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Best mic cable storage solution?


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I do all my cables up over/under which leave them in nice clean round loops. I have a piece of string on each cable to tie it up when I'm done. They all fit perfectly into a milk crate container. I also have a container for speaker cords (2 - 25' speakon, 2 - 50' speakon, and 4 - 25' monitor cords) and another crate for extension cords.

 

It works well

 

:thu:

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For patch cables I use a document holder, the accordion style kind that have about 20 slots and a flap that covers and latches. I put one cable in each compartment and its still about the same size as it is empty. No tangling or confusion, easy access to what I want.

 

For normal length (20' plus) I just coil around the hand and elbow loosely and then bring the middles together and strap with a velcro tie, so it looks almost like a figure 8 when tied (the common way).

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For patch cables I use a document holder, the accordion style kind that have about 20 slots and a flap that covers and latches. I put one cable in each compartment and its still about the same size as it is empty. No tangling or confusion, easy access to what I want.


For normal length (20' plus) I just coil around the hand and elbow loosely and then bring the middles together and strap with a velcro tie, so it looks almost like a figure 8 when tied (the common way).

 

 

Not the common way.

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I've had some Rubbermaid Roughneck tubs for about 15 years and hundreds of gigs, and they're still going strong. They're virtually indestructible, they nest and they're waterproof. They're also about $4.

 

One for mics/cables, one for Speaker/AC.

 

I wind my cables carefully and have a velcro tie on each, altho I don't over/under. Never around my elbow. I may have had 2-3 cable failures in the past 15 years.

 

The speaker cables are under the AC, in the tub, so when setting up, I'll run AC first, then speakers, then mics.

 

20' have a piece of blue tape, 25' have blue/red, a few longer ones have red/yellow.

 

Speaker cables are bundled, w/3 cables from the power amps. FOH, Subs and downstage monitors. Another bundle jumps from one side's speakers, to the other side of the stage. Very efficient, knocks about 10 minutes off of combined setup/teardown.

 

The "roving" monitors get another cable from the amps to wherever.

 

If you look at every aspect of your rig and try to increase every tiny bit of efficiency out of it, you'll be amazed at two things:

 

1. You'll get in and out quicker, with much less aggravation.

 

2. Stuff won't break/get lost.

 

MG

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My Brothers,

 

We use those orange plastic extension cord reels you can buy at Home Depot. We connect the cables male to female and can store about (10) on a reel. Just reel out what you need and reel em back in after the gig. We have (4) of them in a plastic box. Works for us the past several years...

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I wind using over-under and use an orange cable clamp (same function as velcro) to hold the bundle together. I've standardized on plastic shipping totes for cases. Speaker cables in grey totes, mic cables in blue totes, FOH in red totes. They nest when empty and stack when full and easily fit under the tonneau cover.

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I do the "fold in half" a few times and tie in knot. Great for tearing down with multiple people as the can all handle it versus the over/under. Not as good when setting up as they don't usually come undone cleanly unless you're very deliberate about it.

 

I did the orange cord reel way for a few weeks long ago but didn't like it. A) only one person can be putting them away at a time and 2) it puts a lot of stress on the connectors, especially near the center of the hub where it needs to turn sharply to conform and then has other cable wrapped tightly around it.

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Over/under and wrap the male loose end around a few times. Into a trunk or Rubbermaid (heavy commercial) tub. Since we carry maybe 50 x 25' mic cables, our storage methods are a bit more substantial. Same for all cables, snakes coil over/under in the back of the splitter rack. Same for the AC distro feeder in the distro rack.

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I sweep them into a pile at the end of the show, get a shovel, and gently dump them into a canvas bag.....no thats not right.

 

I over/under each cable, use a velcro tie, and separate the 25' from the 10'. I have a cable trunk with a lid compartment. The 20 or so 10' cords go into the lid. The 40 or so 25' cables go into the bottom compartment. I close the trunk and roll it out.

 

I carry another large cable trunk with two side by side compartments. The left side gets sub-snakes and speaker cables, right side gets twistlock AC cables, quad box, stage drop, and extension cords.

 

I carry a smaller cable box for the 30-40 DMX cables that has a try in it for clamps, allen wrenches, etc. My distro and feeder goes into a large steel plate box mounted on the front frame of the trailer with the generator.

