# Source of long, thin, strips of metal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 31, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197 "2003-07-31T19:04:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shunt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@shunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shunt)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/1 "2003-07-31T19:04:42Z")
What is the source of these approximately 5-6 inch long, about 1/8 inch wide, very thin (16th of an inch, perhaps) strips of metal commonly found in industrial areas (but not always). My suspicion is they are used in overhead power lines as some sort of strap? They are found on the ground and I have seen them in more than one city in the US. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/2 "2003-07-31T19:15:21Z")
Likely scrap from a slitting operation. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/3 "2003-07-31T19:53:13Z")
Sounds like straps used when setting bricks/blocks on foundations. ---
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/4 "2003-07-31T19:59:04Z")
I have often wondered this myself. They are a type of steel and make fairly good springs. I have always found them on a raodway. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/5 "2003-07-31T20:11:32Z")
Perhaps left over strips of metal banding, used to secure loads (such as boxes and barrels) to each other and to pallets for shipping/storage. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/6 "2003-07-31T21:29:08Z")
No, no, no, you rubes! They are the broken bristles from street sweeping trucks. Got a city question? Ask a city boy. ---
**Author:** ![Diddly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@Diddly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diddly)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/7 "2003-07-31T21:47:26Z")
So what sweeps up the street sweeper debris? A street sweeper sweeper? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/8 "2003-07-31T22:08:04Z")
**SirRay** , I’ve seen these strips too, and they’re much more narrow, and short, than the metal bands used to hold cargo to pallets. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/9 "2003-07-31T22:35:24Z")
Art made from street sweeper bristles: [http://www.urban-objects.com/spheres/Spheres.html](http://www.urban-objects.com/spheres/Spheres.html) They seem to be popular among artists, hobbyists, etc. (raw sculpture material like this, or making potter’s tools, watch/clock repair, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/10 "2003-07-31T22:42:57Z")
Def. street sweeper bristles. Made from spring steel, these are used, among other things, to make decent lockpicks. Grind your own custom shapes and clamp on a handle. bam, keys to everywhere. Not that I would Ever… ---
**Author:** ![shunt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@shunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shunt)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/11 "2003-08-01T01:53:41Z")
OK, thanks for all the answers. Could they really be from street sweeper brushes??? Think about the dimensions in the OP. I don’t discount this idea, just find it a bit implausible (they really are small). However, and this _ **just** _ occured to me after looking at toadspittle’s pics, could it be that street sweeper brushes are made of different sized metal strips? Never really thought of that. It is difficult to gauge size from the pics. They appear as the thin strips in pic numbers five and seven - then again I can’t tell the size from the pic, and my dimensions in the OP are fairly accurate. But I do now consider street sweepers the likely source. I started out with Isosleepy/Philster’s ideas, but found the strips far from industrial areas, and in higher numbers than one would suspect (so it was unlikely someone had carried them to these places). That lead me to think of the overhead power lines idea. Thanks again. jnglmassiv, “not that I would ever…”, LOL ---
**Author:** ![Thaumaturge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Thaumaturge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaumaturge)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/12 "2003-08-01T02:05:30Z")
I used to see these all the time in New Jersey, yet oddly enough I have never seen one in California at all. Perhaps they use different machines here. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/13 "2003-08-01T02:10:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jnglmassiv \* > \*\*Def. street sweeper bristles. Made from spring steel, these are used, among other things, to make decent lockpicks. Grind your own custom shapes and clamp on a handle. > > bam, keys to everywhere. > > Not that I would Ever… \*\* Heh, even before I read this I was going to post about the time I locked my keys in the car at the beach. I found two of these within a few minutes and was in my car a few minutes later! At least litter can be useful sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/14 "2003-08-01T03:41:14Z")
voltaire, I had a similar experience. I forgot the key to my car’s Club. I knew it had a crappy, crappy disk-tumbler lock, so I went out looking along the curb for a sweeper bristle. I found one in short order and five minutes later the Club was off and I was on the road! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/15 "2003-08-01T04:47:51Z")
Don’t tell Stephen King you have these. Don’t look around. They’ll know. Gather enough to stick them into a hedgeapple to make a spherical spiny thing, a little more than twice the length of your metal strips. Set it in the middle of your living room. Brace yourself. Oh, and take some ID. Got a Swiss Army knife? Take it. They like those. Rubik’s cube? Leave it at home. ---
**Author:** ![Tyler\_Do\_Urden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tyler\_Do\_Urden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyler_Do_Urden)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/16 "2003-08-01T17:21:51Z")
Huh?😕 ---
**Author:** ![PaulFine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e56c9b/32.png) [@PaulFine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFine)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/17 "2014-12-22T11:29:22Z")
See [https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202409796796480&set=a.4475935146720.1073741831.1540224152&type=1&theater](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202409796796480&set=a.4475935146720.1073741831.1540224152&type=1&theater) for my recent activity on these. Still looking for ideas as to what to make with them. A Hedgehog ? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/18 "2014-12-22T13:32:31Z")
Reported. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-long-thin-strips-of-metal/192197/19 "2014-12-22T14:23:00Z")
A zombie made of spam!