Tips & Tricks
A Quick Tip On How To Extend Your Cables Without Breaking Them
Cables, cords, plugs…they are the bane of my existence. Not only do they add just one more thing to keep track of, but I think they procreate in my drawers. Then you must keep track of which cable goes to what device and you need to make sure that they aren’t a tripping hazard for playing dogs, children and clumsy people all around. When they break, they are expensive to replace (I’m on my third Mac Book charger – I could’ve purchased a PC for what I’ve paid in that stupid cord). Life would just be easier if everything were wireless.
[REWIND: THE GAFFGUN WANTS TO MAKE YOUR CABLING WOES HISTORY, SAVE YOU TIME, PAIN, BUT MAYBE NOT MONEY]
But I digress. As evil as cables are, we need them to power up our many devices and so any advice that helps me with taking care of them or managing them is welcome. In the following quick tip from DIY Photography, Udi gives us a quick one minute tip on how to extend two cords so that it doesn’t break. When we connect two cords together, sometimes, to ensure they don’t unplug if say, someone steps on it, we tie a knot. The problem is that most of us tie it right at the cord’s weakest point. This makes it susceptible to breakage. Udi’s tip is to tie the cords together a bit further down under the connection and voila, you should be good to go.
Note: Ignore the little spelling error at the beginning of the video. It doesn’t detract from the video, but I’m sure someone will mention it).
Watch “Quick Tip: Extending Cables”
Nothing new :) any electrician knows this :) so nice to see photographers have the common sense too :)
Basics!
Tying cables in a knot?
If only someone would invent a strip like material with adhesive on one side of it…..
Works great until you have to stick it to grass or dirt…
You wrap the tape around the cords instead of tying them in a knot. You don’t stick the tape onto anything else. :)
I wouldn’t do that, fussy as all heck unwrapping them and, unless you shell out for gaffer’s tape, you’re probably dealing with residue. I’d rather use the knot technique. :)
Sure, gaffer’s tape will work… if you have gaffer’s tape. You always have everything you need for the knot trick, as long as you didn’t forget the extender in the first place. And, depending on the cable and where it does, you may want a similar strain relief knot at the business end of the cable. Most of these connectors aren’t designed for field use, but for easy plug/unplug.
Smart! Now we only need a headphone tip as well!
thanks for the great tip
Heh… I figured he was about to show the knot trick. It’s a good reminder, but I think it would be better if he slowed down a bit to show people what was going on. The key piece is that it’s a knot, rather than a simple loop around, so basically double up what you normally do, and do it further down the cable.
Can’t beat easy tips like that, thanks
great tip