Kit contains:
double-female end tiesdouble-male end tiesin the center of each tie is a hole which will allow another tie to pass through, and lock, in either direction.-- lurch, Jun 19 2009 (?) Zip strip http://www.bowhunti...ay/zip-strip-lg.jpg [bungston, Jun 19 2009] (?) Zip strip http://www.bontool....alog/ZIPSTRIP_0.JPG [bungston, Jun 19 2009] (?) Zip strip http://images.googl...safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG [bungston, Jun 19 2009] Zip Tie http://www.sheldonb...images/zip-ties.jpg...as used by the US military to humiliate people. [DrCurry, Jun 19 2009] (?) What I thought this was about http://vids.myspace...al&VideoID=43038257 [jutta, Jun 19 2009] (?) Zip-Tie Sculpture http://www.flickr.c...inkmann/2765523653/What can be done with the usual ties [csea, Jun 20 2009] That last sentence really threw me off.-- daseva, Jun 19 2009 Sorry... I agree, it's worded poorly. Am working on a better description. [edit] ok, changed. Wordier, but maybe won't cause eyebrow-interference...-- lurch, Jun 19 2009 Zip strip is same as zip tie? Maybe a linked photo of standard issue zipstrip would help.-- bungston, Jun 19 2009 I thought for sure this was a very, very, very, ungood idea. And I also thought of medical techniques and figured it was authored by [bungston]. So relieved. So relieved.-- blissmiss, Jun 19 2009 Right, [bungston] - zip ties they are. Mass rename done. (Maybe it's just a regional thing - I've never heard them referred to as anything but "zip strips" and didn't think to question it.)-- lurch, Jun 19 2009 double engendre-- po, Jun 19 2009 Not clear how you would use these in practice.-- DrCurry, Jun 19 2009 So glad this is unique and not eunuch.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 19 2009 Great idea, had no trouble understanding it. But as DrCurry states, I can't think of too many situations where one would be useful.
I'm having trouble imagining how the bidirectional locking would work in the center hole.-- tatterdemalion, Jun 19 2009 jutta gets best link award. Perhaps ever. Not for those at work probably...I frightened my cat laughing.-- blissmiss, Jun 19 2009 cat is back? great news-- po, Jun 19 2009 [jutta], that's.... that's... that's .... it's just wrong, you know ? Wrong. Terribly, terriby wrong and disturbing. And wrong, and awful, and very frightening, and sick, and, well, just ... wrong.
And we are a collective cybernetic lifeform which reproduces asexually, parthenogenetically and synthetically, and has a collective consciousness driven by pure implacable logic, AND WE STILL THINK IT'S WRONG.
Enough, OK ? Please ?
Oh, and [+] for the idea, [lurch] we like it.-- 8th of 7, Jun 19 2009 That link crashed my craputer twice.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 19 2009 I like that song, and that's a new version of the video to me. Thanks Jutta.-- normzone, Jun 20 2009 <Ignoring diversionary comments> Good idea. I would use the double-female version to join already-wrapped cable bundles.
(I think zip-ties are the third most necessary tool, after duct tape and WD-40.)
Sets of short double-female ties could be used to create "ladders" to separate bundles on a pair of long ties. Not clear why the double-male version is useful - it's rare to have unattached female ends requiring joining (?) And one can mostly link M-F pairs by the usual extending technique.-- csea, Jun 20 2009 That's true, generally the problem is shortage of the connector ends - if you really needed a male-male, you could just lark's-head two zipties together.
Mainly I'm imagining they'd be useful for the cross-connect which lets you go three-dimensional. You can't shove a female end through the hole, so you'd need the double male there.
[tatterdemalion] - re bi-directional locking: imagine two female connectors set face to face. You couldn't slide a strip through in either direction without holding down one of the releases, depending on which way you were trying to go. In this, the releases would be connected so one press releases them both, no frustration over getting the wrong one. Then it locks both ways when you're done.-- lurch, Jun 20 2009 // the releases would be connected so one press releases them both, //
Ahh - but what if it's desireable to use the ratchet effect to ensure tightness ? if you have a lever that releases the ratchets in both directions, it's a matter of hauling the tie tight, then realeasing the button and hoping it holds.
Those handy tie-tightening pistol tools would need redesign, too.
We consider that separate releases for each directional ratchet are desireable.-- 8th of 7, Jun 20 2009 Thought I'd see what was out there in a search for "zip tie sculpture": [link]-- csea, Jun 20 2009 random, halfbakery