# Cable Storage/Inventory Management



## Greenwaytech

Our school is looking to find a way to store our cables (mic cables mostly). Our current setup is they are hung up on screws in a cabinet, while others are wrapped up and thrown in a box in the corner. There are many cables and not enough room to hang them all up. The main problem is tangling which of course damages the cord (the correct wrapping technique is pushed, but inevitably ignored), and also finding the cords we want.

Is there a more convenient way we are missing? Thanks.


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## seanandkate

Quickest and dirtiest would be 1" dowels (or lag bolts in a pinch) put in a 2x4 on an angle and then secure the 2x4 to the wall. Label each peg for length and develop a colour-code system for your cables so you know at a glance how long a cable is BEFORE you uncoil it. You can also do a search on the Booth and get about a googlezillion (it's a word . . .) hits on this subject as well.


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## gafftapegreenia

If you don't lengths of tie line already permanently attached to the female end of each cable, thats a start to help prevent a rats nest.


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## Anonymous067

gafftapegreenia said:


> If you don't lengths of tie line already permanently attached to the female end of each cable, thats a start to help prevent a rats nest.



Why do you say female end? On mic cables, the male end goes to the board, and you'd want any labeling, or tiewraps on this end, so they don't get in the way of a lead singer, mic stand, etc etc. I've heard from plenty of singers who can't stand those 6 inches down the cable from their microphone.


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## PeytonJr

try a cart on wheels (hah what a concept) about 2'w 5'L 6't with metal tubes coming off the sides to hang cables on (make sure you put foam or bright flourescent paint on the ends!! I have learned to be careful around that cart). On the bottom, there is space for twofers, adapters, and whatever else you want. As for denoting lengths, tie different numbers of stripes of colored tape on the cables.
Example: 
1 yellow: 5'
2 yellow: 10'
3 yellow: 15'
1 red: 25'
2 red: 50'
3 red: 75'
4 red: 100'

This the system that the theatre that I'm working at for the summer uses, and it works well; even when cables are in a pile, since the markings are easy to read at all orientations and dont need much space to see.


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## Greenwaytech

Thanks, this gave me some ideas!

One question. With the cart, is there any type of prevention of thievery? Because having cables right there back stage sounds really useful, but I feel they might get stolen, which is one reason we have them locked up in the cabinet up in the booth. Thanks again.


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## gafftapegreenia

The reason I said on the female end is from my Sparkie influence. Since the male end is always at the power source, and the female end is usually at a lighting fixture, a permanently attached piece of tie line on the female end makes for a readily available piece with which to begin dressing the cable. 


But since the Noise Boys have no such rules then can put their tie line where-ever, (or their velcro strips as the case may be)


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## Sean

PeytonJr said:


> As for denoting lengths, tie different numbers of stripes of colored tape on the cables.
> Example:
> 1 yellow: 5'
> 2 yellow: 10'
> 3 yellow: 15'
> 1 red: 25'
> 2 red: 50'
> 3 red: 75'
> 4 red: 100'



If I might offer a suggestion: Use different colors, not multiple pieces of tape. Tapes comes off of cable. It's much easier to deal with 'no label' than a 'wrong label'. 

My $.02

--Sean


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## NickJones

Another option is the Velcro ties that hold the leads together after they have been rolled, they come in heaps of colours so they can all be colour co-ordinated, and they keep your leads neat and stop them from coming undone, once you have done that get a woodwork student to knock you up a plank of wood with hooks or round pieces of wood coming out of it, or even the hose/rope hooks you buy from a garden centre would do, but make sure you get the Velcro straps.


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## sk8rsdad

A fairly common length coding practice around here is to use resistor colour coding to denote length:

A 25' cable would be RED + GREEN.


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## Sean

sk8rsdad said:


> A fairly common length coding practice around here is to use resistor colour coding to denote length:



Use the same length color-code that your regular rental shop uses (if you rent often). If you're the 'big' theatre, try to use something that will make sense to lots of people. The same goes for actual cable lengths. Do you REALLY need 20' cables? Or would a couple more 25' cables be a better choice? You really don't need to have cable in every 5' increment from 5' to 50'

--Sean


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## Chris15

I thought we'd covered standard cable marking practices before...

Connector on the left, butt heatshrink up to end of connector, start labels at end of heatshrink (100mm for standard cables, less for patch tails).
Company sticker, coloured electrical tape of length using resistor colour code, in metres, numerical labelling for those incompetent enough not to know the resistor colour code off the top of their head.

