stock length for tie line

[bishopthomas]

3' seems extremely long to me. I cut to probably 18-24". Just enough to go around truss and the cable and tie a bow without much effort. I don't need a huge bow tie flopping around, taunting me on how much tie line (and money) I just wasted. I typically don't keep the line. I used to but I found it to be more efficient to toss it on the ground after loading out and just start over the next time. Definitely un-glazed for me.

 

[techieman33]

3' seems extremely long to me. I cut to probably 18-24". Just enough to go around truss and the cable and tie a bow without much effort. I don't need a huge bow tie flopping around, taunting me on how much tie line (and money) I just wasted. I typically don't keep the line. I used to but I found it to be more efficient to toss it on the ground after loading out and just start over the next time. Definitely un-glazed for me.

The 36" tie allows for 1 1/2 wraps to better hold the cable, and allows for bigger bundles of cable to be tied up. And if your worried about saving money then you should be saving it, not throwing it away. If you just put it around your neck as you take it off so you don't have to pick it all back up. Then when your near the bucket you just drop what you have collected in there.

 

[gafftaper]

Also don't forget that a two cubit length allows you to easily add extra cables to the bundle later.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

3' seems extremely long to me. I cut to probably 18-24". Just enough to go around truss and the cable and tie a bow without much effort. I don't need a huge bow tie flopping around, taunting me on how much tie line (and money) I just wasted. I typically don't keep the line. I used to but I found it to be more efficient to toss it on the ground after loading out and just start over the next time. Definitely un-glazed for me.

Why not use zip ties or e-tape if you are just throwing it all away after?

 

[Sean]

3' seems extremely long to me. I cut to probably 18-24". Just enough to go around truss and the cable and tie a bow without much effort. I don't need a huge bow tie flopping around, taunting me on how much tie line (and money) I just wasted. I typically don't keep the line. I used to but I found it to be more efficient to toss it on the ground after loading out and just start over the next time. Definitely un-glazed for me.

Well, figure that at 36" it's long enough to tie a proper clove hitch around 3-4 pieces of mult, some data, etc and a 2" diameter pipe/truss tube. There isn't a huge bow left.

If you do the math, a 36" piece of black unglazed tie line is just over $.10. That's right, ten cents.

--Sean

 

[mstaylor]

I concur with unwaxed tieline. A local company bought waxed once and we all cussed it. I went to the owner and told him never do that again. He was surprised, said he was told it was far better. I told him never take advice from that person again. Flat twill is almost as evil. It does tie and hold well, it comes off like crap. I'm an arena guy so we do almost all one offs, three days max, it's all about the out.

 

[zmb]

I would say 1.5 to 2 feet is plenty for school purposes. Most I've had to wrap in my limited experience was three 12/3 extension cords around a batten.

Just make sure to keep at least a partial, uncut roll for miscellaneous needs that come up liking needing to hang paper Chinese Lanterns or to hold doors open when a door stopper has walked off again and no heavy objects can be found.

 

[gafftaper]

3' seems extremely long to me. I cut to probably 18-24". Just enough to go around truss and the cable and tie a bow without much effort. I don't need a huge bow tie flopping around, taunting me on how much tie line (and money) I just wasted. I typically don't keep the line. I used to but I found it to be more efficient to toss it on the ground after loading out and just start over the next time. Definitely un-glazed for me.

I attach a 2 cubit tie line to the female end of every cable with a larks head knot. This way you always have a tie line around when you need it AND if the cable is pulled down and goes into storage the line can be tied to keep your coiled bundle nice and neat. Also the larks head knot is nice for pulling the cable nice and tight into the perfect position. When I start a light hang I put extra pieces of line in my pocketm but I don't need much as it's already on my cables. On strike, toss the extras on the ground then throw them in a paint bucket for next time. Yes it degrades and you have to weed out the bucket sometimes, but you can get quite a few shows out of those tie lines pieces, no reason to waste money on that.

I find that when I tie the line to the cable, wrap around the pipe twice (which I find important for keeping things put), and if I end up with several cables being tied together, the two cubit length doesn't leave a huge bow.

 

[JohnD]

Somewhat off topic, but considering the fondness for cubits, shouldn't the dreaded, wrong way to wrap mic cables be called "the cubit wrap".

 

[gafftaper]

Somewhat off topic, but considering the fondness for cubits, shouldn't the dreaded, wrong way to wrap mic cables be called "the cubit wrap".

Oh, definitely! That's the perfect way to describe it.

 

[Chris15]

So I shall now be using the term "Cubited" for faults caused by improper handling of cables, chiefly, though not exclusively, through the cubit wrap...

 

[gafftaper]

Death by cubiting?

 

[bishopthomas]

The 36" tie allows for 1 1/2 wraps to better hold the cable, and allows for bigger bundles of cable to be tied up. And if your worried about saving money then you should be saving it, not throwing it away. If you just put it around your neck as you take it off so you don't have to pick it all back up. Then when your near the bucket you just drop what you have collected in there.

I'm not worried about saving money, I'm more worried about my convenience and time spent at the end of the night. The last thing I want to be worried about when I'm loading out is saving a dollar worth of trick line. At the same time, though, if I cut only what I need then the roll lasts longer and I don't have to worry about ordering more. I don't save gaff tape either.... Cost of doing business. I'd rather throw it on the ground as I untie it than worry about saving it then putting it somewhere. I don't use a bucket as I'm not working in a theatre. I have a drawer in a workbox for expendables and I don't need to be concerned with whether it's been packed up or not so I can get my used trick line back in it. Often that workbox is at FOH anyway, so now I have to either walk a handful of trick line to FOH or I have to put it on stage, close up the workbox so I can roll it to stage, reopen it, then put the tie line in. Just doesn't make sense for me.

I used to save tie line but from my own experience it's easier just to toss it. If I was working in a theatre and/or had plenty of time to spend loading out then it would be a different story.

Why not use zip ties or e-tape if you are just throwing it all away after?

Holy time consumer, Batman! It's all about the out and I'm certainly not spending time cutting zip ties or unwrapping e-tape just to get me cables off the truss. With a bow tied trick line it's pull, grab, toss.