Free Sample
The Complete Handbook of Luggage Straps
A practical reference for buyers, sellers, and users of luggage straps in commercial, industrial, and personal travel contexts.
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: Understanding Luggage Straps
1. Understanding Luggage Straps
A luggage strap is simply a length of webbing, a tensioning device, and a way to secure the strap around or through a bag. But this simplicity hides a functional component that spans a surprising range of use cases and engineering requirements. A luggage strap might be the thin, non-adjustable band that keeps a garment bag folded, or it might be a 75-millimeter-wide, ratcheted assembly that secures a 200-liter equipment case against a cargo dolly for cross-country transit. The term covers a spectrum, and the purchasing mistakes happen when that spectrum is ignored.
The most common use of a luggage strap, and the one most readers will be familiar with, is as an external belt around a checked suitcase, pulling the two shells together and adding a layer of mechanical retention in case the zipper fails. This is the strap you see on a typical traveler's bag at any airport. In this application, the strap has two jobs: compression and containment. Compression works by pulling the two halves of the case together, reducing the volume inside and minimizing pressure on the zipper. Containment is the safety net: if the zipper track breaks or the suitcase is over-stuffed to the point where the opening gape is severe, a even a modestly tensioned strap will hold the contents in place long enough for the bag to reach the carousel.
Yet that single mental image of a traveler's case misses the enormous industrial and