6 Best Bungee Cords With Hooks For Attaching Tarps To A Motorhome Vets Use

That cheap, multi-colored pack of bungee cords from the bargain bin seems like a good idea until a surprise midnight thunderstorm turns your motorhome tarp into a shredded, flapping mess. Choosing the right bungee cord isn’t about convenience; it’s a critical decision to protect your rig’s finish, prevent water damage, and ensure your gear stays put. A few extra dollars spent on quality cords is cheap insurance against costly repairs down the road.

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Securing Your Motorhome Tarp Like a Pro

Anyone who has lived this life for a while knows the sound of a cheap bungee hook bending and releasing a tarp in high winds. It’s a sickening twang followed by the relentless whump-whump-whump of fabric against your rig. A pro setup avoids this by prioritizing materials that can handle the abuse of weather and time.

This means looking beyond the cord itself and scrutinizing the entire system. The hook’s material, the quality of the crimp holding it to the cord, and the cord’s resistance to UV degradation are what separate a reliable tool from a roadside failure. We’re aiming for a set-it-and-forget-it solution that holds tight through sun, rain, and wind.

Ultimately, the goal is consistent, firm tension without over-stressing the tarp’s grommets. A professional setup uses a combination of bungee types and lengths to create a secure web that distributes the load evenly. It’s less about brute force and more about smart engineering.

Rhino USA Bungee Cords: Ultimate Durability

When your primary concern is sheer strength and longevity, Rhino USA is the brand you turn to. Their cords feel substantial right out of the package, built with more rubber and a tighter, more durable outer sheath. This translates to less permanent stretching after months of use holding down a heavy winter cover.

The real star, however, is the hooks. Rhino uses thick, coated steel that resists bending under heavy, sustained loads. Imagine securing a large tarp over your entire rig for the off-season; you need hooks that won’t deform and slip off their anchor points during the first major gust of wind. This is where Rhino’s over-engineered approach provides real peace of mind.

The tradeoff for this durability is a lack of flexibility and a higher price point. These cords are stiff and can be overkill for light-duty tasks like securing a small sunshade. But for critical applications where failure is not an option, their rugged construction is worth every penny.

Erickson Adjustable Bungees for Custom Tension

The biggest frustration with standard bungees is the "in-between" problem. One cord is too long, leaving the tarp loose, while the next size down is too short, putting immense strain on your grommets. Erickson’s adjustable bungees completely eliminate this issue.

Their simple-to-use mechanism allows you to pull the cord to the perfect length and lock it in place. This is a game-changer for securing tarps over irregular shapes, like a slide-out with an awning or around a mounted generator. You can achieve perfectly uniform tension across the entire surface, which is key to preventing wind flap and water pooling.

Of course, adding a moving part introduces a potential point of failure. While Erickson’s locking components are generally robust, they are typically made of heavy-duty plastic. For a critical, high-stress connection point, you might still prefer the brute simplicity of a fixed-length, heavy-duty cord.

Cartman 24-Piece Set: A Versatile Solution

Sometimes, the best solution is having a wide variety of options at your fingertips. The Cartman multi-piece sets are the workhorse of the RV world for a reason: they provide an incredible range of lengths, thicknesses, and even some specialty cords like canopy ties. This versatility means you always have the right tool for the job.

You can use the smaller cords to secure a sewer hose in its storage bay, medium ones to lash down camping chairs, and the longer, heavier ones to secure a tarp over your bikes. While the individual quality may not match a premium brand like Rhino, the overall value is undeniable. They are more than adequate for 90% of the daily tasks around a motorhome.

Think of the Cartman set as your general-purpose toolkit. It’s the perfect starting point for a new RVer or a fantastic way to restock your entire supply. For the most demanding jobs, you might supplement with a few specialized cords, but this set will handle almost everything else.

Keeper Flat Bungee Cords for No-Roll Security

Round bungee cords have a nasty habit of rolling and digging into whatever they’re securing. This concentrates all the pressure on a very thin line, which can damage your tarp or even the finish on your rig. Keeper’s flat bungee cords are the elegant solution to this problem.

By design, their wide, flat shape distributes pressure over a much larger surface area. This makes them the ideal choice for securing a tarp over a sensitive area, like an acrylic window or a custom paint job. The flat profile also helps them stay put, preventing them from slipping or rolling off the edge of your cargo.

Many of Keeper’s flat cords also feature oversized, molded hooks that are less likely to scratch surfaces. The combination of the non-marring hook and the pressure-distributing strap makes them a specialized tool that excels in situations where protecting your rig’s finish is just as important as security.

Kotap UV-Resistant Cords for All-Weather Hold

The sun is the silent killer of bungee cords. Over a single season, intense UV radiation can break down the outer fabric sheath and degrade the inner rubber, leaving the cord brittle, weak, and ready to snap. Kotap addresses this head-on by specializing in UV-resistant materials.

Their cords are specifically designed for long-term outdoor use, making them a top choice for full-timers in places like Arizona or Florida, or for anyone storing their rig outside for months on end. The outer jacket is formulated to reflect sunlight and protect the elastic core, drastically extending the cord’s safe, usable lifespan.

Choosing a Kotap cord is an investment in reliability. While any cord will work for a few days, these are the ones you can trust to still have their strength and elasticity a year from now. When securing a winter cover, you need to know the cords won’t fail in the February sun, and that’s the confidence Kotap provides.

Bison Gear Straps for Superior Hook Strength

A bungee cord is only as strong as its weakest link, and that is almost always the hook. We’ve all seen cheap cords with flimsy metal hooks that straighten out under the first real test of tension. Bison Gear takes the opposite approach, focusing on creating a virtually indestructible hook.

Their hooks are often made from thick, heat-treated steel, sometimes featuring a closed-gate carabiner design that simply cannot slip off its anchor point. This level of strength is essential for high-wind environments or when securing extremely heavy, water-logged canvas tarps. When the wind is howling, you are betting everything on that small piece of metal.

These are not your everyday, lightweight bungee cords. They are specialized pieces of equipment for situations where you need maximum holding power and zero chance of hook failure. For securing the main corners of a large roof tarp before a hurricane, a Bison strap is the only tool for the job.

Choosing Bungee Length and Proper Tensioning

The most common mistake people make is using the wrong length and creating improper tension. The rule of thumb is to select a bungee cord that is approximately half the distance of the gap you need to span. This allows you to stretch it to about 75% of its total capacity, which is the sweet spot for secure tension.

Stretching a cord to its absolute maximum is a recipe for disaster. It puts extreme stress on the cord, the hooks, and the tarp’s grommets, guaranteeing premature failure of all three. Conversely, a cord that is too loose is useless, allowing wind to get underneath the tarp and cause catastrophic damage. It’s always better to use one correctly sized cord than to daisy-chain multiple smaller ones together.

Finally, make tensioning a part of your regular walk-around inspection. After a windy night, a drastic temperature change, or a long drive, take two minutes to check your cords. A quick tug will tell you if anything has stretched or shifted. This simple habit can save you from a major failure down the road.

Ultimately, the best bungee cord is the one that’s right for the specific task at hand. By understanding the tradeoffs between durability, adjustability, and specialized features, you can build a versatile collection that protects your motorhome. It’s a small detail that makes a huge difference in keeping your home-on-wheels safe, secure, and ready for the next adventure.