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Permalink Reply by Bret Teegarden on September 8, 2011 at 1:48pm

You could always use adhesive printable labels that wrap around themselves. They last a pretty long time, but aren't protected by shrink wrap.And the only way to get shrink on is to take the connectors off.

 

http://www.barcode-labels.com/products/cable-labels

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Permalink Reply by Drew Sanford on September 9, 2011 at 6:38am

Depending on how precise you are prepared to be, you can do as Bret suggests, and then use packaging tape - very carefully - to wrap the whole works. if it's good tape, and applied with no air bubbles or wrinkles, it'll stay there a good while and offer a fair bit of protection.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Thom on September 9, 2011 at 12:50pm

My concern is durability. To give you an idea, a lot of these cables just came off the Kenny Chesney tour so they get beat on pretty hard.

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Permalink Reply by Bret Teegarden on September 9, 2011 at 2:02pm

That certainly makes sense, but I am not sure there are many other options out there. I've tried using wrap that will fit over a connector and it just won't shrink down enough. 

 

Another option would be using colored tape or perhaps etching the connectors. Depends on the amount of info needed on a label I guess.

 

I'm sure there are plenty of people smarter than me that might find a solution to this common problem.

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Permalink Reply by Drew Sanford on September 10, 2011 at 6:32am

You might want to use a more heavy duty approach then - although costly, and potentially a tangling hazard, depending on how you deal with them, metal tags. I was thinking about wiring them to the cables at first, but then I thought more about duck/goose bands - when birds are captured for wildlife studies, they frequently put a band around the leg of the bird, it's loose enough that they can grow and it won't fall off over the foot, but it stays there. A modified version of this, where you tighten it down to the cable size would work well. On the off chance you're interested, here's a link to a list of banding equipment suppliers - perhaps if you contact some, they can actually provide exactly what you need.

 

http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/resources/supplrs.htm

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Permalink Reply by Bret Teegarden on September 10, 2011 at 10:01pm

Hey Chris, what would prevent you from using the black nylon cords we often tie around the cables to put a label and shrink it?

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Permalink Reply by Mark Capps on September 12, 2011 at 4:36pm

Just do it right, but take in mind you only need to take one connector off, then slide the heat shrink all the way to the other end. You'll thank yourself in the long run. The heat shrink method should last you 25-30+ yrs…… BTW: label BOTH ends!!!!!!!!! ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Chris George on September 14, 2011 at 9:12pm

They make duct tape in all kinds of obnoxious neon colors now, heck you can even get tie dye. Pick one color you don't see normally to signify that it's yours and just mark the initials of the company, choose a different color for each different type of cable and wrap a band just above the edge of company band further sealing it to the cable. Of course you'd probably need to wrap them each around 2 or 3 times to keep it from coming off easy and use permanent marker for the initials. No soldering required, no hazardous tags, will probably last as long as your cables and everything is now color coated so even the mentally challenged can understand what's going on.

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Permalink Reply by Chris George on September 14, 2011 at 9:36pm

Obviously you'll want to reserve that to the ends of cables which won't be in public view on stage, but you have a lot of cables whose ends won't be in public view on stage.

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