I finally caught my own bad habit with a fish tape in Columbus

Been pulling cable for about 8 years now, mostly residential work around Columbus. Last Tuesday I was running a new line through a tight attic and my fish tape kept snagging on the same spot. I pulled it back, pushed it through again, and after the third try I realized I was twisting the tape handle clockwise the whole time. Every guide I read said to feed it with a smooth back and forth motion, but I had never actually watched myself do it. Once I switched to a gentle rocking action, it slid through in under a minute. Anyone else ever find out they were fighting their own tool for years without noticing?

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1 Comment

hugo_craig1mo ago

Three feet. That's how far it was snagging from the pull point, and I bet if you measured yours it's some weirdly specific distance too. That clockwise twist thing is real, I caught myself doing the same with a 2400 head on a long run last spring, but it's not really about the direction, more that we grip the handle like a doorknob instead of holding it loose. Once I started letting the tape do its own little snake wiggle, the whole thing felt different. Good catch on your part, most guys never think to watch their own hands.