The brackets are made out of 1 1/2X 1/4 inch steel with the legs of the brackets made from 1X 1/4 inch steel. Aussie is right!![8D] You ratchet the strap to pull the brackets inward and then you " de-ratchet" slowly, one or two clicks at a time. You can just push the handle of the ratchet back flat, but that would cause the ratchet to " free wheel" and you don' t want to do that to your bow do you???