Anyone have a fishtape recommendation?

[BigE]

Under the catagory of "buy once, buy right", I'm looking for a good fishtape to use around the house/garage. I don't anticipate heavy use, but I'd like to buy one now and keep it indefinitely. I'm not looking for a throwaway piece after a few years. My number one requirement on the features list is ease of use. I think 25' would do everything I want, but a 50' would keep me from coming up short. However, a 50' would be bigger, heavier and more cumbersome to use. So what say the electricians of GJ?

 

[SCscoutguy]

I have two GreenLee brand fish tapes and have used them for probably 5+ years and they are both still going strong. I have to say though I do own a small Harbor Freight fish tape that I use from time to time and it has actually worked well.

 

[Zrexxer]

I have a 50 ft Klein that's done everything I've asked of it.

 

[fatboy621]

I have an Ideal at home that get very light use and have been very happy with. At work we have GreenLee. These are used alot and abused, still working. Either would be more than you could wear out it the garageor just around the house.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I have a 25 ft GB and a 50 ft Greenlee, both work well, but the Greenlee is better. Heavy is not really an issue with something like this, unless you get really long, I would buy a 50 ft Klein or Greenlee and be done with it.

Charles

 

[Gary S]

If you are a professional electrician, get the Greenlee like everybody mentioned. We had them on all my jobs during my entire career.
If you are a homeowner and expect it to do only occasional duty, any cheap one should work. I have a cheap Harbor Freight tape here at home and it serves my light duty needs.

Buy the tool that fits your needs.

 

[Executive]

Fish tapes are disposable tools. If you do any remodeling or "old work" they end up being cut to specific lengths, twisted, and bent. Buy two 50' Greenlee tapes, not for the name but for the quality of the spring steel used. One can be kept at 50' for longer pulls or conduit work. The other can be cut to useful lengths, "catchers", and general utility work. Oh, don't bother with the self storing cases. They just make using the tape more difficult and hold moisture inside. Store your snake in a 2-3' loop with electrical tape holding the loop together. Wipe it down with a WD-40 soaked rag to keep it clean and rust free.

Finally: ALWAYS WEAR EYE PROTECTION WHEN USING A FISH TAPE!

Chris

 

[wellpoison]

my vote is for klein or greenlee.

 

[gatchel]

I decided to ditch the ones that break and can't be replaced for a Kolbalt piece. Lowes is 5 minutes away. When it broke 2 years later, I stopped by the store and they gave me a new one. If you are going to have to decide between **** or crappy, you might as well get it replaced for free.

Never used Klein or greenlee tapes but their other tools are quality. I didn't realize they made tapes too.

 

[Gregishome]

+ 1 on the safety glasses. Might want to wear a crotch cup too !

 

[jrsulo]

I mostly use my fiberglass glow rods,have them in 5',3'and 18"....have not used a fish tape in years !

 

[hammlm]

I have greenlee and use it occasionally. I have had it for years, and have cut some off on occasion. When i worked as a sparky we had eclusively ideal fishtapes. We had both steel and the fiberglass tapes. I liked the fiberglass, but they did tend to break when used carelessly. Do they still make fiberglass fish tapes?

Oh, and i too use the glow-rods or push-pull rods whenever i can now (ie: when I am not pulling wire through pipe).

 

[Aceman]

Greenlee stainless steel with the flexible leader.

I normally wouldn't mention this to a diy'er but if you truly want buy once, buy right, then you can't beat it. I have three regular Greenlee fishtapes and one stainless one I baby. When the regular ones can't get through, the stainless one comes out.

Of course the one I have is around 200', don't know if they make shorter versions of the same.

 

[jeffmoss26]

I have an Ideal 120' that I like a lot. I've also got a flat Greenlee one but never use it anymore. Doing voice and data cabling, I use glow rods more than anything else.

 

[bibman]

I mostly use my fiberglass glow rods,have them in 5',3'and 18"....have not used a fish tape in years !

x2 ...these are great...

