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https://hackaday.com/2023/01/05/excuse-me-your-tie-is-unzipped/
If you ask your typical handyperson what's the one thing you need to fix most things, the answer might very well be duct tape. But second place — and first place in some circles — would have to be zip ties. These little wonders are everywhere if you look for them. But they are a relatively recent invention and haven't always had the form they have today.
The original zip tie wasn't called a zip tie or even a cable tie. In 1958 they were called Ty-Raps and produced by a company called Thomas and Betts. Originally meant to improve aircraft wiring harnesses, they found their way into various electronic equipment and packaging uses. But they've also become helpful in very unusual places too. A policeman trying to round up rioters would have problems carrying more than a few conventional handcuffs. But flexible cuffs based on zip ties are lightweight and easy to carry. Colon surgeons sometimes use a modified form of zip tie during procedures.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Subsentient on Sunday January 08, @04:06AM (3 children)
I absolutely *love* zip ties. I use them for everything.
One in particular that I've used since I was a kid, however, is as a "permanent belt".
I take one zip tie for some pants that are a bit too loose, and I wrap it through two adjacent belt loops on the left or right side of my pants, zip it up till the pants are comfortable, snip off the excess with scissors, and then just forget about it.
I don't have to adjust it again, I don't have to take it off, it goes through the wash over and over harmlessly, and if I need more or less, zip ties are cheap as hell. I can loosen it by snipping it off and putting a new one, and I can always tighten it on the fly no matter where I am, people just think I'm fucking with my pocket or something.
Is it weird fashion? Yep. Am I sorry for it? Nope. My shirt usually covers the zip tie spot anyways, so nobody knows I do that unless I tell them.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Sunday January 08, @05:06AM (2 children)
I'm cringing because I know that I would get a nice gash from those little cut ends. Even without the sharp corners of the stump, the little cube often gets me. But hey, if it works for you, it's a win.
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Sunday January 08, @09:52AM (1 child)
That's only a concern if you don't cut close to the lock after adjusting it. Generally it's not an issue. ^^
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Sunday January 08, @04:42PM
Well, it has been for me, but I probably do much more hands-on work than average, and you may not have seen how many zip ties some people like to way overuse.