I would argue NOT to try and copy what your local rental house does, the resistor colour code is an accepted international standard, don't reinvent the wheel. I guess while you guys persist in using imperial measures you'll have to mark it up in feet... At any rate the numbers ought to be there for the sake of a muso or other partially competent assistant...


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## DimmerDotCom

sk8rsdad said:


> A fairly common length coding practice around here is to use resistor colour coding to denote length



Ha! I was going to suggest the resistor color code. I love companies like EDI that use the resistor color code for their low voltage wiring. Easy to put things back together or to see if it was wired correctly at the factory. 

I still remember the off color limerick I learned back when I was 15 to help recall the color code when I began my official electronics studies.


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## Sean

Chris15 said:


> I thought we'd covered standard cable marking practices before...
> 
> Connector on the left, butt heatshrink up to end of connector, start labels at end of heatshrink (100mm for standard cables, less for patch tails).
> Company sticker, coloured electrical tape of length using resistor colour code, in metres, numerical labelling for those incompetent enough not to know the resistor colour code off the top of their head.
> 
> I would argue NOT to try and copy what your local rental house does, the resistor colour code is an accepted international standard, don't reinvent the wheel. I guess while you guys persist in using imperial measures you'll have to mark it up in feet... At any rate the numbers ought to be there for the sake of a muso or other partially competent assistant...



Wow, Chris... didn't get your coffee this morning?

I don't know the resistor color code off the top of my head. And while it's an international standard for resistors, that has nothing to do with cable lengths. I've never seen it used for cables...not from any rental shop...not in any venue. Not much of a standard then, is it?

And, the OP is in a school. I'll venture to say that most of the students don't know WHAT a resistor color code is, let alone know it 'off the top of their heads.'

--Sean


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## Chris15

Sean said:


> Wow, Chris... didn't get your coffee this morning?
> 
> I don't know the resistor color code off the top of my head. And while it's an international standard for resistors, that has nothing to do with cable lengths. I've never seen it used for cables...not from any rental shop...not in any venue. Not much of a standard then, is it?
> 
> And, the OP is in a school. I'll venture to say that most of the students don't know WHAT a resistor color code is, let alone know it 'off the top of their heads.'
> 
> --Sean



Coffee has nothing to do with it. I get passionate about cabling because it's what I earn money doing... It's also a post written mid afternoon...

We agree that it's an international standard for resistors. It is also therefore a standard for colour representation of 0 - 9. How many others of that are there?

As to usage, there are multiple companies doing it here; it is the standard used by Oceania's largest audio company amongst others. Have a look at a piece of Canare multicore. You'll find it's internal cores are using resistor colour code for identification. Canare make cable in each of the ten colours. The ten are also the spectrum of available boots for Neutrik connectors.

In some ways you are defeating your own arguement - there is no commonality of standard across companies.

Does it matter if a kid later finds out that the colour code he's learnt for cable lengths also happens to be the colour code for resistors? No. Take the lesson from the saying, I like standards, there's so many to choose from.

You won't change an industry overnight, but if we start the push to a standardised method of labelling thropugh pockets in schools, then perhaps those young technicians will go on to institue a common scheme in companies they set up or take up employment with. Then slowly we can get to a situation where it does make sense.

Sure someone could come up with a scheme that works for their defined length options. But it won't translate to a different company with different standard inventory and then you have to learn a different code.

There is no point reinventing the wheel on a colour code. The resistor one is there, all the service techs out there know it and most companies of decent size have a tech on staff if all else fails.

And like I said, put the length on in numbers as well as colours, it means a] that people who don't know the code don't have to learn it, they can look at it and know straight away how long the cable is and b] that they'll start to pick up the code and in doing so increase their operational efficiency.

I'm sorry that my response has put you off kilter, but I get very sick and tired of the underlying attitude across this industry of anything goes. Working with standards allows anyone to walk in and be able to service and play nice with your gear. Think about how long it's taken to finally settle on pin 2 hot...

Oh and colour code should also be used on multicore tails, it makes it SO much faster to patch when you need only look for colour rather than finicking around rotating cable to read the numbers...


