What Should be Considered When Choosing Cable Ties

Choosing cable ties can be more difficult than you might think, or that it should be. While it is possible to come online or go to your local DIY store and easily buy a pack of cable ties, depending on what you need to use your cable ties for it isn’t simply the case of “a cable tie being a cable tie”.

In addition, the use of cable ties around the home and beyond has gone way past simply securing wires together or holding something else in place. This means that you are better served by choosing a cable tie that is specifically produced to help deal with the specific usage you have in mind. There are so many different types of cable ties available today that it’s possible to have a pack for every solution and application in your toolkit.

There are four things you should consider when choosing cable ties. Let’s look at each of them and what you should consider when choosing cable ties.

How Your Cable Tie Is Designed

We’ve talked about different types of cable tie in another article here at Trade Warehouse. Look carefully and think about how your cable tie is designed, and what your cable tie was designed to do, before choosing yours.

Nylon cable ties are what we’d consider a “standard” cable tie, what we’d generally use for securing wires around the home. You might even use them for keeping doors closed, securing pipes, or as temporary locks. An “upgrade” on standard cable ties can be found in products that have metal barbs in the head of the tie. These cable ties bring added benefits in that they tend to be adjustable and therefore reusable, although 100% nylon reusable ties can be widely found, too. The metal reinforces the locking mechanism too, meaning it is useful when you need extra strength or will be using the cable tie in high stress environments.

Stainless steel cable ties and mounted head cable ties may also be useful in certain circumstances, too.

How Long a Cable Tie You Need

The simplest approach to this conundrum is to default to buying the longest possible variety of cable tie. Once you’ve fastened your cable tie, you just cut off the excess.

However, this won’t always be practical nor economical. Here at Trade Warehouse our cable ties can be as long as 1100mm, why use them to secure two or three wires?

You can easily use a tape measure to find out the diameter of cable tie you will need, and then buy the appropriately sized ties. All of our cable ties state the maximum bundle diameter which they can fasten. You may want to go one size up if your need is close to the stated bundle diameter

Where the Cable Tie is Going to be Used

Depending on where your cable tie is going to be used, and what it is going to be used for, there may be several variables to consider when choosing a cable tie.

Think about whether:

• Your cable tie is going to be used outdoors.
• Your cable tie needs to be mounted whether used indoors or outdoors.
• Your cable tie will be exposed to direct sunlight or potentially be exposed to other harsh weather.
• Your cable tie is liable to be exposed to hazardous materials.
• Your cable tie will potentially be exposed to high heat or variable tensile stress.

Once you have answered these questions, you will have an idea of whether you need to choose a stronger nylon cable tie, a black UV stabalised nylon cable tie or opt for stainless steel.

How Strong the Cable Tie Needs to be

In addressing questions about the environment your cable tie will be used in and exposed to, you’ll get an idea of how strong your cable tie needs to be.

Cable tie strength is measured in terms of tensile strength, where a higher tensile strength means a stronger cable tie. While a wider cable tie often correlates to higher tensile strength, you should also consider the material the cable tie is made from, and even if it’s a nylon cable tie you may have an “upgraded” cable tie featuring metal barbs in the fastener. All our cable ties have the manufacturers stated max tensile strength displayed.

Choosing the Right Cable Ties for Your Project

Take the time to consider your DIY projects and what you need to use cable ties for. Whether you need to use cable ties that you can fasten and leave for years, need something more adjustable, and whatever the environment you’ll be using your cable ties in, you’ll find the ones you need here at Trade Warehouse.