Wow, this is great! So far this morning I recoiled 4 extension cords, 2 shop-vac cords, and a vacuum cleaner cord. I'm rummaging around looking for more. My life is complete!
This technique is so clearly presented here. What a great teacher! My brother-in-law was trying to show me how to do it, but because he was doing it left-handed, I was totally lost. Seeing it illustrated right-handed and explained with the thumbs meeting really did the trick. Now I can do it easily and quickly. Thanks ever so much!
Ironically, I'm having the opposite struggle: I'm left-handed and this has always been a struggle for me because everyone who has tried to teach me is right-handed. But I believe this was explained thoroughly enough to do flipped anyway!
My dad taught me this. He learned it in the navy, coiling ropes in the 1940's. Another way is to coil the rope on the floor in a 'figure 8', then fold the 'figure 8' in half, so that the crossings are all at one side, then secure with straps. This is better for thicker cables that are too heavy to do over your arms.
Full Mark's! 15 people were shown this video and ALL 15 were able to reproduce the proper results. The use of the whiteboard backdrop was excellent. Noticing this consideration of foresight made the gang trust in how they were being taught. The rolling of the cable (rock climber's R or L lay of rope awareness) was the clincher! Your inspiration went too far as this gang of post-grad students tried their new skills on bigger game. They dismantled my hoses (new seeded lawn) and started playing with them. Hey wait isn't it supposed to be work! You taught my gang to fish, and then went a step further. You taught them how to teach - teaching. How to segment the parts, plan success with each phase of the process. How to pay attention to what they are feeling. Now they eagerly teach others this pattern of planned successes. The 3 domains of learning: Affective; Cognitive,& Psychomotor were all "performed" by you in this excellent video of great video framing, sound control, and ease of empathy in the narration. The gang think you planned your script and production ahead of time. If you did this off the cuff - out of thin air in one take with no editing, you are amazing! 30 thumbs Up! I then muted it and showed it to 4 women ( not known for being handy and one is a master killer of all things wrapped and coiled) 2 performed flawlessly on the first viewing. The second time through with requested stop action was able to get all 4 to wrap a 50 cord!
Thanks for this video! Just starting with a small production company. Worked 4 events but this is the best explanation and visual presentation I've seen. Can't wait to try this technique next event!
Thank you, your video is the only one that I was able to actually slow it down to .25 & see the way you twisted for the under. The thumbs together is what made it click so thanks!
Learned this from "audio" guys years ago. (Strangely, the guys at the "Lighting Equipment Rental place" didn't like this coil and when they saw it would immediately recoil it with a simple 'elbow wrap.') One big difference: I was taught to start with the socket pointed towards my body and the coil laid out running away from me. The coil method was described simply as first lay it in your hand 'over hand', then lay the next coil in your hand 'under hand' (or 'back handed'.) I was also told to be certain to let the cable role or spin (never say twist) in my hand as I coiled it. A good way to see if you're doing it correctly is to practice with a FLAT cable. If any twist occurs, you did it wrong. Now, if you could just explain the best way to 'tie off the ends' using ONLY the cable itself. The sound guys who taught me this roll somehow formed a 'hang-loop' out of the cable. Sadly, I never learned that one.
I worked at the largest lighting company in the world (Light and Sound Design) back in the '90's. This technique was the only one acceptable, not just with my company but with the entire industry. If you sent out an order with the cables coiled in any other fashion, they'd be rejected.
I love your video. I actually start the cable in my right hand, with the male end towards me, as well as having the velcro strap always on the male end. It's essentially the same thing, but done slightly different. The reason we do velcro at the male end, is that you know exactly which end to start unrolling your cable.
Great and helpful! A wonderful replacement to the Gordian Knot technique I always ended up using. Of interest, there's an entire branch of mathematics--knot theory--dedicated to the study of knots. Many samples come from various audio and video cables....
Very good clear explanation, and well done for making sure that your hands and the cable are visible in the video. I lost count of the number of videos that didn't show "all the moving parts", and bored on and on about incorrect techniques (...they're irrelevant after all, and not what people have tuned in to watch). So, well done for that! I've been doing mine wrong for so many years. I plan to put your method to use now.
So you twist the second loop. I like it 👌 I take both ends of the extension cord, match them up and pull the rest of the cord through the middle. I think I like your way better. Thanks
thank you for noting the "weird bends"...it bugs the crap out of me that people think over-under is the only thing they need to know. in fact, you can "properly" coil a cable the other ways too (yes, even around the elbow), with or without over-under....and you can over-under and still trash them
Great Job! I learned as you did, "By turning the Palm!" "BUT" Most in the industry Coil CLOCKWISE, NOT Counterclockwise. It does make a difference that creates an issue for the Majority in the industry in clockwise practice! Unfortunately experiencing that conflict with the new Techs learning Counter and Union Members understanding SOP's of Production and Clockwise. .. Have a Great Day!
Garden hose is the worst! Does this same technique eliminate an unruly hose? I always end up with a coil that's 3 times too big because it won't lie flat.
My husband has been a stagehand for four years and has tried showing me how to coil cable every once in a while for the whole time, and I never understood until watching your video.
Who would give this video a thumbs down? Great video! I was going to make a video but great job. In freelance television if you can’t over under you better learn. Once you get it you can coil very fast.
I thought I was doing it wrong the whole time. So the first "wrong" example you did is what I constantly see and questioned myself If I kept doing it wrong. but for some reason their coils *look* nice. The problem then arises when I do the "right" over and under sometimes the cable has minor warps. My question is: If I get hired for particularly gigs, should I *force* the way I know (your example) or abide by how they've been doing it because a lot companies I get hired on to help is 50/50 on which one they do.
