Occasionally I meet a customer that assumes our ‘ShockStraps’ are made of rubber and I explain that ShockStraps are made with Urethane, not Rubber. In fact, urethane is just one of the reasons our customers are still using their ShockStraps after 10 years and more.

Rubber is biodegradable causing it to rot and degrade over time with exposure to the elements while Urethane is easily formulated to outlast rubber and stand up to sunlight and outdoor environments. I recently ran across a statement from Mearthane Products Corporation.

If you’re looking for superior abrasion, cut, and tear resistance, look beyond rubber to urethane. Urethane also boasts higher load-bearing capacity, better compression set, and superior tolerance to greases, oils, oxygen, and ozone.

Additionally, most cast urethanes like we use are available in grades that range from clear, to opaque, to amber making it easy to color. Interestingly, this ability to color urethane allows equipment manufacturers the opportunity to color code components like rollers and belts to simplify maintenance.

Finally, rubbers that are compounded to 90 or 95A durometer have compromised physical properties. Just the opposite is true of polyurethanes which maintain their properties and superior performance characteristics regardless of hardness.