I hope that by now everyone is using safety straps on all of the items suspended from your boom. It should be pretty much of an automatic pilot thing; you change gear, you reattach the required straps. If you are not doing this you need to reevaluate your priorities. Use them.

How you attach them to the boom and to the suspended items is equally important. If they don’t restrain an item then they are useless.

The attachment to the boom is step one. A shackle is, in my opinion, the best method of attachment. It is secure, easily removed and when properly tightened it will not vibrate loose. Put the shackle thru the loop at one end of the strap and secure it to a structural part of the boom, not the pipeline. This method will insure that positive attachment is made independent of any pipe or hose clamps.

How you treat the other end of the strap is equally as important. The loop must be manually drawn tight around the outside diameter of the hose, pipe or reducer. Do not put this end of the strap around the exterior crimped metal portion of the hose; put it around the rubber portion of the hose. This is very important. When it is as tight as you can make it; yank upward on the strap. If at all possible I like to then make a half-hitch with any slack that is not needed to insure free rotation of the swivel 90. It is important that this swivel movement is not limited by the strap. If the instillation is such that the half-hitch is not possible I would suggest that you secure the strap in place with some duct tape. Do not apply the tape to such an extent that the removal of the strap is impractical. You are just holding it still, not capturing it for posterity.

For those of you that use cables or chains, great. Those are two other methods that will restrain an otherwise falling item.

For every method; chain, cable or strap do not attach either end with a spring loaded carabiner as these items tend to remain open when dirty and are too easy to bend. These are made to resist a direct down force and are subject to side loads by twisting in this application. Do not use them as this is a poor application for this product. Stick with a pure, threaded attachment of a shackle.

As always, I am easy to get a hold of if you have a better or different approach for this very important piece of gear. Or, better yet, post another solution so everybody can benefit.

And the most important part… just because you put it on right and tight does not mean that it will stay functional for life. At least once a week, check your connections and the condition of the straps (or whatever) for wear.

People are betting their life that you are. ;~)