Since buying my squirrel steps last winter I've been messing with them from time to time trying to get them just right. There are many great things to say about squirrel steps and the main reason I bought them was their excellent packability. Everything negative I am about to say is just my opinion so I'm not trying to start a war with the squirrel step and ocb strap loyalists. Just giving my 2 cents on my experiences with the steps. After buying the steps and learning how to use an ocb strap I just couldn't get the steps acceptably tight. The steps would roll, the strap wouldn't stay tight, seemed like no matter how tight I got the strap everything would ease its way loose after setting them or applying pressure. You could forget all together about putting them on a pine tree because that was a joke. So I blamed it on my ability to use an ocb strap and kept practicing. For a while now, I've been able to get that ocb so tight I dang near burst a blood vessel in my head from the amount of torque I get on that buckle. While it is better than before it's just not right. I believe that there are two issues causing this which are the slim design of the squirrel steps and the ocb strap power being limited to the individual and or handle being used. Again not trying to start a war but those who say they can get an ocb every bit as tight as a ratchet strap is an exaggeration at best. There's no way. Anyway, I never thought I would use a ratchet in the deer woods...ever....but I wanted to see if that would fix the problem. So I girth hitched an XOP strap onto a standard small ratchet buckle, added the steps, and went to town and these steps are ROCK SOLID. Being more than satisfied with the results I began playing with the ratchet and can easily and effectively utilize the ratchet strap with almost zero noise. It has changed the capability of the steps dramatically for me and I wanted to post this in case anyone else was having the same issues. Don't give up on your squirrel steps. They are awesome. If an ocb works for you that's great. If not give the ol ratchet a try and learn how to use it silently and your in buisness.