Zip-Tie — the Second Best Thing People Invented after the Duct Tape
[Updated 2017-09-22: Added another Youtube video link]
I love zip-ties! What cannot be fixed with layers of duct tape can be surely fixed with a couple of zip-ties:
Usually you can as well make do with some more duct tape.
- Zip-ties are not afraid of water. Yet, they cannot provide any isolation from it, while duct tape can hold it for a little while.
- Zip-ties are susceptible to frost. I witnessed how some of them cracked at -20 °C. Still, many plastic things become fragile when it’s below zero.
- With a bit of practice, they can be disassembled and reused. Duct tape rarely can be reused after it has been torn away.
- Duct tape leaves nasty glue residue when removed. Zip-ties do not, but they still can leave a mark on soft materials they held together, like foam or plastic.
- I read somewhere that white zip-ties slowly degrade under Sun’s radiation and therefore should not be used outdoors. I am yet to verify this claim through experimentation.
Next question: what comes third after duct tape and zip-ties? Sugru? Wire of metal? Good old thread and needle?
If that is not enough evidence for you, check out this video and count how many applications zip-ties find in it.
https://youtu.be/har1SwC49zM
And, if you still do not know how to use a zip-tie, here is an instruction video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHmwmE2vWVA