Anysize elastic band made from inner tube

[Brucey]

I cut elastic bands from old inner tubes; they are handy for keeping bundles of spokes together and so forth. But there are only so many uses for inner-tube sized elastic bands, right?

Ah, but you can cut much larger ones too, like this;

an inner tube that lies flat is easiest to cut

and obviously I must be lacking in imagination or something, because I have secured more spokes together, in boxes this time.

FWIW a straight but angled cut tends to make a band that splits more easily than one made in a lazy-S shape.

cheers

[simonineaston]

Cool! As it happens Mr Postie is so generous with his discarded elastic bands in my apartment block, that I may not need this tip.

[pedals2slowly]

Alternatively cut your polymer bands from different size tubes, 20, 25, 32, 40, 50 mm and then old motorcycle or car tubes if you want bigger ones
I find the post office bands degrade over a few years and just fall apart, cycle tyres don't seem to do that.
I too found that cutting longer bands by going diagonal seems to increase the likelihood of failure if you stretch them too much.

Other uses - stop the thermos rattling in the bottle cage, hold the rain jacket together when you've lost the pac-it bag, hold the course details on your aero-bars for long TT's, cover the gap on your smart light when you lose the original rubber seal, cover the annoying upward light beam from an Ever-ready front light (must admit I haven't done that for a few years), string them looped together similar to a chain as a substitute for a bungee, tent guy etc.

[Sweep]

thanks for this brucey - always looking for stuff to do with beyond-repair tubes - always been loath to chuck them.

[Jdsk]

Also useful for maths and magic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Möbius_strip

Jonathan

[fausto99]

Here's my use for old inner tubes. My other hobby is luthiery. No fancy cutting necessary in this case.

[backnotes]

Thank you!

I was hunting around the house yesterday for some robust but short elastic bands to roll up the straps on the Karrimor panniers I have handed down to my daughter, and stop them from trailing and snagging in the wheel when the panniers are not loaded. Problem now solved with spares in the rear pocket as well.

[mjr]

If you try to stretch them much, they split at the seams.

[backnotes]

If you try to stretch them much, they split at the seams.

The answer to that is not to over-fill the panniers so they don't split at the seams

Sorry - you meant the inner tubes - that's the clever bit - this way you can get them just the right length for the specific application so they don't stretch too much.

I'll be happy until they split and the rear wheel jams.....

[AndyK]

Good tip. I've tried the straight angled cut and found that they didn't last long. This looks worth a go.

Are we not calling them snoopy loops any more, though?

[Brucey]

If you try to stretch them much, they split at the seams.

The answer to that is not to over-fill the panniers so they don't split at the seams

Sorry - you meant the inner tubes - that's the clever bit - this way you can get them just the right length for the specific application so they don't stretch too much.

I'll be happy until they split and the rear wheel jams.....

anytime you have a safety critical application, it surely makes most sense to 'double up' on elastic bands etc; that way one can fail and it won't be a problem.

cheers

[Audax67]

Also useful for maths and magic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Möbius_strip

Jonathan

I once had a rim like that. A pothole was involved. So was road rash.

[Cyril Haearn]

If you try to stretch them much, they split at the seams.

The answer to that is not to over-fill the panniers so they don't split at the seams

Sorry - you meant the inner tubes - that's the clever bit - this way you can get them just the right length for the specific application so they don't stretch too much.

I'll be happy until they split and the rear wheel jams.....

anytime you have a safety critical application, it surely makes most sense to 'double up' on elastic bands etc; that way one can fail and it won't be a problem.

cheers

Two similar bands might fail at the same time. Not sure inner-tube rubber is suitable to hold things together

[Brucey]

Two similar bands might fail at the same time. Not sure inner-tube rubber is suitable to hold things together

it is suitable for holding all the air in tyres for years on end; you can't get much more safety critical than that....?

IME inner tube elastic bands are less stretchy but also less likely to fail than standard elastic bands etc whenever weather is involved.

cheers

[DevonDamo]

In the world of diving, rubber bands made from inner tubes are known as 'snoopy loops' and have an avid following, including myself. The reason we love them is (apart from being able to use Brucey's trick to cut them to any size) they're also incredibly robust. I've got them holding various bits onto me or my dive rig which have been getting battered about for over a decade without any signs of giving up. I've heard reports of them breaking, but I'm assuming that's a cheapo tube being used, as I've never had any problems.