 

I have more cable boxes than I do speaker boxes unfortunately.

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We use a large hose reel for the majority of our mic cables (mostly 25 footers, with a few 30's and 35's on there as well), and we use an orange reel for a few 50 footers and another one for 10 and 12 footers mostly used for wiring the drum kit (we place the snake head right in front of the kick). No tangling, crimping, etc... and we have easy access to whatever we need. Occasionally we have to rework the reels if we get help winding up the cables and wrong lengths get on the wrong reels. But that isn't very often.

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Short lengths, standard coil. Longer lengths 15' or so, over under. BOTH velcroed. I use the velcros that stay attached to the cable on EVERYTHING, including 100' 12AWG power or speaker cables.

 

Elbow to wrist coilng means you, or anyone assisting you, is FORCING the cable into a loop, usually a tight one, AGAINST it's natural lay. I've stopped MANY people from assisting me in that manner. I tell them I strongly prefer to coil the the heavy speaker and power cables myself so they will fit properly in my plastic footlockers. Any time you look in somebody's cable box and see some with odd twists and kinks, you KNOW they over the elbow wound them ;>(

(OK, unless it was from the inside of a tight wound bulk coil)

 

Once you learn over-undering, you will use it most everywhere for electrical cables and it's great for rope and especially wire rope. It may not be too big a deal to get a mic cable to lay flat but getting 12AWG cable to lay and stay flat is hard if you don't over-under it's coils. And if your stage snake(s) isn't (aren't) on reels, they really must be either over-undered or figure eighted in a case to avoid kinks. Yes, you CAN carefully consume a LOT of time & effort and standard coil a snake in a bin, been there done that. What a PITA, never again. You have to twist/rotate the cable as you load it and have to do the same when pulling it out, other wise nasty loops and potentially damaging kinks will occur.

 

Boomerweps

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Man yall have some weird ways.


The proper thing to do is to over/under, overhand knot the end to tie it, and throw it in a cable trunk.


Savages...

 

 

I'd agree with you except for the overhand knot at the end (this breaks down the conductors near the cable end where they get the most wear anyway). Either Tie Line or Velcro is better for securing them. Yes over and under is the only way to wrap individual cables (even snakes). Cord reels are acceptable but IMO are rarely efficient for storage space or time.

 

Since I work in a theatre and have a studio where the cables can hang on wall pegs (what a luxury :-). I find that bigger loops take both less time to wind, to setup and is much kinder to the cable in general. Again this only works if your storage means allows for the space of bigger loops, otherwise, obviously, you gotta wind them to fit whatever size your storage bin is.

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Yes, you CAN carefully consume a LOT of time & effort and standard coil a snake in a bin, been there done that. What a PITA, never again. You have to twist/rotate the cable as you load it and have to do the same when pulling it out, other wise nasty loops and potentially damaging kinks will occur.


Boomerweps

 

 

Another alternative for snakes (and this is dictated by the snake dia and your trunk shape) is to figure 8 it into the trunk. If you wind the short tail to the split as an over & under on top it makes it really fast to put it together.

 

Figure 8 is a "no kink" way to wind as well but again only if you have a long skinny deep trunk does this work well.

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Another alternative for snakes (and this is dictated by the snake dia and your trunk shape) is to figure 8 it into the trunk. If you wind the short tail to the split as an over & under on top it makes it really fast to put it together.


Figure 8 is a "no kink" way to wind as well but again only if you have a long skinny deep trunk does this work well.

 

 

This is why I bought the reel snake. Makes life easier on me.

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I do the "fold in half" a few times and tie in knot. Great for tearing down with multiple people as the can all handle it versus the over/under.

 

I taught my kids the over/under technique using the high pressure hose from my paint sprayer. If you don't use over/under, it's nearly impossible to wrap with the kevlar reinforcement.

 

It was fun to watch them starting out. ;)

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I've tried to figure out the over under a few times. It escapes me.

 

 

It does take a bit of getting used to. It's second nature to me now. Funny think though, only on good days can I be ambidexterous about it. I usualy have to have the loop in my left hand and do the twist with my right. Same with a big coil on the floor or in a bin (if it's clockwise it's a piece of cake but if it's counter-clockwise, it's much harder (maybe it's the coriolis effect and in Australia or S. America, I'd get it right the other way around :-))

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