Hi,
My fishing tape (Ideal) broke not long ago, after 15 years. Will need a new one.
Was not very happy with the Ideal (in blue case). I've used it a dozen times in 15 years and it was always very tight going in and out. It was a steel tape.
Can anyone suggest an easy to handle (in/out) light duty tape (25ft), not necessarily pro grade.
Rich
If anyone does find a good 1/8 spring steel snake, I'd love to know about it. Years ago you could buy them in 200 foot lengths, that, when expanded would lay absolutely flat on the ground. Now these things short and long, want to stay in a coil, making them useless except for snaking through conduits
I had some in a blue case too. It was worthless. I knew I was in trouble when I followed the instructions to break the strap used for packing and it would no break. The stuff never worked right.
I'm not sure the Brand, but my father in law had a Fiberglass fishtape. It laid pretty flat when it was out of the reel. It had a blue case.
It was great when you were fishing stuff with Live power near by.
Scott Hi,
Shoot.
Any redneck that's worth their beer knows that quarter sticks of TNT or just plain blasting caps works lots better for fishing than fishing tape.
Sheesh.
Steve ;-)
I know what you mean about those cheap tapes not pulling out, aaaarrrggg. I have a Greenlee now and it works great but I still keep the old one around to cut short "fishing hooks" off it when I need to fish and hook. At the TV station where I used to work we used a flexable steel "snake" for fishing cable that was also great but very expensive. There are also nylon ones made now. It kind of depends on what you're using it for and tends to be a personal choice. I used to prefer the snake when I was at the station but we were always in conduit or races. I thought of the flat steel one as a cheap homeowner's toy. Now I actually prefer it for most jobs and like that it can take a "set". When you're fishing across some ceiling joists or cross bracing you can put a set into it so that it will ride over stuff. Fishing down a wall you can make it turn right and left by flipping the reel over. richard
About 10 years ago, I did some work with an electrician who had a fish tape made of nylon. It was very strong and could be fished through things quite easily. Nylon has a basic slipperieness to it, which seemed to make it a bit easier to pull, especially if a conduit run had a few extra bends, but the sliperieness can be a hazard if you leave it on the floor!
I haven't seen a supplier who carried one in nylon, though. Not that I have been looking very hard - I just check occasionally and haven't seen one since.
steel 'snakes' have been made illegal in most sensible countries- rightly so too. now fibreglass is used. when will it be banned? lol
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