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## mstaylor

I don't do sound regularly, mostly lighting, but I have never seen the resistor code used for cable designation. I am in the US so your chart makes no sense to me anyway. I agree that it would be nice to have a standard code for lengths but I know of none. I am pretty good at looking at a cable and telling you how long it is. I am also an arena rigger and there is an industry standard for steel, go figure. Red for fives, white for tens, blue for twenties, green for thirties and yellow for forties.


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## Chris15

mstaylor said:


> I don't do sound regularly, mostly lighting, but I have never seen the resistor code used for cable designation. I am in the US so your chart makes no sense to me anyway. I agree that it would be nice to have a standard code for lengths but I know of none. I am pretty good at looking at a cable and telling you how long it is. I am also an arena rigger and there is an industry standard for steel, go figure. Red for fives, white for tens, blue for twenties, green for thirties and yellow for forties.



Not sure which chart you are referring to and hence how it becomes non applicable in the US. 

In the end people can adopt whatever colour code they want, I just want real numbers on it as well. If people really want to reinvent the wheel...


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## len

The code I use was based on the colors of e-tape I had available many years ago when I first started using them. It's remained constant. But since I hire a lot of people and they work freelance for me and other companies, and we all use our own codes, I find it easier just to tape a sheet with the codes to the inside trunk lids. 

The one I developed is

brown - 100'
blue - 50'
red - 25'
green - 20'
orange - 15'
grey/gray - 10'
white - 5'
no color - less than 5'

So if I had a cable that was 120' it would have both brown and green markings.

And since most of our stuff is lighting related, we keep the cable wrap/velcro/tie to the female end. Were we to have any audio cables it would probably be the opposite. 

How you do things should be based on what works safely and best for you.

To answer the original question, we just use shelves with dividers and stack them based on length.


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## Sayen

For audio cables we bought a quality rolling rack with a locking door, and drawers for different cables. Makes finding a cable quick and easy, and stores both XLR and other cables in their own drawers. I like being able to roll the stock out to wherever we're working, and I only stock a few lengths of cable - really long lengths are destroyed by students or renters too quickly, and it's cheaper to buy 25' and less. What do you really need - some 25', 15' or 10', and a handful of shorter 5' for quick connections, along with speaker cable and specialized connections.

Lighting cable, being heavy and bulky, is stacked on shelves with dividers by length. 25', 15', and 5'. It's easier in a school setting to limit stock, and just coil the extra cable. I have some longer umbilical cable for rare longer runs.

Data cable (DMX and such) is coiled neatly and hung on a wall, but we don't have nearly as much of that.


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## MillburyAuditorium

Dunno if it was mentioned, but maybe try making or purchasing a Snake. All of our wires run through it, a lot of them we don't use, but they are there if we need them. Very very convenient for if we need a mic quickly at the stage, just plug it into the snake and find hte right wire at the other end.

Color and number coding ftw ^_^

And when not in use, just roll it up and has a tiny little cart its on with wheels only takes up like 1.5 square feet and has...mm, I don't even know how many cables are in it. But enough to fill like, two of our boards.


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## jeffmoss26

We have a large piece of plywood mounted on the wall in our shop. All the cables are on hooks which are labeled as to what goes where. We have another small storage room with other equipment, it has pegboard on the wall, again labeled with what goes where. Of course, nobody knows what anything is, so it's usually a) placed on the wrong hook or b) left in a tangled mess for me to clean up


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## manders11

Hello Everyone,
I need to come up with a way of storing cables in our auditorium. Seriously, they are just thrown in a box now and it causes a huge hassel does anyone have any tips on storage ideas? And also I am trying to design a new storage part to a room we have off stage which holds paint, tools, lights, and other things its pretty much a mess... do you think drawers or cabinets or just open shelves would be best? Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks in advance
Amanda


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## cdub260

What storage ideas are going to work best for you depend a great deal on the space you have available for storage. For my lighting cable storage I installed several large hooks along the stage right wall of my stage. I purchased several work bench height cabinets which line the same wall just below my cable hooks for storing gel frames, adapters, twofers, threefers, dmx cable, and lense tubes. In my office, I have several 18 inch deep steel shelves along with a number of wall mount cabinets. In other storage areas I've got custom built shelving and racks because nothing comercially available would meet my needs.

Basically what I'm getting at here, is that in order to figure out what storage solutions will best meet your needs, you first need to figure out what your specific needs are. This coupled with the limitations of the space available to you will determine the best course of action. I know this all sounds rather vague, and it is, but without more specifics from you on what you have available to you, I really can't get any more specific.

