How we handle specifications and documentation

Every figure carries its source

Specifications on this site sit at one of several levels of evidence, and the level is shown next to the value rather than left for you to guess.

1. Confirmed. Observable on the product as supplied — diameter, length, material, colour, packaging. Shown plainly. A load figure can never sit at this level, because a load figure is not something anyone can observe by looking.
2. As printed on the packaging. Figures Feytom publishes on its own retail packaging, reproduced here with that attribution visible. The Grade 70 chain's 4,700 lb working load limit is the current example.
3. As stated in Feytom's item list. Figures from the commercial document Feytom sells from. The lashing webbing's 2,200 lb working load limit is published this way.
4. Rated to a published standard. The figure is the one a named standards body publishes for that product's size and grade. Both chains are manufactured to NACM specification, so their working load limits and minimum breaking forces are NACM's published values, not ours.
5. Manufacturer-verified. Backed by a test certificate for the batch that shipped. We hold none yet. A standard tells you what a product is built to reach; a certificate tells you what a particular production run actually reached. When we hold one, it will be labelled as such and will take precedence over everything above.

The two middle levels differ in an important way. Feytom stating a figure about its own product is real published data, and we treat it as such — but it is the seller describing the goods. A standards body's published value is independent of us, which is why those rows are marked differently. Neither is a test certificate. If you are specifying for a regulated load, ask us for the documentation rather than working from this page.

What we still withhold

Anything that does not sit at one of those levels is not published. That currently includes any compliance claim naming an enforcement body, and any breaking strength for the webbing or the rope.

• A working load limit is not a breaking strength. The working load limit is the most you should ever apply. The breaking force is the minimum the product is built to survive before it fails. The gap between them is the safety margin, and it is not spare capacity you can borrow. The two chains carry different margins — Grade 70 is rated 4:1, Grade 43 is 3:1 — so the same diameter in a lower grade is not an equivalent chain.
• A published minimum is not a measurement. The breaking forces we show are the minimum figures NACM publishes for that size and grade. They are not test results for the drum or bag you receive. We hold no batch certificates.
• A marking still needs someone to say what it means. The lashing webbing carries a 3T marking. Feytom's item list reads that as a 2,200 lb working load limit, so we publish that figure with the item list named beside it. The same document also reads 3T as a breaking strength. We do not publish that figure — not even to argue with it — because a breaking strength needs a named standard behind it, and none has been named for this webbing. We have asked the supplier what the marking refers to.
• Marked for is not approved by. The Grade 70 chain is marked for DOT transport requirements. That describes the marking. It is not a statement that any authority has approved the product.
• Applications are possible uses, not approvals. A use listed on a product page is not a statement that the product is approved for your specific load, equipment or method.

How to obtain technical documentation

Ask for it in a quote request. Tell us the product and the application, and we will supply the manufacturer documentation we hold or tell you plainly that we do not yet hold it. Specification sheets will appear as downloads on product pages once approved documents are available.

What this page is not

It is not guidance on how to secure a load. Tie-down counts, load calculations, inspection intervals and rigging method depend on your equipment, your load and the regulations that apply to you. Those decisions need the manufacturer's instructions and qualified judgement, and this page is not a substitute for either.