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Post by dave1 on May 23, 2016 8:29:37 GMT
Ever wondered why there are elastic bands on the pavement, I used to but have found out that they come from the postmen so I don't have to buy them anymore I just go out after the postman a couple of times a week.
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Post by Nortube on May 24, 2016 8:21:08 GMT
They're certainly useful and I always keep a few handy. However, they're better collected when "fresh" as when they've been laying around a bit they seem to start disintegrating and often snap when stretched.
They used to be red, but for some reason, RM changed the colour to brown. Presumably this was because of all the compolaints about them and they hoped that the brown ones would be less visible!
At the end of the day, they're litter and I don't know why RM aren't more strict about postmen throwing them away. It's just down to lazy postmen. I've seen a postman pushing the red hand cart take a rubber band off a pile of letters and just drop it on the pavement, even though he could just as easily put it in the cart.
The other thing is, like so much other rubbish that lays around, there's always the chance that they'll end up in the local water course (via the street gutters / drains) where they can get swallowed by wildfowl
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Post by dave1 on May 26, 2016 15:32:51 GMT
They're certainly useful and I always keep a few handy. However, they're better collected when "fresh" as when they've been laying around a bit they seem to start disintegrating and often snap when stretched. They used to be red, but for some reason, RM changed the colour to brown. Presumably this was because of all the compolaints about them and they hoped that the brown ones would be less visible! At the end of the day, they're litter and I don't know why RM aren't more strict about postmen throwing them away. It's just down to lazy postmen. I've seen a postman pushing the red hand cart take a rubber band off a pile of letters and just drop it on the pavement, even though he could just as easily put it in the cart. The other thing is, like so much other rubbish that lays around, there's always the chance that they'll end up in the local water course (via the street gutters / drains) where they can get swallowed by wildfowl What I do is follow the postman and as he drops the bands pick them up so they have not been around too long. The y don't use brown ones where I live they are much lighter.
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Post by railtechnician on May 26, 2016 17:53:20 GMT
I don't think there's a hard and fast rule about the colour of elastic bands, RM use what they can get. Elastic bands are pretty useless items, they perish very quickly usually dry out and stick to whatever they were securing. I used to use them all the time for conveniently tidying telephone cords in storage but it was a bad habit, wire ties, twisties or re-usable cable ties are a much better idea. As for rubbish people are simply wilful, I was at the Pickering country fair last weekend and couldn't believe the rubbish left on the grass by the spectators around the various judging rings even though rubbish could be disposed of within 20 yards of them. That said the rubbish truck was on hand to clear the debris as soon as we began packing up to leave on Sunday afternoon and it didn't hang about.
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Post by Nortube on May 29, 2016 10:28:12 GMT
I find rubber bands useful for temporary work but, as you say, they're not much use long term because they disintegrate. The same happened during the Loom band craze. Children would make a fancy whatever and a few months later find that it had started falling apart (or buy new from a shop only to find that they often disintegrated as they were using them because in fact they were old stock).
I tend to use the twist ties for cables as I seem to collect so many of them and I also have so many single cables that need to be neatly wound for future use. If I run out or need an extra long tie, then I just cut off a length of the garden twist tie. I've also been using the garden plastic(?) ties that you can loop the end through and pull tight. I find these useful for cables I use frequently as they quickly unhook and are resuseable. The other option is velcro type, but they are often too long for what I want and are more expensive. However they are useful for tying groups of cables together that might need altering in the future.
One disadvantage I find with twist ties is that I find them fiddly to undo, especially if the tie doesn't have much to get hold of after the twist.
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Post by railtechnician on Jun 1, 2016 12:56:02 GMT
I find rubber bands useful for temporary work but, as you say, they're not much use long term because they disintegrate. The same happened during the Loom band craze. Children would make a fancy whatever and a few months later find that it had started falling apart (or buy new from a shop only to find that they often disintegrated as they were using them because in fact they were old stock). I tend to use the twist ties for cables as I seem to collect so many of them and I also have so many single cables that need to be neatly wound for future use. If I run out or need an extra long tie, then I just cut off a length of the garden twist tie. I've also been using the garden plastic(?) ties that you can loop the end through and pull tight. I find these useful for cables I use frequently as they quickly unhook and are resuseable. The other option is velcro type, but they are often too long for what I want and are more expensive. However they are useful for tying groups of cables together that might need altering in the future. One disadvantage I find with twist ties is that I find them fiddly to undo, especially if the tie doesn't have much to get hold of after the twist. The twist ties I am referring to are not the plastic coated lengths of wire that are often found securing cables in new electrical products but properly manufactured cable ties. They are a length of nylon with a ball on each end in roughly a 'C' shape, they come in different diameters and were specifically invented for quick temporary or permanent tying of cable looms. They predate modern zip type cable ties by many years and are probably difficult to find these days, they used to be sold in Tandy stores inn the 1970s. One finds a suitably sized twist tie, slides it over the bundle and a single twist is all that is required to secure the bundle, the balls on the two end of the tie interlocking. Undoing the tie is just as simple, one twist in the opposite direction releases it. It also doesn't matter whether you're English, Chinese or any other nationality, the tie will twist and lock either clockwise or anticlockwise! Somewhere I still have a whole bag full of these useful ties in sizes up to 1" diameter bought more than 40 years ago. Personally these days I use standard cable ties as I have been using them for decades and I always have a selection to hand because even in retirement my hobbies involve lots of cable and wiring work but when I don't have any to hand I am just as happy using 26 SWG wire (I have lots of it) for anything temporary.
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