There must be a better way!
I neatly coil my hose or cords and hang them from a support for storage. When I unwind them, they invariably get twisted and eventually, they kink.
Short of using cord/hose reels, is there a better way of storing this stuff then coiling it?
Last fall, I coiled my hoses up inside a spare trash can, and it worked pretty well. I waited too long to put them away, and in the chilly weather, they were STIFF. (They are the 'commercial grade' rubber ones.)
-- aem sends....
I found that good rubber hoses hang pretty well on a hose rack. A decent 100'
5/8" hose is upwards of $50. I always take my loose hose completely down and straighten it out (I use to water a tree that's just under 100' away), and put it away by dragging the whole thing so maybe that helps to get the kinks out too. I'll probably ditch the reel on my other hose since this works out better anyway (no leaks).Walter, I'm in my 60's and have been in the trades my adult life. I have chained cords, rolled them on my arm, coiled them into buckets, and a host of other methods. I learned how to roll cords and hoses this past year.
Go to Utube and enter cord rolling. The guys who work on theater and sound stage have a way of rolling up cord that reverses each loop. They do not curl and twist, they do not hang up.
For large heavy hoses like those used by concrete cutters, there is a figure 8 method that I have still not mastered, but the loops are large. I believe that climbers use this system.
I final refinement: get some Velcro that has both sides on one strip. Attach a 8" strip to one end of the cord - I uses pop rivet and washers. I've also made up some small loops that I can use to hang the coiled cords in the truck. It sure is nice to take out a cord to use that isn't all snarled and twisted - it lays out better than a brand new cord.
Not really. If there were it would have been standard practice in the world's naval forces for many centuries. Ropes, like hoses and other manufactured linear products have a natural 'lay' that can't be defeated. Riggers' tricks are simply another way of taking advantage of this. Our facilities just hang hoses on the walls on high mounted supports to allow very large loops that come off and go on quickly. Not pretty, but convenient and fast.
Joe
Wind the hose into a horizontal figure-8.
Electrical cords can be braided, as is done at every construction site. Or just stop using the evil person's wind (round coil), and instead leave the cord ends together and alternate.
Coil it like a twisted strand rope...give each loop a twist too; uncoil vice versa.
I know what you mean and agree. As I was winding up the cord on my drop light a guy who climbs mountains showed me how he folds his ropes. I sort of doubt there is a better way except using some type of motorized reel like on a oil delivery truck, Fire engines...
You have inadvertently hit on the answer, Grasshopper.
Coiling is giving the cord or hose a spiral. To understand this, you need to imagine this. You buy a long roll of hose or cord. One way to get it off the spool is to put a rod through the center, and let the holder turn as a wheel, and the hose/cord comes off straight, and there is no spiraling. The other way is to set the coil on the deck, and pull the cord/hose off the side of the reel, when it then makes a spiral.
You can wind a long extension around your elbow and palm into a round coil, but when you go to take it apart, you don't put it on a wheel to take it off, but rather take it off from the side, making it spiral. There is a way to when you store a hose/reel to make longer bights (loops) and do a one over/one under arrangement which is simple to do, but a little hard to learn. Then when you take it off from the side, it is easier because it comes off in bigger loops, those loops have not been compressed into a small spiral, and there is no spiraling when taking it off the side because of the one up/one over stacking. Another way you can keep long hose or cord from messing up is to figure 8 it, but then you need to tie in three places to keep it all together.
The short answer is that buying roll up wheels that feed straight on and off will solve the coiling problem, but are not as handy as just being able to wind it up and go. It takes a while to learn how to successfully manage these things. If you have ever worked with wire rope, that will quickly teach you about the one up/one over method, and show you how you absolutely need the running wheel to take wire rope off of a spool, because it does not have enough flex like cord or hose to get into trouble. It just stays straight and spins like a speedometer cable.
Slipknotting is another way to manage 100' extensions, where a series of slip knots are used to shorten a cord. I double mine up, then slip knot it in series, just don't make the slip knots too short or tight, or you will have more kinks. This, too, takes a little practice. Maybe I'll do a video on you tube and show you.
It's easier to show than to tell.
Steve
"DanG" wrote
We used to use the figure 8 for 300' and 600' lengths of diving hoses. Nothing special to it, just make sure the thing is straight, and do a figure
8 repeatedly. Tie in three places, both sides, and one in the center. No reversing whatsoever.Steve
If you're coiling up wire rope, there's no other way so it comes off straight when pulled from the side of the coil. Otherwise you have to put something through the center of it and let it come off like line off a fishing reel.
One day, after I had come back from six years in the Gulf of Mexico, I was at the docks at Lake Mead. They were doing some diving, and hooking up some anchor cables. The reel lay on its side. The diver went down, and they were throwing bights of wire rope into the water after him. I stopped, thinking, "This should be good." Sure enough, the diver surfaces cussing and a big tangle of wire. They were using some hefty stuff, too, I'd say
3/8" to 1/2". They finally took off a good length of it from the layed down coil and layed it long on the dock, and fed it to him straight the second time. I was going to say something, but what the heck. That's how you learn.Steve
Not really. If there were it would have been standard practice in the world's naval forces for many centuries. Ropes, like hoses and other manufactured linear products have a natural 'lay' that can't be defeated. Riggers' tricks are simply another way of taking advantage of this. Our facilities just hang hoses on the walls on high mounted supports to allow very large loops that come off and go on quickly. Not pretty, but convenient and fast.
Joe
Using larger bights on any storage is better. Those crab guys coil it inside the drum in a spiral, and that rope is pretty stiff that they use, polyprop, isn't it? Anyway, I'm surprised how it drops so straight. Those coils are not that loosely wound, either. Small bights.
Steve
Those work great because the cord goes on and off straight with no coiling of the wires.
Steve
They finally took off a good length of it from the layed down LAID DOWN
They finally took off a good length of it from the layed down LAID DOWN
I ask you, group. Is there any person hear who didn't know WTF I meant? Anyone? Get a life, Higgs. It came up on the spelckekhr, and I said ADD. I do know proper english! I went to collage. Sheesh!
Steve
hehe
Steve
I didn't here a thing, could you reepeet wut you sayed? 8-)
TDD
Hoses: Figure 8 pattern.
Cords:
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