Found a neat way to label cables in dark attics without a headlamp

I was up in a crawlspace last week on a job out in Oakdale, and my headlamp died about 10 minutes in. I had a bunch of coax and cat6 to label near the junction box and I couldn't see a thing. Then I remembered I had those glow-in-the-dark zip ties I bought on a whim from the hardware store last month. I used my phone flash to charge them up for a few seconds, wrapped them around each cable, and wrote the room name on a piece of white tape stuck to the tie. Worked way better than I expected, and I could spot which cable was which without any light at all. Has anyone else tried something similar for low-light labeling?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor_butler5013d ago

Did you try putting the tape under the glow tie instead of on top? I messed around with different ways and found if you put the tape on the cable first then wrap the tie over it, the glow kinda lights up the writing from behind like a little backlight. Made reading the room names way easier when I was squinting in the dark.

green.jessica13d ago

That trick with putting the tape under the glow tie is clever, @victor_butler50. It reminds me how sometimes the best solutions come from just making do with what you already have around. It's funny how often a simple workaround ends up being more reliable than the fancy gadget you planned to use.