Over the years I amassed an impressive trove of plastic cable ties in a variety of lengths and colors. It was easy to do really, I’d buy some cable ties, use some of them, then put the rest away no where in particular. When I needed another cable tie I wouldn’t find those and I’d go out and buy more cable ties. Rinse, repeat.
Now I’m finally cleaning up and organizing tools and materials and parts and boxes of things I’d forgotten about and boxes of things my kids left in the basement and stuff that I have no idea where it came from and time and again an opened package of cable ties would emerge.
So now I have an entire drawer of my tool cabinet dedicated to cable ties, all sorted by size and color, plus a few adhesive backed Velcro pads that have no other home. I savor the small victories these days.
Please, no. I hate bundling anything with almost any kind of tape. It always seems to leave whatever was bundled sticky with transferred, degraded & very tenacious adhesive goo. I also don’t love cable ties, especially on a new piece of equipment that the manufacturer could reasonably guess you’d want the cable long. For example, a new blender or other countertop appliance. “Want to use your new microwave? Not till after you find some wire cutters!” The best bundling material is that doublesided velcro often included on new laptop supplies. I also frequently use some scrap cable/wire like old Cat-5.
I just found some of those and put them in the cable tie drawer. Cable ties are for more permanent connections. In that regard they are second only to duct tape for utility.
I don’t disagree with the cable ties for installed equipment like server racks but condemn duct tape for bundling for anything but the shortest duration … like hours or perhaps days. If it’s not tenacious sticky goo all over the bundle, it quickly transitions to a powdery, stringy headache.
Many years ago when I had a large basement I bought about 50 tupperware-like plastic tubs about 18"x24"x8" high. They’re translucent enough you can easily see generally what’s in them.
One is cable ties. One is tidbits left over from toilet repairs. Another is tidbits from sink drain & faucet repairs. Another is glues & putties. One is 802.11 cables. Another is rotting land-line phone connectors & accessories. Mobile phone tidbits, USB cables, and chargers, etc., etc. They stack neatly together and fit neatly on a standard set of Home Depot garage shelves, be those plastic or metal.
You’re welcome.
Nowadays living in a much smaller condo, the vast majority of those have been disposed of. But I still have the glues and the cable ties and the USB stuff. The CATV stuff, RCA cables, and POTS stuff is long gone.
I mean, it was a joke, since the answer was obviously meant to be cable ties. Besides, the problem with taping bundles of cable ties is that as soon as you pull a few of them out, the whole bundle falls apart.
Any time I get something new with a cable tied power cord, I always try (often with more force than is probably wise) to pull out just enough of the cord to reach the outlet, then tighten the cable tie around the remaining loops. If I can’t, yeah, got to find a wire cutter or sharp/pointy scissor. But even then, I’ll do my best to keep as much of the cord looped/folded as I can so I can zip tie it again.
I do love those. I have several rolls of them. I’ve also found that if you’re using it for something ‘small’, it works best to cut them in half so you don’t have to wrap it around the cables over and over resulting in a giant, stupid looking, velcro coil.
I use them just about everywhere I would use a zip tie in a temporary or less than permanent situation. Cables behind computers. Car electrical system cables (ie Power Probe), water/pneumatic hoses etc.
I know but I wanted to add my rant against tape for bundling. Sorry I made it seemed directed at you.
I know exactly what you mean but it seldom works with zip ties since they’re almost always pulled tight and you simply can’t pull much slack out. But I do this a lot with twist ties: Untie it, release a few loops of cable, tie back the remaining bundled loops.
I got a few rolls of continuous double sided velcro years ago. You can cut off about two and a half inches or less for small cables. A standard office paper staple does a fine job attaching it and it’s plenty long enough for small cables like headphones or USB chargers. Larger cable? Just cut off a longer length.
I made the tape drawer today. It needed to be a taller drawer so I could put rolls of duct tape in it. These should really be hanging somewhere so in a little while I’ll have a rack mounted on the wall for hanging all sorts of items and the tape drawer will be available again. Besides the duct tape I have about 6 rolls of electrical tape in various colors, 2 rolls of masking tape in 1" and 2" widths plus a roll of green painters masking tape, 1 roll of extra strong polyethylene tape, 2 rolls of ordinary packing tape, 1 roll of silver duct sealing tape, and 1 roll of film splicing tape. There are more rolls of tape at large.
If you’re going to use a temporary bundling tool, I’d go with twist ties, or maybe rubber bands for bigger stuff. (But I hate using rubber bands if I have to twist them over more than once.)
I actually preferred securing my SSD in my old computer (that wasn’t designed for one) with twist ties instead of cable ties. Not for easy removal, but because it was a pain to try and get the cable ties tight enough so the SSD didn’t rattle.
On the truck-drivers forum I frequent, a common question has been about what essential equipment a temporary/agency driver needs to carry in their bag.
Apart from obvious things like socks and a wash kit, cable ties are always considered essential. I have used them to tie up broken bumpers, damaged mud flaps and rear lights. Along with a screwdriver (also essential) to punch holes, they can stitch side curtains together.
I’ll use a velcro tie if the wire came with it, but otherwise, gaffer’s tape. Handles like duck tape, but the adhesive is much weaker, so it comes off clean.
