FastCap Bowtie Clamps for free (plus shipping)

[Regnar]

I received mine today. Won't be home for awhile to try them out but interested in what you guys think of them.


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[firworks]

I received mine today. Won't be home for awhile to try them out but interested in what you guys think of them.


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I just went out and recorded some video of them and messed with them for a while. I'm kinda... down on them now. They're simple in function, but actually getting them to clamp tight is a little iffy. You have to make sure there's enough tension on it initially before you twist or it won't clamp without like 10 turns, but too much initial tension and you can't even twist it so that takes some messing with. In addition because you have to lock it with the little hooks on the side, depending on the shape of the object you are clamping it can be hard to get one of them actually close enough to the string to lock on. In addition, they are a real pain with gloves on. At least work gloves. I'll get it edited together tonight and post it up here but I don't think I'm maybe the right end user for them. I've got a lot of standing wood in my stockpile and none of it ever falls over. It feels gagdetty to me and makes me think of my girlfriend incessantly zip-tieing every cable and cord in the house at all times so you can never actually use anything. Maybe others are getting a different feel from them.

Don't take anything too negative from this though. They are still cool, and feel well built. The little hooks are a lot stronger than I expected. I just think you need to come up with a good use case for them before you shell out non-basically free amounts of dollars for them.

 

[06switchback]

$3.02 shipping for me why not give them a try

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[kunkernator]

Got mine in the mail today. They are nifty, and i can see how they can be useful. I will actually probably use them for the same purpose they do in the demonstration picture- holding my lumber stock together.


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[firworks]

Anyone have any more feedback on these things? I'm interested if anyone has found anything cool to do with them yet that isn't just bundling wood.

Also I did decide to publish the video I did on them:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tYAv-grBO04" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Wrenches of Death]

Interesting. Would you trust this thing to hold stuff in the back of your truck? (as opposed to ratchet straps)

No, I wouldn't!

My standard tie down gear for the back of the pickup is 1/2" nylon rope.

A bowline on one end and a taunt line hitch on the other end and your done. Infinitely adjustable, very reliable, very strong, and very cheap. Also very easy to untie, wet or dry. No clumsy ratchet mechanism or bendable hooks either.

I guess that nobody knows how to tie proper knots anymore.

I do have transport chain and binders along with high end 4 inch or so ratchet straps if I'm moving bigger stuff on one of the trailers or something. But, for general light duty stuff like a motorcycle or something, ROPE.

WoD

 

[SweetD]

I have a dis-assembled table in storage and I used one of the clamps to bundle the cylindrical metal legs together - eight of them. Works well. Like I mentioned before, I think these may come in handy on the boat this season...

 

[firworks]

As far as replacing ratchet straps, these are only 40" long. And some of that is taken up by having to thread the rope into the slot and turning it so you probably could only clamp something maybe 30"-35" in diameter? They can't be used for tying anything "down" but they could be used for keeping things together in the bed of a truck. Maybe if you were buying some loose surfaced wood and laid it over the tailgate, you could use these to keep it together so it all didn't splay apart and bang into each other and the truck bed and get all dinged up. I think as long as you got it tight enough you wouldn't have to worry about the hooks unhooking from vibration or shock.

They definitely won't replace rope but they aren't intended to. I carry a rope in my car for tying things down. If I needed to tie something small up quick though it would be a little stupid to have 98' of rope hanging off it. These could work in that situation.

 

[Doug Arthurs]

Great for someone who can't tie a basic load binder knot. LOL.

 

[Zeke]

No, I wouldn't!

My standard tie down gear for the back of the pickup is 1/2" nylon rope.

A bowline on one end and a taunt line hitch on the other end and your done. Infinitely adjustable, very reliable, very strong, and very cheap. Also very easy to untie, wet or dry. No clumsy ratchet mechanism or bendable hooks either.

I guess that nobody knows how to tie proper knots anymore.

I do have transport chain and binders along with high end 4 inch or so ratchet straps if I'm moving bigger stuff on one of the trailers or something. But, for general light duty stuff like a motorcycle or something, ROPE.

WoD

Haven't received mine yet so I can't review but I too would not probably use them to secure a load in a truck. I use the bowlin' on one end but a trucker's hitch on the other. In addition I always put a couple bungees across 2 ropes to maintain tension as the load shifts down the road.

And they all do no matter what even if only slightly. You often see a big rig driver pull another notch after the first stint.

 

[FigureItOut]

Bummer, just saw this thread. Today's supposed to be the expiration date but it's not going through.

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[firworks]

That's strange... Maybe it's like an Enco code and they messed it up and it will reactivate in a little while.

 

[Regnar]

Bummer, just saw this thread. Today's supposed to be the expiration date but it's not going through.

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Try using "American10" as I didnt see a expiration date on this code. Might not work as you have to order something to usually get this code.

Also signing up for their email gets you a code as well for 10 dollars.

 

[naturalgas]

Call the co. They gave me a new code for yesterday


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[Keith W]

Anyone actually look at " all these bowties I bundle my wood with" ....they're red blocks with rope tied through them not the thing he's selling.

Good eye Justme, Glad to see you are paying attention. You are correct, the Bowties in the video are not from Fastcap. They are my prototypes that I have been using for years. I originally made them out of Lexan to clamp the large wooden spheres that I build. I had specific lengths that I use so I just tied knots in the rope. The v shaped slot didn't come along until after the re-design. At the time of the video there were only a few of the Fastcap version that were being tested.

 

[Keith W]

Interesting. Would you trust this thing to hold stuff in the back of your truck? (as opposed to ratchet straps)

I would have to say no. The Bowtie is not designed to replace load binders or ratchet straps. When I tie lumber in the back of my truck I use ratchet straps. When I want to bundle and organize lumber and trim I use Bowties.

 

[firworks]

Howdy Keith and welcome to GJ!

Do you have any pictures of the original BowTie clamps? I'm sure some others would be interested too in seeing what they looked like and how they worked.

 

[jeffwidman]

FWIW, I know a number of the Fastcap employees, the company is located less than ten miles from my parents house, and they're good people. I remember as a little kid going with my dad to pick up some Fastcaps from Paul's house that he was donating to our church to help fix up the gymnasium. That was back when he was still splitting his time between being a cabinet maker and starting Fastcap.

 

[winlinmac]

I could see the uses of these clamps and am very pleased for supporting US labor