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Unpopular opinion: those cheap plastic fish tapes are fine for short runs
I swore off the blue plastic fish tapes after one snapped on me in a tight wall about four years back, and I told every helper we had to buy the steel ones. Then last Tuesday I was doing a 12 foot drop through an insulated exterior wall in Council Bluffs and my steel tape kept hanging up on a staple, so out of spite I grabbed the plastic one off the truck. It slid past the staple on the first try and popped out the box in under a minute. I've since used it on six more short interior runs and it hasn't kinked once. The key seems to be keeping it under about 15 feet and not forcing it when it binds. Anyone else keep one of these around just for the easy stuff, or am I about to eat my words again in a month?
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susan64920h ago
In my experience the plastic tape is fine right up until it isn't, and the day it isn't is usually the day you're already behind schedule. Mine held up for months on easy pulls same as yours, then one cold morning it went brittle and snapped inside a wall where I had no room to fish it back out. Your 15 foot rule and not forcing it is smart, and I bet that buys you a lot of good pulls. Take this with a grain of salt, but I'd still keep the steel one on the truck and save the plastic for when the run is short and open enough that a break won't cost you a whole afternoon. Your mileage may vary of course.
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