Zip Tie Storage

I loves me some zip ties.  I use them all the time and if zip ties on bikes were currency, I would be Donald Trump (but with better hair).  Although I love zip ties, I have to admit that I don't always treat them that well.  I often shove the packages in my tool box and they fall out, get bent, or get mixed in with all of the other stuff in my tool box.  Never once had I thought to actually organize them, but reader Stephen sent along his own solution. 

I am scratching my head to think of a way I can this with my metal tool box . . . perhaps velcro strips and some tape or glue.  Take it away Stephen . . .

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This forum needs no explanation of the utter utility of zip ties. My partner and I use them constantly. Hoping to add a measure of organization to my tool set-up I began looking for something like a zip tie dispenser. Unenthused by ready-made choices I developed a low-tech system that works pretty well.

The Problem in three parts:

1) Zip ties of all sizes littering the bottom of my toolbox after falling out of their plastic bags.

2) Floppy plastic bags holding zip ties prohibiting easy access to other tools.

3) Plastic walls of the Stanley Fat Max toolbox limiting choices for mechanically affixing a rack to the interior.

Zip Tie Solution for Zip Ties:

1)  For each size of zip tie to be stored, drill two 1/8" holes, a half inch apart horizontally, in the side of a deep toolbox.

2) Thread a zip tie that is a bit wider than the diameter of the hole through both holes, with the clasp on the inside.

3) Join the tie with the clasp, forming a large loop.

4) Slide a new complement of 100 zip ties into the loop and tighten. The bundle is held secure by the clasps at the top.

5) Continue tightening the loop as the ties are consumed and until a new supply is needed.

6) When it is time for a new bag of ties, replace the loop. What I like is if I take out too many, the extras are easy to re-insert into the middle of the bundle.

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Comments

[Hugo]

I zip-tied some zip ties to my bike so I'd have some handy in case I needed them for roadside repairs.

http://flic.kr/p/dgWbx3

Well, the attaching zip-ties were already there, one to fasten the mudguard in place, and the other left behind from something else, so I just slipped some spares into the gap.

[atom]

This isn't a zip-tie solution, it's a meta-zip-tie solution! Zip-tying zip-ties!

[AndfelTies]

That's a pretty neat way of using zip ties on zip ties! Looks nice and clean, too. Awesome.

[TrekMonster]

Brilliant!