A cable coil will lay flat and neat, and stay orderly indefinitely if two conditions are met:
The coil radius is sufficiently large such that there is little to no tendency to unwind.
There is no twist running the length of the cable.
The solution to 1 is simple: just create loops large enough that no energy is stored in the “big spring”.
The solution to 2 is any wrap method which avoids a systematic twist along the cable. If you were an ant walking along the cable, you should find that if you start on the outside surface of the coil, you remain on the outside as you walk the loops.
One method for coiling cables that achieves both goals:
Hold one end of the cable fixed in your off-hand. Let the length of the cable loosely hang such that it may freely rotate. With your dominant hand, slide it down the cable measuring a length which will create a loop large enough that the bend radius doesn’t want to spring back open. Here comes the big trick. As you bring your main hand around to create the loop, use your fingertips and thumb to roll the cable in the direction which eases the twist along the cable. Finish the loop, and repeat until done. The coil should lay flat on a table without wanting to unspool wider, or spring up and launch loops into the air (problem and solution 1 and 2 respectively.)
Practice the finger tip movement. It’s like tying shoes or whistling. Once you get it, you get it.
Also have one end of the cable loose, and push the tension towards that loose end as you coil, unwinding that excess tangle as you go. Coil the cable in the direction in naturally wants to go after this tension has left and it’s no longer fighting you.
I used to shoot live TV in random beaches around the world and this method worked great every time we packed down. We had coil sizes roughly the length of our forearm for super long cables.
A cable coil will lay flat and neat, and stay orderly indefinitely if two conditions are met:
The coil radius is sufficiently large such that there is little to no tendency to unwind.
There is no twist running the length of the cable.
The solution to 1 is simple: just create loops large enough that no energy is stored in the “big spring”.
The solution to 2 is any wrap method which avoids a systematic twist along the cable. If you were an ant walking along the cable, you should find that if you start on the outside surface of the coil, you remain on the outside as you walk the loops.
One method for coiling cables that achieves both goals:
Hold one end of the cable fixed in your off-hand. Let the length of the cable loosely hang such that it may freely rotate. With your dominant hand, slide it down the cable measuring a length which will create a loop large enough that the bend radius doesn’t want to spring back open. Here comes the big trick. As you bring your main hand around to create the loop, use your fingertips and thumb to roll the cable in the direction which eases the twist along the cable. Finish the loop, and repeat until done. The coil should lay flat on a table without wanting to unspool wider, or spring up and launch loops into the air (problem and solution 1 and 2 respectively.)
Practice the finger tip movement. It’s like tying shoes or whistling. Once you get it, you get it.
Also have one end of the cable loose, and push the tension towards that loose end as you coil, unwinding that excess tangle as you go. Coil the cable in the direction in naturally wants to go after this tension has left and it’s no longer fighting you.
I used to shoot live TV in random beaches around the world and this method worked great every time we packed down. We had coil sizes roughly the length of our forearm for super long cables.
Holy crap this is spot on. I’ve been doing it for 20 years without thinking but I don’t think I could have articulated it in a meaningful way.
Kudos!
I think that’s the “quarter turn” method.
In reality, all the methods are the same:
This guy coils.
Saved for next time I have to wrap a cable or hose or something.