Ratchet strap protection
Our old
ratchet straps are 5 years old and rusty.
My new method is to store the
new one in a ziploc bag to protect it from the elements.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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The metal bits on these ratchet straps are several millimeters thick. It will probably take years for them to rust through enough to be dangerous.
At a guess, it would take much less time for sunlight (the UV component in particular) to break down the woven plastic straps themselves! Basically all plastics are vulnerable to UV. That is why stabilizing additives are added during their manufacture. But they get used up in the process of protecting the plastic.
So;
A translucent zip-lock bag is probably not enough protection against UV. And it could trap moisture inside.
Before using an old strap, bend it a couple of times. If the outer strands part or pieces flake off, discard it.