Consider the following questions.:

Are you storing lighting or audio cables? 12/3 SOOW cable requires stronger hooks than mic cables.

Where could they store other than a box?

How big is the room where you store your paint, tools, lights and other things?

Is there anyplace else where some of this stuff could store?

How much paint are you storing? There's a big difference between a few 1 gallon cans and 5 gallon buckets of every color under the sun.

Same question for your tools and lights.

Answer these questions, and we might be able to provide better answers to your storage issues.


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## seanandkate

What cdub260 said. Plus see if this old thread is of any help:
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/general-advice/14306-convenient-cable-storage.html


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## mstaylor

Storing cables in a box isn't terrible as long as you retain each with something, string, velcro or some other device. If you don't isolate each cable no matter how you store them they will have cable sex and become one. It's best to try and keep similar lengths together unless it isn't a huge amount.


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## derekleffew

"...have cable sex..."? :shock: 
Plugging ends together after coiling promotes celibacy of sorts and protects the pins, but yes, tieline, velcro, etc. does go a long way in keeping cable neat and tidy. Only problem is one can't tell an XLR3 cable from an XLR4, or an L5-20 from an L6-20 without unplugging, but similar types should never get mixed up in the first place, or be otherwise color-coded/identified.

Hooks/pegs on a wall work fine, unless the wall is a distance away from where the cable is used.


The Engine Whisperer

If the storage area is a distance from the stage, I prefer road boxes, with drawers or dividers.

Roadtrunk with removable dividers


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## DuckJordan

We actually have a meat rack in our theater specificaly for lighting cables, sound cables being less used are up in a small office like room on hooks (seperated by length and type) I will take pictures tomorrow of our meat rack as its recently full from todays strike.


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## mstaylor

The only downside to hanging from hooks is if you hang it in the same spot each time it will break the cable. I prefer to lay them flat and stack them, whether that is in a road case, flat cart or shelf.


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## ptero

Take a look at: 
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/...-methods-storing-light-cables.html#post160611

There are pictures there of our cable rack...


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## jstroming

*Take A Look Here:*


WALL MOUNT HANGER

I bought a few to test out on a huge concrete wall in my shop, and they are very heavy duty, with a 220lb load rating. One of my guys did pull-ups on them (he's real bright) and he survived (unfortunately). I'm about to buy 100 more for exactly your reason (hanging cables) and at $10 a piece they can't be beat.


And for Lumber, Pipes, etc...



Set of 2 Heavy Duty 12" Shelf Brackets


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## len

Most of our cable is either 3 pin data, or a/c cable (what most around here call jumpers). It all sits on shelves sorted by length until it is put in trunks and taken to show site. Why not leave it in the trunks? Because every show is in a different venue, with a different rig, requiring different cable runs. So we bring only what we need +10%. We considered pegs like were posted above, but even though the weight capacity is as high, the volume of cable we could put on a shelf is higher.


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## WooferHound

I worked at a lighting company in North Alabama called Theatrical Lighting Systems. they had this wire storage system that I built.


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## gafftaper

I have 5, 10, and 20 foot cables. They are all color coded with spike tape so it's easy to know what you are looking for. I permanently tie two cubits worth of tie line on the female end of all my cables. Coil the cable, connect the ends and tie a bow. No problems. Just grab a cable from the right bin. 

Note the tie line on the female end is really useful for making sure the connector stays exactly where you want it when you run the cable or for connecting two cables together.


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## ptero

gafftaper said:


> I permanently tie two cubits worth of tie line on the female end of all my cables.


 
And that's the difference between us! All of my cable has the tie line at the male end. Maybe this is a new thread. Along with one brad, two brads or none? What's your flavor!

Oh, are those Egyptian Royal cubits? Sumerian Nippur cubits?


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## gafftapegreenia

For electrical cable, I put the tie line on the female end. Sound/video cable gets its ties on the male end.


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## mstaylor

I always put my tieline on the male end, I always wrap from the female end. On long cables I use two, one each end.


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## ccm1495

We have a storage closet in our school that we put all of our cables in on hooks. I find that it is the best way for us because cables stay off the floor and out of the way. We also always use bead ties removable zip ties or regular zip ties to secure cables.