 

[awdblazer]

we have greenlees at work
all fiberglass cause most of the time we are working in hot panels

 

[IHI]

We have various assortments of cheapies 25-50', probably 6 total, and I bought a 250' from home cheapo...cannot remember the name. As mentioned, all the sparkies I've subbed out over the years never had a fishtape on a reel like ecause as DIY's have...because as mentioned they always get cut,bent,twisted to the situation.

We never used them in a daily circumstance like sparkey's do, but unless I physically cut it myself, all the el-cheapo's pulled everything we ever needed pulled. Funny fact: Wifes friend asked if they could borrow my sewer snake, told wife over the phone where it was at in the shed. Few days later I come home to find one of my 50' standard fishtapes sitting on my backsteps and a peice of clothes hanger pushed through the hole on the end of the tape, bent around to look like a barbed wire tang??

Wife tells me the next day that the friends told her the sewer snake did'nt work.....two and two came together and I got a good laugh and shook my head then told her what she had given them and why it did'nt work LOL. Then ended up having root galore that had to be chopped out between the house and street, so the sewer snake would'nt have helped anyhow.

 

[BigE]

Dropped by my father's house on the way home from work. He had a couple of tapes. I borrowed a Greenlee 200 footer. I'll run the cable I need with it and if I like it, I'll buy the same model. Thanks for the help!

 

[RivennHewn]

Fish tapes are disposable tools.
Chris

Use 'em, abuse 'em, throw them away

 

[ddawg16]

Fiberglass....

The steel ones tend to only want to bend one way or the other....fiberglass is less likely to get hung up...and less likely to nick wires.....and you can use it on hot conduits...

For home....I have a bunch of polyflow (1/4" plastic tubing)....I actually like it better than a fish tape....it just doesn't come with a handy case.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Fish tapes are disposable tools. If you do any remodeling or "old work" they end up being cut to specific lengths, twisted, and bent. Buy two 50' Greenlee tapes, not for the name but for the quality of the spring steel used. One can be kept at 50' for longer pulls or conduit work. The other can be cut to useful lengths, "catchers", and general utility work. Oh, don't bother with the self storing cases. They just make using the tape more difficult and hold moisture inside. Store your snake in a 2-3' loop with electrical tape holding the loop together. Wipe it down with a WD-40 soaked rag to keep it clean and rust free.

Finally: ALWAYS WEAR EYE PROTECTION WHEN USING A FISH TAPE!

Chris

Not sure what you are talking about here. The OP is pulling through EMT. Would not matter if its old work or new, its EMT.

As far as storing the tape, taking it completely out of the plastic case would be akin to removing the starter spring from a Briggs and Stratton pull start on a lawn mower. If you've ever done that, you know what a disaster that is. Keep it in the case, that is what they are made for. They pull out of the case and wind back up in the case, quite easily.

Charles

 

[hh76]

I've always had Ideal tapes, but think that any of the major manufacturers would probably be similar.

for general use, get a 100' steel tape. You'll find yourself cutting off the end, or short sections every once in a while. The short sections are nice to fish down wall cavities, or to use to fish for the end of the tape when it's stuck in a pipe.

 

[kbs2244]

I don’t know who made it, but I burrowed one called a “GoldFish” on one job.
I would buy one on sight.

 

[PRH44]

The goldfish is a great little double ended braided tape. Flexible yet stiff in small conduits around 1" and smaller . I had two at 25' and 50' used it for short box to box pulls. You could pull and feed at the same time. Money maker when working on hotels and tenant finishes. At least in the day when conduit was the prevalent wiring method.
Doesn't totally replace a long steel tape, a great accessory though.
http://www.thefind.com/pets/info-goldfish-tape

 

[EOC_Jason]

Got a 200' Greenlee that's been used for years and never failed.

Picked up a 75' Ideal at a pawn shop last year for less than $20... It's worked great and is easier to manage than the larger 200' spool when you are doing shorter runs.

Been pulling a lot of wire lately, everything from three ought down... These have both taken a lot of abuse and worked like champs.