of 1" webbing in terms of holding down canoes/kayaks and high tension on kayak hatches with fastek buckles (poor application) that nylon is a no no when it's a 12' length where getting wet can make it stretch 10% or put on wet will squeeze the canoe/kayak as it dries. On a bike it wouldn't make much difference and the nylon would last longer.
Straps and buckles have their place but if a package settles/changes shape the package may not be as secure as it would be with bungies.
Straps, bungies, line, they all work when used correctly.

I just checked and the straps I use are Polypropylene ones, specifically Coghlans Sleeping Bag Straps. The buckles are not as nice as Fastex but the straps are light cheap and work well.

I doubt that most folks abuse them like I do so buckle breakage is probably a non issue for most (I know that my touring and backpacking companions use the same straps without breakage). Breakage has always happened when tightening (over tightening?) and not while underway and the place they have failed is the part where the strap is permanently attached to the buckle, so that just tying it to the buckle is a quick fix, but I generally carry one spare strap anyway since it has also been handy to have another one when carrying some impromptu load now and them.