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[Scott Holtzman]

On small jobs I can save a lot of ga$ not having to pull my trailer.  I've been forced to use it a couple of times because I "upgraded" to road cases and everything won't fit in the back of the 4runner.  BTW this "trunk slammer" carries liability insurance. 

Back to the OP . I've considered reels but to me it just seems like winding up a large amount of cables on a reel would put a lot of stress on them. I just imagine them being wound too tight with the added force of the outer ones pushing on the inners.

Stressing cables stresses me out. I had a mild coronary a few weeks ago when one of the band's wives "helped" me out by winding an extension cord around her elbow.  My blood pressure's going up just reliving it. 

It's really hard to get people that want to go get drunk to not help roll cables.  I would almost rather they just toss them in the box and roll them when I get home.  Especially the show bow center wrappers.  One of the rental houses in Cleveland hands out rental cables like that.

To me trunk slammer is more an attitude than anything out, certainly not all one man companies are trunks slammers.  If you have the attitude to do things right no matter how small and crappy the gig is you can always learn something and leave a good impression.

As far as the tubs, certainly sorting at home I have tons of them in different sizes, when you show up with them I would rather start with a good impression.  "Fake it till you make it"

[Mike Monte]

I needed some quality reels for air hose, found what I wanted and they're on the way. But, while looking for the high priced spread I found the handy dandy cable spools at the link below. I mentioned them to a guy I work with and he said he has a couple, they work very well, and as cheap as they are they last forever even when abused.
 
These reels will hold 100' of #12 heavy duty extension cord, probably 500' of CAT5, plenty of speaker cable, and a ton of mic cables.
 
I can think of hundreds of uses for sound and around the house, and the best part is you can buy them in a case of 6ea. for just a bit more than $50. How's that sports fans.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Bayco-K-100-150-Foot-Cord-Reel/dp/B0000BYDKO/ref=pd_sim_hi_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=1XW8N03F0P7Y9Z18WCC2#customerReviews

I use three of these reels for my xlr's; two reels of 25/30's and one reel of 50 footers.  It makes it really convenient when setting up for a gig.  I just unroll the specific length that I need.  I have never had a problem with twisted cables.  I can roll seven or eight 25/30' cables on one reel.
(I also have all of my xlr cables marked by length on the male connector.)
I've used my reels for several years without issue.
Mike M

[Steve M Smith]

To me trunk slammer is more an attitude than anything out, certainly not all one man companies are trunks slammers.  If you have the attitude to do things right no matter how small and crappy the gig is you can always learn something and leave a good impression.

I agree with this totally.  I am just getting back into live sound (at a small event level) and some people might refer to me as a trunk slammer (boot over here) as I have been borrowing equipment from friends recently to put on shows.  I must be doing something right and giving a good impression as people keep asking me to do the sound for their events, knowing that I will then have to beg, borrow, steal, or as a last resort - hire, the equipment to do it!


Steve.

[Rob Spence]

I like Velcro for some of my cables.
For example, my 10' XLR have black, the 20' have grey and 50' have orange.
The 100' have grey but it is pretty easy to tell a 20' from a 100.
The 25' are all tied with trickline.
The B rig gets 10' & 20'. The A rig gets 10', 25' & 50'. The 100' are used where needed.
Most are over/under wrapped. I have a couple of reels with 50 or 100' on them.


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[Brian Jojade]

I use a couple of these for power.  I have a 100' of 12 AWG extension on one, just wind from the female end with it poked through a gap in the frame, unwind what I need and the rest stays neatly wound up. 

This is a dangerous practice. The wire in a coil becomes a transformer and can heat up and cause a fire.  Yes, I've actually seen it happen with 12 gauge wire and a 15 amp load.  Pretty crazy.  This happened with a coil of wire that wasn't on a spool.  On a spool, the coils would be more defined and the cable tighter together so less heat can escape.  It's trouble waiting to happen.

Personally, I can wrap wire by hand faster than I can use a reel.  Holding it in place while rolling up the cable can be a challenge.  They also take up much more space in a trunk than individually coiled cables.

[jasonfinnigan]

This is a dangerous practice. The wire in a coil becomes a transformer and can heat up and cause a fire.

Yes this well create a induction coil. It's dangerous manly if there is a high currently load.. if it's just your FOH mixer you may not have an issue but running amps, speakers, stage power like that is bad news. I personally wouldn't use any wrapped up.

[Bob Cap]

I tried a few of the orange cable reels. They are now relegated to only 100' XLR cables.

Most of our mic cables are 20' and they all go on a metal hanley cable reel. It sits by the mixer and we pull off what we need. Whe done they go right back on the reel and in the trunk.

This had been my practice for more years than I can remember and I rarely have a mic cable fail.

All the rest of our cables go into truck pack cable trunks. Some with dividers to sort for different lengths.

But than again my philosophy now is if the show doesn't fit in a 24' truck...I don't want to do it.

Just having fun getting older...

[Bill McIntosh]

Yes this well create a induction coil. It's dangerous manly if there is a high currently load.. if it's just your FOH mixer you may not have an issue but running amps, speakers, stage power like that is bad news. I personally wouldn't use any wrapped up.

Thanks for the education -- I would not have expected that.

Usually the 100 footer only gets use when the 40 footers are too short.

[Scott Wagner]

Some don't like them but I am a big fan of the permanent hook and loop ties that attach to the cable and can't be lost.  One of these days I am going to get a case of hook and loop with the logo on it.

Tie line is the answer.  You can secure it to the cable with a clove hitch.

[Tommy Peel]

Tie line is the answer.  You can secure it to the cable with a clove hitch.

Some don't like them but I am a big fan of the permanent hook and loop ties that attach to the cable and can't be lost.  One of these days I am going to get a case of hook and loop with the logo on it.

These are what I use: Velcro Reusable Self-Gripping Ties VEK90924.

The local Walmart always has them in stock, the seem to hold up well, and they're cheap. They're (barely)long enough to wrap the 50ft 12/2(I think) speaker cables we use. They do 25ft mic cables easy, but I don't know exactly how long a cable they'll do as my longest ones are 25ft.

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