Just hit 500 meter pulls on my service truck cable and realized I need a new one

I was running Cat6 in a big office building last Tuesday and counted up how many pulls I've done this year with my trusty fish tape. It hit exactly 500 meters of cable pulled through ceilings and walls, which is kind of a weird milestone but it got me thinking. The tape is starting to fray at the end and I had to cut off a foot of it after it snagged on a joist. How often do you guys swap out your fish tapes or cable pullers? I'm looking at a steel tape vs fiberglass for the next one and can't decide which holds up better in commercial drops.

2 comments

2 Comments

alicea261mo ago

Doesn't fiberglass just splinter and break over time though? Steel has always lasted me longer even when it starts fraying at the end.

roberts.troy1mo ago

500 meters is a solid run but honestly I'd swap that thing out before it breaks mid pull and you're crawling through drop ceiling tiles for an hour. Steel tape will last longer but it'll also kink and stab your fingers way worse than fiberglass when it finally gives up. I learned the hard way that fiberglass splinters are basically microscopic glass shards that get stuck in your hands for weeks. Steel tape fraying at the end is annoying but at least you can grind it down smooth and keep going for a while longer.