S-hooks are unsafe Posted by: Jeffrey_Lee on Sep-30-12 8:52 PM (EST)
The whole purpose of bow and stern tiedowns, should the main belly straps fail, is to keep the boat near your vehicle during the emergency stop, rather than tumbling through surrounding traffic and endangering others. If a pothole or a bump is enough to dislodge an S-hook, what do you suppose will happen in the event of an actual flyoff? That boat will be all over the road ... literally. Better to use a carabiner, snap-link, or a good knot of some sort. In fact, even rain or high humidity can make ropes go slack enough to pop an S-hook loose. Delphinus http://www.AquaDynology.com