By Tony Barthel
Your RV’s toolbox should have some string, some duct tape, a set of bit drivers, a hammer and some WD-40. Let me suggest one more thing you should always have – a set of Nite Ize Gear Ties.
What are these, you ask? You know those bendy bread ties that keep the plastic on the loaf of bread? Well, think of these as the industrial versions of that.
The Nite Ize Gear Ties are reusable rubber twist ties that have a soft, grippy rubber coating and some sort of metal inside that allows you to bend and flex them over and over into whatever shape you need. The company makes them from 3” – 64” inches in length.
I use these all the time in our RV and in our home. I use them to tie up hoses and cables, to temporarily hold things that have broken, to hold lanterns to trees or stands, to keep things from flying around inside the RV or inside the pickup on the road. They are terrific. In fact, I’d call them essential.
Recently I found that the strap that holds the holding tank valves to the trailer had broken on a pretty horrible road, and I used one of these ties to hold the tank valves in place for hundreds of miles until I could effect a permanent repair.
What surprises me about these is that I have yet to be able to bend them until they break. My nephew, seeing this as a challenge, spent an entire afternoon repeatedly bending one to see if he could break it – and he couldn’t. This is much better than the Gumby I had a child, where the metal inside the green man finally snapped and you couldn’t bend him into horrible inappropriate poses any longer.
These are pretty simple tools to have – but I do really like them and the quality is good. Bonus: They’re made in the USA, so some creative person came up with a great idea and employed their neighbors to bring it to you.
##RVT984
As others have mentioned, they don’t last all that long. After a few uses, the rubber outer coating breaks & separates, exposing the inner metal wire. I have several of each size & have used all of them, but I doubt I’ll replace them when they finally become unusable. Velcro is still king.
Gear Ties, excellent product and varied uses, we use them primarily to tie our cupboard handles together while on the road, no more surprises when we open the door.
I use a large orange one on my Blue Ox to hold my electric/air lines in place when traveling. Also use it to hold the lock handle down so I can unhook alone.
I have a broken one in my rig right now. Was used to keep the upper cabinets closed while driving down the road, just wrapped it between the two handles next to each other. Been doing that since we once hit a big bump and my dish cabinet opened and out crashed all my Corelle and smashed all over the floor of my class C
These have been at truck stops for quite a few years now. We carry and use them to control our 50 amp power cord.
These are great. I use several different sizes.
Second or third this recommendation! Have them, love them! They will eventually break, sadly, but it took a year or so of frequent use to break the wire within.
Have’em. Great items.
Tony,
Interesting, but in my tool box they’d be redundant. I already have bungees, large rubber bands, bailing wire, duct tape, and I’ll bet something else that could be used to secure stuff. Oddly enough, most of it has never been touched. I’ll bet the next time I need any of it- it will be used on someone else’s rig or boat.
Funny I also have Velcro straps in rolls, duct tape, bungees and a few other things but these win most of the time, especially when keeping cables tidy.