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?

--
Walter
www.rationality.net

On 9/4/2010 6:03 PM, Walter E. wrote:
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....

On Sat, 4 Sep 2010 15:03:13 -0700, "Walter E." wrote:

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?

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.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DanG
Keep the whole world singing . . .


"Walter E." wrote in message
...
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?

--
Walter
www.rationality.net

On Sep 4, 5:03*pm, "Walter E." wrote:
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?

--
Walterwww.rationality.net

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

Walter E. wrote:

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?

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.

Walter E. wrote:
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?

Why stop short? I love those orange cord reels with the black handle that the
reel slides on in the middle. After lubricating the sliding surface with a
little spray silicone, they work great. It probably just took me 10 seconds to
wind up my 12 ga 50 foot cord.

On 9/4/2010 7:55 PM, DanG wrote:
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.

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...

"Walter E." wrote in message
...
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?

--
Walter
www.rationality.net

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

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.

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

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...

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

"Joe" wrote in message
...
On Sep 4, 5:03 pm, "Walter E." wrote:
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?

--
Walterwww.rationality.net

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

"Bob F" wrote in message
...
Walter E. wrote:
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?

Why stop short? I love those orange cord reels with the black handle that
the reel slides on in the middle. After lubricating the sliding surface
with a little spray silicone, they work great. It probably just took me 10
seconds to wind up my 12 ga 50 foot cord.

Those work great because the cord goes on and off straight with no coiling
of the wires.

Steve

On Sep 6, 6:21*pm, "Steve B" wrote:
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...

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 LAID
DOWN
coil and layed LAID 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

On 9/6/2010 10:43 PM, Steve B wrote:
"Higgs wrote in message
...
On Sep 6, 6:21 pm, "Steve wrote:
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...

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 LAID
DOWN
coil and layed LAID 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

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

"Steve B" wrote:

-snip-

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!


I never blinked when I read yours and comprehended perfectly. I read
Higgs' 3-4 times and just figgered he was having Usenet client
troubles.

Fookin' spell-nazis.

Jim

On Sep 4, 3:03*pm, "Walter E." wrote:
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?

--
Walterwww.rationality.net

Hoses: Figure 8 pattern.

Cords: http://notableknotindex.webs.com/ropestorage.html

On Sep 7, 4:50*am, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
"Steve B" wrote:

-snip-



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!

I never blinked when I read yours and comprehended perfectly. * I read
Higgs' 3-4 times and just figgered he was having Usenet client
troubles.

Fookin' spell-nazis.

Jim

Jim, this is a moral issue. That TV show, what's-it's-name,
introduced into the popular language the use of "______Nazis" for
whatever somebody happens not to like. I think they used it for "soup-
Nazis" inter alia. You have to be pretty unaware of history, or
indifferent to it, to TRIVIALIZE the horrors of Naziism , as has
become all too common. People who throw the term around probably had
a father, grandfather, uncle or other family member who died fighting
the Nazis. Even if you think the Nazis were the coolest thing since
sliced bread, out of respect for those who died to keep you free, you
might want to re-think using that particular epithet.

Higgs Boson wrote:

On Sep 7, 4:50*am, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
"Steve B" wrote:

-snip-



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!

I never blinked when I read yours and comprehended perfectly. * I read
Higgs' 3-4 times and just figgered he was having Usenet client
troubles.

Fookin' spell-nazis.

Jim

Jim, this is a moral issue. That TV show, what's-it's-name,
introduced into the popular language the use of "______Nazis" for
whatever somebody happens not to like. I think they used it for "soup-
Nazis" inter alia. You have to be pretty unaware of history, or
indifferent to it, to TRIVIALIZE the horrors of Naziism , as has
become all too common. People who throw the term around probably had
a father, grandfather, uncle or other family member who died fighting
the Nazis. Even if you think the Nazis were the coolest thing since
sliced bread, out of respect for those who died to keep you free, you
might want to re-think using that particular epithet.

Higgs,
Turn off your computer and go watch a movie- I recommend Inglourious
Basterds.

If you are going to hang on every phrase you see on your computer
screen- don't ever turn it back on. Life is too short.

Jim