Flat webbing sling or round sling? Picking the right synthetic

Synthetic slings are the workhorses of general lifting: light, affordable, and gentle on painted or machined surfaces where chain would chew things up.

Flat webbing slings

A woven polyester band, usually with reinforced eyes at each end. The wide bearing surface spreads the load, which suits faces you don't want marked: coated steel, timber packs, machinery.

Round slings

An endless loop of polyester yarn inside a woven sleeve. The load-bearing core never touches the load. They're flexible, sit well in a choke, and the endless design means wear spreads around the loop instead of concentrating in one spot.

Quick rules of thumb

• Load has clean flat faces and you want maximum contact area: flat sling
• Choking odd shapes, pipe, bundles: round sling
• Hot work, sharp edges, chemical exposure: synthetic may be the wrong call entirely; look at chain or wire rope
• Either way, match the WLL to the lift, use sleeves on edges, and inspect before use

Colour isn't decoration

Synthetic sling colours follow a capacity colour code, so crews can read capacity at a glance. But the tag is the authority. Colour is the reminder, the tag is the rating.

General guidance only. Always follow the manufacturer's ratings and your site's lifting procedures.