The Source of Tension

The day after Thanksgiving we struck out for the Christmas tree farm and cut down our trees, as is our custom. Trees, plural, because we get a giant one to put in the open stairwell by our front door, and another, more reasonable-sized tree to put in a normal-sized room. Some years it’s been convenient to stick them both in our almost-an-SUV and let the crowns of the trees hang out the back. But when we get a tree that takes advantage of the full height of the entryway (about 18 feet) it seems more appropriate to secure it to the top of the car instead.

Traditionally, this would be done with ropes or baler twine, but now ratchet straps seem to have largely usurped their place in the world of securing loads. Nylon webbing is extremely strong and has the added bonus of getting tangled less easily than a traditional rope, and there’s no question that it’s simpler to use than it is to remember how to tie a trucker’s hitch or even a taut line hitch once a year. 

In fact, there are all manner of “new” gadgets for making ropes taut instead of tying a knot or hitch: fixtures with odd geometries that allow one to wrap the rope around it to secure it and others with special cams to hold the rope in place under load. Fun gadgets that offload the job of memory and practice: an outsourcing of skill to clever product design. Any why not? Tension is the key (especially at highway speeds) and the mechanism for creating and maintaining it is secondary.

Maybe next year, just for fun, I’ll bring a long hank of old rope to the farm next year and look up the knots I need on YouTube. After all, neither the rope nor the tree care if I’m skilled or just connected to the internet.