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How do people store their lavalier cords?
I recently discovered that lavalier cords are notoriously fragile [I feel like a fool writing this]. I want to keep my cords in my camera bag, however, so I always have them available. How do people store their cords in their bag so they’re safe?
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3 Replies
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Hello Noam and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum,
Mic cords or the actual wires from the lavs themselves?
Mic cords (xlr cables) are more durable, but you can screw them up by wrapping them around your elbow and hand at the end of a shoot. If you expect them to last, all cables should be wrapped with care and not stretched as they are wrapped.
Most cables have memories of coils of a certain diameter. Recoiling them to the original loop size helps them last longer. There are two techniques for coiling cables the “over under” and the simple loop. I use the simple loop. There’s a little trick of accumulating the coils in your left hand and twisting the cable between the thumb and fingers of your right hand and you help the cable recoil.
Lav cables from the mic to the mic power supply or wireless connector are a lot thinner and more delicate. I am always quick to get to the talent who begin to take the mics off of themselves because they are likely to damage them. As I see them start to mess with them, I quickly get to them and say, “Here, let me help you with that.” and take over.
Hope this helps,
Regards,
Ty Ford
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Seal-able plastic bags (sandwich bags or smaller) are great for storing small and fragile items in your kit.
The difference between Knowledge and Wisdom is… Knowledge is the knowing of facts…. Wisdom is the sensible application of good quality knowledge…
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I store mine in the cases that they came in. I have Trams, Sanken COS-11, and Audio Technica BP-896 (Countryman B6-like lavs). They call came with little cases, and I use them all. I wrap the lav cable up the same way every time I use them. I basically wrap them the same way they were when they were new.
I take care of them because they were expensive little bastards.
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