Howdy Folks! It’s Isaac True, your trusty tie-down enthusiast. Over the past month I’ve been running around the great state of Minnesota working county fairs. County fairs are a blast! What was I doing working at these County Fairs? Well, I was running the Omega Strap booth, of course. To greet most customers I’d ask, “ Would you folks like to see the world’s greatest ratchet strap?” Most of the time it was a resounding, “Yes, I hate those things!”.

After the customer showed their interest in the product, I would start my demonstration. The demo was done on a plywood table with a diamond plate piece of sheet metal as sort of a tablecloth. On all four corners of the table sat an eye hook, the eye hooks were held in with a nut on the underside of the plywood. On the center of the table was the, “Attention getter”. A black and red 75cc SSR pit bike that all the young kids were obsessed with. Oftentimes the kids would be salivating over the motorcycle, only to find out that the bike wasn’t for sale. We were selling OmegaStraps.

Each demonstration started with the Flex Hook. The reasoning for premiering with it is simple, relatability. Anyone who has ever laid eyes or hands on a ratchet strap has experienced a falling hook before. If you haven’t experienced one first hand then you’ve definitely seen a hook fall, followed by an embarrassed ratchet strap user scrambling to re-attach it to a decent anchor point.

My demo table had a stake pocket I attached. That’s where I would place the hook without taking advantage of the flex hook. I would then tell a group of fair goers, “I can almost guarantee you’ve had this happen before.”  After that, I would walk out to the aisle with the strap, lose tension on it, and watch the hook fall and swing like a pendulum. With rapid speed I would grab the hook, throw it in the stake pocket, and engage the flex hook. Then I’d let go of the strap, and guess what. It stayed right where I left it! If there was a couple viewing, I would look at the woman and say something like, “Now you don’t have to hold the hook for him anymore! You can just sit in the truck with the AC blasting!”

After showing off the Flex Hook, I would move on to the control knob. I had two straps running diagonally through the handle bars, hooked onto the four eye hooks. The best way I found to start the showcase of the Control Knob was by using the OmegaStrap just like a run of the mill ratchet. I would crank it until there was so much tension I couldn’t ratchet anymore. After the shocks were good and compressed, I’d pull the tab and release the ratchet. Pop! Bang! The bike would jump up, almost tip over. After that I’d show what a real game changer the Control Knob really is.

When the strap was tensionless, I’d start tightening with the knob, finish it off with the handle, when it was ready to release, I’d grip the knob with my right hand, then with my left I’d pulled the tab and release tension just like a standard ratchet. Using OmegaStrap’s Control Knob I was able to regulate the release of tension at my own speed. After seeing the control knob in action one common word was uttered by the fairgoers. That word was, “Genius!”

“Have you ever been in a jam with one of these(ratchet strap) things? Were you yanking and pulling , but you can get it?” I don’t think a single person told me no. We’ve all been there… Maybe you simply have too much strap in the ratchet. The yank and pull technique only works so well. When the OmegaStrap is in an open position, you’re allowed to spin the knob either forward or backward. With the OmegaStrap you can get out of any jam life throws at you.

After showcasing the knob, I would move on to OmegaStrap’s Patented Storage Loop. The first thing I would do is pull out the bucket tangled up ratchet straps. You know what I’m talking about. Some people throw their ratchet straps into a bucket. They don’t even wrap them up. The reason they do this is because there’s no good way to keep them together. Some folks use zip ties, or gear ties, but the problem with them is you don’t always have them. OmegaStraps storage loop is actually fixed onto the ratchet handle so it is always there when you need it.

Okay… back to the bucket. I would then ask, “Have you ever seen something like this before?” Almost always the wife would chime in and say, “He’s got about three of those things sitting in the garage.” After that we’d all have a good laugh. After the laughter receded, I would show them what the Omega Strap looks like when you are done with it. Then they would usually ask how much we were selling a set for. After that the deal was sealed. One vendor even bought 16 sets of two from me! That’s 32 ratchet straps!

Until next time folks. God bless and Godspeed!