[TowerTalk] Coiling cables

[Patrick Greenlee]

Flaking is especially useful for items with a neutral lay. Cordage with a 
right or left hand twist like common 3 strand can be a pain if not handled 
correctly.  Little things like taking the cordage off the spool by rotating 
the spool versus taking it off the side of a stationary spool like an open 
faced spinning reel makes a huge difference.  We rag sailors tend to get 
"into" the topic  a bit more that the average lubber.

Patrick AF5CK


-----Original Message----- 
From: Jim Lux
Sent: Monday, August 12, 2013 11:12 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Coiling cables

On 8/12/13 9:01 PM, Grant Saviers wrote:
> or the "figure 8 flake", very useful when the "cable" is too heavy to
> hold, such as the bundle of cables when lowering a crank up, 200' of
> garden hose, or a 1" mooring line.  There is no twist put in the cable.
> Saw this also used by a fiber-optic underground pull team. They
> unspooled way more than a thousand feet and figure 8 flaked it, 30'
> long, I guess so they could control the tension by hand instead of
> pulling from the 5' diameter reel.  Light cables can be 8 flaked by
> holding one loop.
>

or steam lines from a boiler or air hoses from a big compressor. Do much
work in an industrial setting dragging stuff around and you learn this.
I learned it doing special effects work on set and location.

Also works for climbing ropes at an intermediate belay stance.   Either
on the ground, or between your knees, and then onto the ground.

The other thing you learn for the above is how to coil a rope/cable/hose
with alternating twists, holding the coil in one hand, and coiling with
the spare hand.

They all become second nature in a month or two.

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