DIY tips for cable management

#4
Robb Fesig said:
Yep, they're all wrapped with Velcro and they're wound properly. I'm looking for what you do with them after that's done. Right now I just have some bags everything gets thrown in. It works, but it certainly doesn't help to sort the 6' XLRs from the 50' XLRs...
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You could color code them with different colors of electrical tape and keep them in plastic bins.
 
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#8
Robb Fesig said:
Yep, they're all wrapped with Velcro and they're wound properly. I'm looking for what you do with them after that's done. Right now I just have some bags everything gets thrown in. It works, but it certainly doesn't help to sort the 6' XLRs from the 50' XLRs...
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I would NOT recommend electrical tape.. as it gets sticky over time and use.
You could color code with shrink wraps on one end of the cables as an alternative.
But, I get different colored velcro (lowes, home depot) for each length you carry. Easy to see which cable is what length.

I throw all mine (really: place gently, with longer cables on the bottom) into a bag, or box so they lay as flat as possible.
I wind them all up [over/under] first, and put in a pile on the floor. After that, packing away is REAL easy..
I use black velcro wraps/ties for 10', grey for 15, and red for 20'+
No mistaking them in the pile..
 
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#9
I have had guys tell me this is a horrible idea, but they can never tell me WHY.

Get a regular orange drop cord reel from your local Home Depot or Lowe's. Make one a 25' cable reel, another a 6' cable reel and another a 50' cable reel. Start rolling up a 25' cable on its reel. When you get to the end of it, plug another 25' cable into the end of it and keep cranking. It doesn't twist the cable like cranking it over your elbow does. And when you need a 25' cable, start pulling on that reel until you get to the end of it.

Done. Three reels that go into to any Rubbermaid tub.
Looks like this.
pACE3-982586t181.jpg
 
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#10
two fingers said:
I have had guys tell me this is a horrible idea, but they can never tell me WHY.

Get a regular orange drop cord reel from your local Home Depot or Lowe's. Make one a 25' cable reel, another a 6' cable reel and another a 50' cable reel. Start rolling up a 25' cable on its reel. When you get to the end of it, plug another 25' cable into the end of it and keep cranking. It doesn't twist the cable like cranking it over your elbow does. And when you need a 25' cable, start pulling on that reel until you get to the end of it.

Done. Three reels that go into to any Rubbermaid tub.
Looks like this.
View attachment 1002628
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Bulky and tend to kink the cables at the "bottom".
 
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#11
Robb Fesig said:
Yep, they're all wrapped with Velcro and they're wound properly. I'm looking for what you do with them after that's done. Right now I just have some bags everything gets thrown in. It works, but it certainly doesn't help to sort the 6' XLRs from the 50' XLRs...
Click to expand...
Any decent electronics store will have velcro ties in several colors to code everything with. If you want to bundle the differently coded cables together you can get 25' lengths of double sided velcro to make long enough ties to do that or just do what a lot of stagehand/roadie types do and use #4 (1/8") sash cord.
two fingers said:
I have had guys tell me this is a horrible idea, but they can never tell me WHY.

Get a regular orange drop cord reel from your local Home Depot or Lowe's.
Looks like this.
View attachment 1002628
Click to expand...
Because it's a mechanical elbow wrapping device.
 
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#12
two fingers said:
I have had guys tell me this is a horrible idea, but they can never tell me WHY.

Get a regular orange drop cord reel from your local Home Depot or Lowe's. Make one a 25' cable reel, another a 6' cable reel and another a 50' cable reel. Start rolling up a 25' cable on its reel. When you get to the end of it, plug another 25' cable into the end of it and keep cranking. It doesn't twist the cable like cranking it over your elbow does. And when you need a 25' cable, start pulling on that reel until you get to the end of it.

Done. Three reels that go into to any Rubbermaid tub.
Looks like this.
View attachment 1002628
Click to expand...
Yup! I do this with our cables at work, tubs and all!
We used cables on these at least weekly for years, never had a problem.
 
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#15
Old Garage-Bander said:
Yup! I do this with our cables at work, tubs and all!
We used cables on these at least weekly for years, never had a problem.
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We do it at our church. We actually set up and strike the stage every week. Been doing it for years (we rent a building). No worn out cables yet. And our church buys cheap cables.
 
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#16
two fingers said:
What do you mean by "bottom"?
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The one you'd have to pull all the cables off the reel to get at. For a house system I guess it's ok but I'd prefer to have access to all my cables individually.

As for the "elbow wrapping" crack I made reels are ok if the person operating it understands the cable has to go on clean and even....if not you may as well be elbow wrapping. It's one of those things that to a professional stagehand who knows how to wrap cables well seems like an unnecessary gizmo. But if it works for you it may work for the OP too. And if it works it's good.
 
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#18
guy n. cognito said:
Velcro wraps.

Learn how to wind a cable properly.
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Exactly. This is pretty much it. I can't tell you how much time I've seen some dudes waste on stage getting their cables untangled. It blows my mind. Id go insane. I learned a long time ago, wind then properly, Velcro wrap them, put then in a bag. Done. So next time I'm ready to use them, it takes seconds to a min to get it all hooked up and ready. Really nothing to it.
 
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#19
I just have 2 velcro wraps on each cable and toss em in my gig backpack. it's just for my speaker cables and xlr's though I buy coily cables for my instrument cables so that I never have to deal with them tangling or looking lame.
 
#20
two fingers said:
What do you mean by "bottom"?
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Jeff Bonny said:
The one you'd have to pull all the cables off the reel to get at.
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This. I find the "bottom" cables tend to develop a memory of their tightly wound position, especially thicker gauge cables. Plus, when your having to haul gear in a limited space, the reels add bulk and weight. Besides, I find proper wrapping technique faster. Finally, unless only one guy is winding all the cables, the idea of keeping the sizes on the same reel adds confusion at 2am.

You asked why some advise against them....this is why.
 
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