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## NickVon

my mic cables get stored on two shelves in a closet. with longer cables being in different piles from the shorter cables.


Mic cables all have ties or velcro on hte mail end. So that it's at theoreticaly the non visible end . or at least not dangling right next to the singers face .

My electrics cables are on a little Meat rackish type dolley with pegs that they are hung on. Electrics cables have ties at both ends and one in the middle.


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## shiben

Yeah, I tend to go ties on the male end for everything, LX cables might get two if they are very long.


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## derekleffew

Okay, three (I think) have noted a preference for the male end. I can understand this for mic cables, but not for power cable. The male plugs into a receptacle or other fixed point. It's the female that's loose on the pipe, batten or truss at the instrument. Why a tie not on the female end?


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## mstaylor

Good point, I usually do the male end out of habit but it does make better sense to double as a tiedown on the truss. For that very reason I always do the male end on motor control cables. They have the strain relief clip on the female end so the tie goes on the male end, then it can be used to tie on the run-off truss or on the cable drop.


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## church

mstaylor said:


> Good point, I usually do the male end out of habit but it does make better sense to double as a tiedown on the truss. For that very reason I always do the male end on motor control cables. They have the strain relief clip on the female end so the tie goes on the male end, then it can be used to tie on the run-off truss or on the cable drop.


 
All my DMX and power cables have the tieline at the female end. 100 foot cables have an extra tieline in the middle. Cable lengths are colour coded at each end.

I store the cable in milk crates that are also colour coded. The milk crates work really weel becuase I can put them on a dolly or a sack cart to move them around. I also have more than one crate for each length and I can stack them: I have three crates full of 5 foot cables and four of ten foot cables etc. I buy them for $1 at the local Value Village thrift store.


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## DuckJordan

church said:


> All my DMX and power cables have the tieline at the female end. 100 foot cables have an extra tieline in the middle. Cable lengths are colour coded at each end.
> 
> I store the cable in milk crates that are also colour coded. The milk crates work really weel becuase I can put them on a dolly or a sack cart to move them around. I also have more than one crate for each length and I can stack them: I have three crates full of 5 foot cables and four of ten foot cables etc. I buy them for $1 at the local Value Village thrift store.


 
The crates I'm hoping, since power cables from a value store are not going to stand up to the code.


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## venuetech

This is something that the welding class made up years ago for us. I did have to upgrade the castors as it holds a lot of cable. it's about 5.5' tall 6' long. the hangers can be flat bar 1x1/4"
find a place to keep the rack and then build it to fit that space.


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## buberty

Try color coding your different lengths and write what type they are with a sharpie. Spike tape with some clear tape can be your best friend.


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## church

DuckJordan said:


> The crates I'm hoping, since power cables from a value store are not going to stand up to the code.


 
definitely the crates.


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## Spectre7

Kinda a late chime in, but heres my $0.02.

To store cables, we have always used peg board with long hangers. We group like cables and lengths together to make it easier to pick what is needed. We also use spike tape on the male end of the cable to mark it as our cable. Obviously, someone could use the same color spike tape or just take our spike tape off... But when doing a tear down, all the crew knows to look for the deep blue spike tape on the cable to separate ours.

I always place the tie cord on the male end of audio cables. I do this so that the tie is our of the way and never on the end that will be attached to a mic or other input device that the public can see. I feel like that looks unprofessional. I always wrap cables from the female end of the cable.

I have seen people try to use velcro ties, but there are many downfalls to them. They tend to pick up lint, fabric, and other dirt/debris. They tend to cost more also. You can't go wrong with cloth tieline. Its cheap, durable, and effective.. And best of all if its lost or falls off, you always have a ton more to replace it.


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## MarshallPope

Spectre7 said:


> I have seen people try to use velcro ties, but there are many downfalls to them. They tend to pick up lint, fabric, and other dirt/debris. They tend to cost more also. You can't go wrong with cloth tieline. Its cheap, durable, and effective.. And best of all if its lost or falls off, you always have a ton more to replace it.



Our PAC uses velcro ties. since it is a university with weekly chapel services in addition to everything else we do, they seem to help speed up our changeovers, as they can be quickly and easily tied off with one hand in one motion. Honestly, from what I have seen, they seem to hold up fairly well for us.


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## len

derekleffew said:


> Okay, three (I think) have noted a preference for the male end. I can understand this for mic cables, but not for power cable. The male plugs into a receptacle or other fixed point. It's the female that's loose on the pipe, batten or truss at the instrument. Why a tie not on the female end?



