Advice on tying down luggage securely

[The Professional]

I'm going on a 9M RIB. I have a few luggage cases. I want to make sure they are tied down tight and securely for obvious reasons so they don't go flying about.

Can anyone give some practical advice, what to tie it down to, what to use, etc?

 

[prv]

Perfectly possible to do this with rope, but if you’re not confident then ratchet straps will make it easier for you to put together something tight and secure. Don’t buy the very cheapest ones on eBay or Amazon as they’re cut from ludicrously thin sheet metal so as to be pretty much unusable.

Pete

 

[sarabande]

The tie-downs are only as safe as the bits of the RIBS to which they are attached. Using ratchet straps enthusiastically could overstress the attachment points . Physically I think you would be best securing them individually rather than as a bundle, to reduce moments of inertia.

 

[Wansworth]

You will need some sort of cover to keep the spray off.........or go slower

 

[john_morris_uk]

Is it only me that wonders what sort of luggage a rib carries? Is the carrying mainly done at night? Do you need to meet other ribs or ships offshore?

 

[penfold]

That's a nasty suspicious mind you have there for a man of the cloth.

 

[john_morris_uk]

That's a nasty suspicious mind you have there for a man of the cloth.

Less of the nasty please. Let’s just say I’ve been about a bit and I’m unnaturally curious.

 

[Gary Fox]

Is it only me that wonders what sort of luggage a rib carries? Is the carrying mainly done at night? Do you need to meet other ribs or ships offshore?

Probably only you!
Otherwise the forum would be inundated with stowage advice from foolish drug smugglers, and lubberly illegal immigrants.*

'What's a good place on a 33' Westerley to hide some plastic packets where nobody would think to find anything?'

'I'm planning a one-way trip of 22M in tidal waters, would a Chinese outboard motor be ok, or should I get a decent Mercury or Yamaha? (Re-sale value not so important)'

(*edit: or someone gently pulling your plonker..)

 

[William_H]

With any securing of cargo the term "tie down " is misleading. Yes you can tie things down to the base relying on friction of cargo base and tightness of straps.
A far better way is to regard the cargo as bit like a boat at a jetty. (using springers) You have 6 directions of movement of the cargo. Usually sitting on a base you can regard downwards as secure. You need to stop the cargo going forward with one rope. Stop it going backwards with another rope. Stop it going to port with another rope and likewise to starboard. (one of these may be taken care of by putting cargo against a side wall. The restraints to the side or indeed fore and aft may need to be doubled up to stop twisting.
With individual lines for each direction they don't have to be tight just enough to restrain movement.
I have found this approach successful for tieing things on the roof of my car. Sitting on padding. (including the boat mast) (yes probably ilegal with overhang front and back)
However on small aircraft a net over the whole cargo can be fairly successful limiting major movement. ol'will

 

[Wansworth]

Watching footage of drug barons in their ribs tootling along off Gibralter it looks like,if you are a drug baron, to not be too zealous with the tieing down as you might have to jettison your suitcases if the police are following you.

 

[Daydream believer]

If you are a family man, then standard procedure would be to get kids, or mother in law, to sit on it.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Probably only you!
Otherwise the forum would be inundated with stowage advice from foolish drug smugglers, and lubberly illegal immigrants.*

'What's a good place on a 33' Westerley to hide some plastic packets where nobody would think to find anything?'

'I'm planning a one-way trip of 22M in tidal waters, would a Chinese outboard motor be ok, or should I get a decent Mercury or Yamaha? (Re-sale value not so important)'

(*edit: or someone gently pulling your plonker..)

Fair enough. ?

 

[Daydream believer]

I do recall back in the 70's a Centaur loading up in Ostend with wine etc. The goods came from the customs shop just opposite the lock. Arrived in a van & a chap made numerous trips down the ramp with his sack barrow.
The crew said that they would have to motor home as it was too overloaded to sail. There were crates down the centre of the cabin, on the bunks & the bow cabin was full. They just left enough room to to stand in the cabin by the hatch.
We often wondered if they were stopped on arrival in the UK. I know that the customs officer in Burnham took his job very seriously.
Certainly enjoyed stripping my boat one day

 

[Neeves]

Back in the last few days, or years, of Empire - Hong Kong was a duty free port - apart from Alcohol. There was an annual race to Macau at Chinese New Year (where we were able to dispose of our out of date flares (and learn how to use them). There was another annual race to the Philippines at Easter (not long after CNY). It was a long wait till the next seasonal offshore events.

Returning yachts came back laden with bottles, Portuguese wine and Philippine rum. We exchanged one case, of rum, with a Taiwanese fishing boat for some diesel.

Jonathan

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Fair enough. ?

Of course, you were only thinking of the means of smuggling Bibles into atheistic states! Your second name isn't Andrew, is it? (for those less into such things, Brother Andrew was a well-known smuggler of bibles into Soviet Russia!)

 

[LadyInBed]

I would use a cargo net clipped onto the grab handles / rope around the tubes.

 

[NorthUp]

No.1 is don't use cases if at all possible, soft bags mould themselves to the space available, then lash as suggested above. Unless your cargo is not so malleable!