A means for protecting hoisting slings and/or their loads is described. The device includes a strip of uniform width and indefinite length comprising multiple plies of woven webbing, a plurality of spaced channels between a first pair of adjacent plies, and a plurality of friction straps, each secured at one end between a second pair of adjacent plies so that the opposed free end extends perpendicularly from a longitudinal edge of the strip. Each friction strap corresponds to one of the plurality of channels and is about as wide as its corresponding channel so that it fits snugly therein. The device is interposed between the sling and the load and is attached to the sling by encircling the sling cable with the straps and passing them through their corresponding channels so that the sling is firmly engaged by the device.

A flexible clothes hanger carrier which serves to allow someone to carry a number of clothes hangers comfortably even if these hangers are heavily weighted with clothes, and further allows a plurality of hangers to be simultaneously hung on a vehicular hook member. The flexible clothes hanger carrier is composed of an axially crumpled flaccidly flexible tube of plastic sheeting having mutually opposing first and second open ends. In a preferred method of production, the flaccidly flexible tube is provided from a plastic bag in which the closed end thereof has been cut away to thereby form a second open end opposite the bag mouth (which inherently supplies the first open end). The flaccidly flexible tube is then crumpled into a flexible loop which provides the flexible clothes hanger carrier. The hook portion of clothes hangers are interfaced with the flexible loop constituting the flexible clothes hanger carrier by being hooked thereonto.

A handle assembly is provided for an article carrier having at least one flexible end section for manually grasping to cause the article being carried to suspend downwardly from the grasped end section. The distal end section includes a bifurcated distal portion having two laterally spaced flaps joined along a generally U-shaped inner peripheral edge profile. The flaps include closed outer peripheral edges that intersect closed distal end edges. Each of the spaced flaps include an elongated distal end loop structure having a longitudinal axis extending transversely to the inner peripheral edge profile. Each elongated distal end loop structure includes a closed secured edge extending parallel to the longitudinal axis and having facing loop openings with a diameter that receives opposing ends of a rigid rod member. The rod member has a length sufficient to extend substantially along the entire longitudinal axis of the distal end loop structure of both flaps. The length along the entire inner peripheral edge profile is sufficiently shorter than the length of the rod member to preclude the accidental disassembly of the rod member while the article carrier is in use.

A pad to be disposed between a load and a sling. The pad has at least two woven Nylon bands or layers joined together by a yieldable, flexible adhesive. The warp threads of the bands are respectively angularly oriented.