Surprise!   You know how a lot of times you "coast" on previously acquired knowledge?  You have a mental model of the world, and you take it as given that your favorite stuff is your favorite, and stuff you don't like still sucks?  Well every so often, something can come around that causes you to reconsider your world view just a little bit.  This happened with us recently.  One of our manufacturers mentioned they had changed a small detail on how they were building our wheel straps, so of course we asked them to send us one so we could get some accurate pictures.  We'd bought stuff from these guys for years, so we weren't too worried, but we figured we'd better have accurate pictures for our customers.  Boy, were we surprised when we got the sample back from them!   
 
First of all, the ratchet handle EXCEEDED our spec!  We are pretty picky about what ratchets we sell, and on more than one occasion we have rejected ratchet handles we felt were just not professional grade.  What was so great about this ratchet handle? At first glance, it looks just like any other ratchet handle. The first thing we noticed is it had a nicer yellow dichromate finish.   It's the short wide variety that is good for using on car haulers, of course.  But when we opened it up and started working with it, we were amazed at how much smoother it was to operate than others.  On closer inspection, we noted that the metal gears, the metal handle, and even the pins that retain the spindle were made of heavier steel.  Opening, closing, ratcheting and locking the ratchet was much easier with this model.
 
Secondly, the hooks seemed to fit the cottrell deck plate even better than our regular EZ-fit wire hooks.