I have to agree. We always keep the excess near the fixture, in case the fixture has to be moved a little. Therefore, the velcro (in our case) stays with it to make it easier to do that.


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## len

MarshallPope said:


> Our PAC uses velcro ties. since it is a university with weekly chapel services in addition to everything else we do, they seem to help speed up our changeovers, as they can be quickly and easily tied off with one hand in one motion. Honestly, from what I have seen, they seem to hold up fairly well for us.


 
For power, we use Cordlox brand, which are only slightly more expensive than generic products, but work way better. Data/mic/dmx cables, especially the 10 - 25' range we use cheap ones found on ebay. They work well enough. The decision is if you buy ones that are long enough to wrap around a pipe, they are too long for a short data cable, but if you buy a 6" velcro strap, it's too short to wrap around excess cable AND a 2" pipe.


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## Ryan5443

When we got fed up with our storage solution for cables (which just happened to be an old wooden crate) we decided to build two (more like three) wall mounted racks to support the cables.

I do not know how much cable you are trying to store nor do I know the various lengths that you have but we built two separate racks (photos attached). 

One rack holds 3' cables, 5' cables, and 2-fers (y-splitters). Another rack holds 25' and 50' cables (each cable has tie line on the male end to keep them separate and organized). Our last "rack" (more like ledger with hooks) holds 10' cables. 

Hopefully this will spark some ideas. Again, you may not have enough (or too much) equipment to justify racks like these but something very flat and wall mounted will help to free up floor space especially if that closet is storage for various things .


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## Grog12

Ryan5443 said:


> I do not know how much cable you are trying to store nor do I know the various lengths that you have but we built two separate racks (photos attached).



Nor will you since the OP was 2 years ago 

That being said I really dig your 5'/2fer rack. I may have too look into building something similar. 

Though I'm curious as to why your cable inventory jumps from 5' to 25'.


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## derekleffew

Ryan5443 said:


> ...Another rack holds 25' and 50' cables (each cable has tie line on the male end to keep them separate and organized). ...


(I'm curious as to why the male end?) I constantly preach that the male end is going to plug into something permanent, the female end will be loose on the pipe.


Grog12 said:


> ... That being said I really dig your 5'/2fer rack. I may have too look into building something similar. ...


I can't tell from the photo. Is it an over-sized version of 

Fluke Electronics Pomona Patch Cable Racks & Test Lead Holders for RG59 and Bantam Cables Cable Racks at Markertek.com


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## Grog12

derekleffew said:


> I can't tell from the photo. Is it an over-sized version of View attachment 7256
> 
> Fluke Electronics Pomona Patch Cable Racks & Test Lead Holders for RG59 and Bantam Cables Cable Racks at Markertek.com



Add the word homegrown and the answer is yes.


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## JimHaver

All cables get trickline, I don't really care which end.
If it ends up on the female end of a mic cable, I'm fully authorized to remove it for aesthetic reasons.
2 cubits of trickline seems an awful lot for a 50' mic cable.

Color-coding your cable lengths?
That's nice, but pointless for everyone but you.
I've been in lots of places with lots of gear from lots of vendors.
Company A uses red to mean 100'.
Company B uses red to mean 50'.
Company C uses red to mark ALL cables as theirs.

Generally, I can look at a coil and have a fair idea of it's length.

I remember working with an electrician on a shoot 1 time; he said all cables EXCEPT power cables should be "over/under" wrap, power cables should be "regular" coil.
I'm pretty sure it was because he didn't know how to do it, and, being an electrician, he'd cut his hands off before helping strike anyone else's stuff.


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## Ryan5443

derekleffew said:


> (I'm curious as to why the male end?) I constantly preach that the male end is going to plug into something permanent, the female end will be loose on the pipe.


To be honest it was not my choice so I am not sure why that side was chosen except to make the side with the cord uniform.


derekleffew said:


> I can't tell from the photo. Is it an over-sized version of...



Well, yes, in terms of the design concept but significantly stronger and has custom top and bottom sections. 


> Nor will you since the OP was 2 years ago



Wow... I'm stupid. For whatever reason I just saw the thread and decided I had something to say, never really thought about a date.


> Though I'm curious as to why your cable inventory jumps from 5' to 25'.



