I’ll be honest: I’m not a huge fan of bungee cords. I find them vaguely inelegant, I don’t like the fact that you often can’t see wear or damage that will result in a break either while you’re attaching the strap, endangering your eyes, or while you’re on the road, possibly resulting in the loss of important equipment. I’ve also seen them used inappropriately far, far too often, up to and including being the sole pair of fasteners attaching a Hi-Lift jack crosswise to the top of a brush guard. Imagine the result if that vehicle were smartly rear-ended.
However, there’s no denying that bungees are ideal for many tasks for which ratchet straps would be either overkill, or ineffective. This applies especially when cinching down soft items such as duffels on roof racks, sleeping bags on the rear racks of motorcycles, soft luggage on top of rigid containers already ratcheted down in the cargo area, or similar situations. A ratchet used thusly can some loose as contents in the bag shift or compress, while a bungee automatically takes up the slack.
The problem is, bungee cords always seem to be either too short or too long. It’s some sort of immutable law of nature or something. Write me if you haven’t ever stretched a bungee to its limit and found it two inches shy of hooking where you need it.
Meet the LoopRope, a bungee system that allows nearly infinite length adjustment as well as variable tension.
Essentially the product comprises a continuous loop of high-quality bungee, in either a three- or five-foot unstretched length, with numerous immovable keepers that create a series of loops along the side. Each LoopRope also comes with two stainless clips. To use it on, say, a roof rack, you attach one end of the bungee to the rack with a secure girth knot (by simply looping the bungee through itself). Stretch the cord over your duffel, through another rail on the rack, and back on itself. Use the clip to stretch and attach the end to one of the loops. Done. Note that the LoopRope site advises eye protection, and warns that this is still a light-duty device, but the fastening system is far easier and more secure than those cheesy little hooks on most bungees, and the versatility raises it to a new level.
The loops can also be used to create an impromptu cargo net if needed. And of course you can attach two or more LoopRopes end to end to create a longer system.
I originally agreed to review the LoopRope because the owner and developer emailed me with great enthusiasm after he read my review of the (complementary and equally clever) Lynx Hooks, and I felt I should give the product a chance. Now that I have two LoopRopes, I’m happy I do and I’m sure I’ll be using them regularly. It’s a clever and worthwhile upgrade from a standard bungee. In fact it’s almost elegant.
Find LoopRope here.