Hasta La Ideas

A pickup truck isn’t anything without tie-down gear, which all have their pain points. Ratchet straps are the go-to for hauling larger items, but they’re overkill for smaller stuff, and tedious to wind up. Bungie cords can work well for smaller items, but there’s a length/tension sweet spot that you need to hit, and I find that’s often stymied by the size of the object. You can store multiple bungie lengths, but that quickly turns into a snake’s nest that must be laboriously untangled.

This CamJam XT presents a middle ground. Made by NiteIze, it’s an aluminum carabiner with a toothed cam at the butt end that serves as a rope tightener. This looks to be a quicker set-up for achieving the exact length/tension you need, and with faster clean-up, as coiling rope is way faster than winding a strap.

These come in two sizes: A Regular rated for 280 lbs., and a Large that can handle 500 lbs. Both come with 10′ of rope* and run $11 and $20, respectively.

*Note that in the fine print, the company says that with the included rope, the load limits are downgraded to 100 lbs. for the Regular and 250 lbs. for the Large. For them to include rope that doesn’t live up to the rating printed on the product is a dumb, shady practice.