Gaff it?

[Sayen]

I've never used tape on connections, mainly because I wouldn't want to peel it all off at strike. The only connectors I've had trouble with are rentals, and it's easier to make an extra loop and tie the two cables leading to the connector together, or if there's not enough slack, tie them both to the pipe. I try not to muck with rental gear more than I have to, and I keep the pins split on my gear.

Someone mentioned color coding cables - I letter/number all of my cable with a small piece of white gaff tape on both ends of the cable. It doesn't matter what the letter and number are, as long as they are unique. That when when I find H2 plugged into a circuit on the wall, I can quickly find the other end of H2. I've tried colors, there just aren't enough to go around. For really long runs I train my tech to use similar letters - H to H, and so forth.

[derekleffew]

See also Courtesy Tabs, FF to post#22;
and Dressing Cable?.

[Mullet1215]

Why would you... There is no reason to gaff your connections. Just make sure there is no tension on the connectors (or tails for that matter) and fix any loose conectors. And you can save your gaff.

[MNicolai]

For indoor shows in our studio theatre or mainstage, we will only gaff connections for anything at ground level, such as booms or floormounts, usually because they're close to where people walk. This does not include our strips. Outdoors, the same policy applies, anything near ground level gets gaffed. However, we don't gaff the entire plug, we'll only slap a small piece on one side of the connection, w/ tab of course.

[Serendipity]

Originally Posted by quarterfront

I can't begin to describe how annoying it is to go up to the cats and find that some techie felt a need to tape every plug.

And they did at least 6 wraps around the connection, right? With no courtesy tabs?

Originally Posted by MNicolai

Outdoors, the same policy applies, anything near ground level gets gaffed. However, we don't gaff the entire plug, we'll only slap a small piece on one side of the connection, w/ tab of course.

The show I mentioned where the ME wanted the booms taped was outdoors, and yes, one side of the connection with tab. Sensible use of the gaff.

[DarSax]

We actually do it dual purpose; gaff all of our connections with white gaff, and write on it the dimmer and channel number. Might be overkill, but makes troubleshooting a real cinch. Plus, since we have a suspension grid and cables can really be going everywhere, it's really nice. (Courtesy tabs are of course ESSENTIAL to avoid headache.)

[MNicolai]

For one-off outdoor gigs, we'll also label each end of a cable with white gaff and a circuit number. Sometimes we'll also do this inside for our booms because the cable runs can end up going to any number of different places, and if something goes wrong, then it's much easier to problem-solve.

[ScaredOfHeightsLD]

Since most of the shows I work on are either one off events or shows which load in and out in the span of a week. I tend to request that the connections from breakouts to the fixtures, or jumpers, be gaffed/tabbed/ and sometimes labeled with the circuit. Not to say that I don't see the benefits to a batten dressed with tieline, which is how I hang ones which are up longer than a week. But for those short term gigs, I tend to go with the gaff.

[photoatdv]

I only gaff if it's where it could get pulled loose-- and on occasion if there is any chance curious fingers could find it. I have to add that one after I came in at 6:45am to find someone had unplugged all my towers (I had been there late the night before setting them up!). They were WELL GAFFED when I redid them. I tend to find that anything that could be stepped on by a dancer should also be gaffed.

[cdub260]

Originally Posted by photoatdv

I tend to find that anything that could be stepped on by a dancer should also be gaffed.

You know, while I absolutely understand the need to make your cabling as safe as possible, there's this little part of me that says "Why bother?" I've seen dancers trip on a tape line holding down a dance floor, at nearly every dance show I've ever worked!