It doesn't we have 3', 5', 10', 25', 50', and 2-fers, along with some other misc. adapters. I thought I had included those details in my post.


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## ruinexplorer

Ryan5443 said:


> Wow... I'm stupid. For whatever reason I just saw the thread and decided I had something to say, never really thought about a date.



No need to feel stupid. Your post is beneficial to the community as a whole, probably not to the OP though. It is always good to look and see when the first and last posts were on a topic to see how you might better phrase your response. As in this one. Many of the old dead posts can use a little revival as long as you understand that the help will probably not be that for the person originally seeking it, but future searches may find the post helpful. Our wonderful webmaster is looking into means to help us notice when we are posting on a dormant thread before continuing with the reply.


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## Grog12

Yeah don't feel stupid you've given me a new idea for my cable storage!


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## JohnD

Someone either in this thread or the other cable storage thread mentioned using 55 gal barrels for storage, how about comercial trash cans instead:
Continental Standard Round Trash Cans - The WEBstaurant Store
The dolly fits the 20, 32, 44 and 55 gallon trash cans, they come in colors and have lids available. They also have smooth, flexible edges to avoid abrading cable, unlike plywood boxes. 
The downside is the PHA(person having authority) will no doubt soon be heard screaming "Who is the nimrod who used our new trashcans for TRashcans"
EDIT: From back in the early days or rock and roll touring, the standard was the Dandux laundry cart:
http://www.crdaniels.com/


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## 65535

Hell we keep cable on a cart as long as it's wrapped right and stacked even half neatly it doesn't get tangled, having a tie is icing on the cake.

The first step to proper cable storage is proper wrapping.

As for mic cable, a quick wrap then a velcro tie makes life easy.


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## SharonReelAxe

I realize that this is an old thread, but the topic seems to be timeless. FYI, we have developed a new microphone cable reel that is very cool and effective. Probably best for venues, schools and churches. You can check it out at reel-axe.com.

Thanks.


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## JohnD

In line with the pegboard idea, I just saw this posted at Sound Forums Network:


Sorry, just had to share.


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## Davetp

*Cable management is A very common theme*

How do you suggest a small theatre mange their cables?

We have some hooks on the wall we use to store XLR and Lighting Cables but all of the other cables are in crates (which is not ideal) we have a lot of leads and cables and not much space. 

_*What Do Your Theatre Do?*_
_*What Do You Suggest We Do?*_
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## Michael K

Do you have enough space for a rolling cart to hang all the coiled wires on? Do you have them coiled with Velcro straps on them now (so they don't tangle)?


Davetp said:


> Good Point
> Can you change titles?


I think only the admins/mods can.


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## Davetp

our tech box is on a balcony up a right angle staircase and is about 2.5m by 10m 
so everything has to be small and able to hang up or somthing


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## Davetp

Ill look into a rolling cart though


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## Fountain Of Euph

Best system I have seen yet is a wood cart with shelves and mail crates for each length. Also the cables were labed with Neutralink cablr labels for length. There was a a door on the front that locked to prevent cable vacations. 

I am extremely supportive of Velcro ties. They, in my opinion, are worth every cent. Rip-Tie has some that get ziptied to the cable. I use the cheep Monoprice ones, I have found they work just as well. Come in many diffrent colors as well. Being at a university, I have the ties organized by department (blue for concert hall audio, white for lighting, red for recording crew, black for Jazz dept.) Im sure that can be adaped for length. 

Cable is stored in varous places: on shelf hooks, coiled in boxes, in a SKB box(sorted by long or short) or in one case in a file cabinet.


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## firewater88

Audio cords are on the wall in our piano room. Sorted by length & type, color coded by length, all with rip tie velcro. Out of view is a large cable hanger with the stage snakes on it. The file cabinet (short drawers, maybe 6" tall each) house handheld mics, other mics, DI's, adapters and such. Shelf above holds studio cased mics and personal monitors.
Power cables are in a Knack box, try to keep stage pin on the left and edisons on the right. adapters in small tray. Color coding caries over to here too on the velcros. 
This was the best solution for our space with almost no real storage space (ie: every theatre). This box doubles as a work table when needed one quick. 
Wanted to do a meat rack for the cables, but the knack boxes were bought when the theatre opened. I actually have 3 more tuck in a stair well in basement that have DMX and 4 pin in one and odds and ends in others.


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