Until you grab the wrong end and got 10 knots in a row. I always Roll cables in a circle with proper tension and radius. we have like 100 of XLR cables and 50 Speakon and we always roll like i describe. and there is never any problem unwinding them.
You must be a teacher in how clearly you explained it. It looks nice and easy to do...but here’s my question how do you coil up a very heavy 30 mts electric cable that is already twisted wrongly? (It’s as thick as my thumb).I just did how you said and it looks just as bad as before 🤪. Any suggestions? Thanks.
I was taught the over under method when I worked at a TV station years ago. I now work at a high school and I cut my own cables from a spool of Coaxial cable from a local hardware store. We use these cables to run SDI signal from camera to switcher. The Coax cable is more rigid and does not coil well. I saw a local production company wrapping their coax cable up in a plastic spool type device, which looked much easier than fighting the coax. My question is should I continue with the over under method with Coax cable or could I wrap it around a cable holder (or spool) without damaging it. I would like to see what your thoughts are. Thank you in advance for any suggestions that you can give on the topic.
Now what about uncoiling? I have a co-worker that sometimes will uncoil a cord, and it sits in a twisted mess on the floor whenever he touches it. Then I spend forever trying to untwist it. It's fine whenever I'm the only one that touches it.
Yep, the one thing I like to add is that this video is the base. It is not a black and white thing, There is a grey area. While you are winding the cable 'over' and 'under' you also have to listen to the cable. Feel the cable. It tells you what it wants. Sometimes it simply wants an extra over or an extra under. just "go with the flow" and "feel your cable". This is sound engineering going deep :)
Best way to coil indeed but those high tech techniques are not worth on my opinion It is so much faster and easier to twist the cable to make the first coil, then simply to twist it the other direction to create the second. The hand do not change position, do not loose contact with the cable, so it is fast and easy. May be not recommended to help the coiling of expensive cable with about a quater turn one then the other direction but it just helps it does not really twist the cable more than it is naturally by the coils. Regards
This was great. But I wish you added some tips for UN-coiling the cable when it's time to use it. I always get it into knots because I picked the end up through other loops. It's hard to figure out how to route the cable during the uncoil.
If you are getting knots in it, you've pulled an end through the middle of the bundle. That's an easy mistake to make, and if you just keep pulling, you'll get a mess. If you see it start happening, stop, and feed whatever you've pulled back through the middle, flip the bundle, and then you should be able to pull without the knots.
Done properly, this method eliminates introducing twists in the cable that causes it to knot up. You can actually just grab one end, start walking, and the cable will neatly roll out. You can even hold one end, then toss the rest of the bundle, and it will just lay out straight (not recommended for cables with fragile or heavy ends).
cable does not tangle up when unwound. cable does not get kinks. Any time you have electrical cable or any type of long tubing, you want a method to wind it up neatly without creating stress weakness in it. In a hose, this leads to cracking. In electrical cord/cable this leads to wires inside breaking. Both also have a memory of how it was previously wound. Bad winding = misshapen form. Professionals use this technique of wrapping cable or cord before storing as it is easy, fast, and effective. Worth mastering for the many years of cable winding in your life.
This may seem easy the first time, not when doing it with a 50 meter triax cable that is 2 times the thickness (im in film school and hate to have to dk this fast)
@@IconOfSin the last 7 months ive learned so much, i can coil easily now. I wasnt able to figure 8 the triax because i had to use all the cable and had to prevent it getting stuck on stage
@@noukhollands I watched this when I was in film school (edit, different video actually: over-over twist technique), now I'm trying to re-learn over/under before I get caught fixing the twists this technique causes in other cables 😅 best of luck in the industry dude, I'm sure it's the same out your way, over here there is so much work suddenly we barely have enough people for all the productions/gigs popping up, so if you are still studying you should definitely get out into the industry while they need more hands, perfect time to develop that network (it was the opposite for me you could barely get an unpaid running gig)
@@IconOfSin well i live a couple hunderd KM away from THE multicam highlife of the netherlands, but when i graduate in 3 years, ill go as soon as possible
So I am curious to know if anyone can please explain the purpose of the "under" part? For decades I have coiled my cables using only the "over" part and employing the quarter twist part to keep the rotation of the cable uniform. My cables don't knot or twist and look exactly the same in the end with half the effort. This seems unnecessarily complicated by going over and then under. I have watched this over and over and don't understand the purpose of the under part.
Panama Jack it makes the cable last longer because there are multiple cables intertwined inside the main cable and they all twist in to each other and eventually cut in to each other if you don’t go over and under
Totally agree, unnecessarily complex and slow. I've been coiling cables the natural way for 50 years, rarely have a cable failure. Good quality cables can handle almost anything. The two main cables for my current rig, both ProCo Lifelines, are over 10 years old and functioning perfectly. In my opinion this technique is a solution for a problem that doesn't exist, at least as far as I'm concerned.
I also have only used your "over" with a quarter twist technique for decades. My cable failures almost always comes from the end connectors. If there is ever an internal wire problem in my cable, it is from general use like being stretched, cut or being stepped on too many times.
@@katmcdowellmusic Ok...not what I asked. I understand about the internal cables. Applying an over technique preceded by an appropriate twist makes the under completely unnecessary. When the first step is employed correctly there is no reason for the under step. This is over complicating something quite simple.
Me too. Catch in left hand, throw right. Shoot hockey left. Sweep right hand on top. Not related, left handed Presidents, Obama, Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Ford. Lefties are 10 percent of the population, but 50 percent of the last 12 Presidents were Lefties. Coincidence...I don't think so. Lol...it's ANOTHER CONSPIRACY! LOL
This was good, but like pretty much all cable coiling videos I've seen he goes too fast on the critical under part, no doubt because he can do it in his sleep. For those of us who can't, it's too fast. Please, slower.
