Ratchet straps, also known as tie-down straps, lashing-straps, or just tie-downs are very compact yet highly effective pieces of equipment, they are used for all sorts of tie-down applications. 

These straps are used to fasten and secure cargo during transport and are a much better alternative to rope or chains. Ropes need to be tied down and manually tensioned to hold down cargo which makes them uneasy to use, chains are too heavy, so they add unnecessary weight.

How to Loosen a Ratchet Strap

A ratchet strap is able to provide such amazing performance thanks to its mechanism. You just crank its lever to apply tension to the line and it can be used to apply a very high amount of tension just by hand.

When working with ratchet straps, it’s important to know how to loosen them. If you can’t loosen your ratchet strap, then you will have a tough time tightening it later on. This is usually because you are using the wrong technique or because it’s too tight.

Ratchet straps may seem daunting at first but once you understand their mechanism you can use them with ease. In this article we will explain How to Loosen a Ratchet Strap in just three simple steps.

But first, we will briefly explain how ratchet straps work so that you have an understanding of the mechanism.

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How it Works

A ratchet strap is used to tie down a line, this is done by building tension in the strap that is attached to the windlass. The windlass is a cylinder that holds the strap and tugs on it.

To build tension in the line, a ratchet strap is cranked by opening and closing the lever repeatedly.

In order to maintain the tension in the line when the lever is in the “open” position a safety tab is used, the safety tab stops the windlass from moving. 

While the windlass is stopped by the safety tab it cannot move and the tension in the line is maintained. In order to loosen a ratchet strap, we will have to allow the windlass to move freely while the lever is open.

“How to loosen a ratchet strap” is a question asked on various websites and forums. Here, we will teach you the best way.

Loosening a Ratchet Strap

Now that you have a basic understanding of the mechanism, you can follow these three steps to loosen it.

Step 1

You will need to pull back the safety tab so that it no longer locks the windlass. Once you have pulled back the safety tab all the way, the windlass will no longer pull on the wire as you open the ratchet lever.

Step 2

Now that the tab is all the way back you can now safely open the ratchet as far back as you can. Most ratchets will almost make an angle of 180 degrees i.e., they will become flat.

Once the ratchet is all the way back you can move to the final step.

Step 3

All you have to do now is to press the release tab of your ratchet and the strap will no longer be held down.

You might have to wiggle the ratchet back and forth to loosen the strap so that the line loosens up a little.

And there you have it; you have loosened a ratchet strap. If you want to completely remove the line you can just pull the ratchet back away from the line and the strap will be free.