A remote job taught me to always carry spare cable

I used to think keeping my truck light for installs was smart, so I only took what the job needed. Then I got a call for a farm way out in the hills, almost three hours from my base. The plan was just to activate a new service box for the owner. When I got there, the old line was chewed up by rodents and wouldn't hold a signal. I had run out of my usual coax stash, and the nearest parts shop was a long drive back. I ended up wasting the whole afternoon going to get more. Now, I double-check my stock before every trip, no matter how close or far. That one frustrating drive convinced me that extra cable in the truck is never a waste.

2 comments

2 Comments

davis.max3d ago

You mentioned your "usual coax stash" running out. That makes me wonder what your kit looks like now, after learning that lesson the hard way. Like, do you just pack way more of the same basic coax, or do you carry a mix of different cable types too, just in case? I'd be overpacking everything after a three hour trip got wasted lol. What's the weirdest cable you've ended up needing that you now never leave without?

noragibson3d ago

That 18 mile trip up to the fire lookout with zero cell service taught me a hard lesson. My kit now has three times the basic RG6, but I also keep a short run of RG59 and a bag of every connector type known to man. The weirdest thing I won't leave without is a 25-foot roll of old school twin-lead TV wire; it once saved a job when a buried cable was chewed through and it was all the hardware store had.