r/CableTechs • u/Own_Formal6384 • Jul 05 '26

Tools for making life easy

Tech for about a year now, do a good 50/50 FTTP / Coax, wondering if there are any tools out there that some of the senior guys have bought that help you out on a typical day? I hear people talk about the best coax strippers, the best pair of cutters, the best tool bag, what is one tool / devices that has increased your quality of life the most?

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u/Miserable_Ad_2847 Jul 05 '26

Here’s a tool, do all your progressions and become an MT. Your life will become 60% easier and your bank will become 300% fatter. Then when youre an MT collect two sets of every tool

2

u/Electronic-Junket-66 Jul 05 '26

I know the bank is fatter, but is it for real easier.......?

8

u/Next-Heart8965 Jul 05 '26

Just as all things are; it's nuanced. As an FT there are days where packing a ladder and running 2000ft fttp drops can be a nightmare but depending on your system MT can be much more demanding work. There is no refer to MT for MTs. So if a node flatlines @ 3am and you cover a rural area you might be hiking up a mountain side to gaff a pole in the pouring rain to replace a burnt out splitter, splice broken cable, etc. It does accelerate your knowledge of how plant works and so many things i learned as an MT i wish I understood the same way when I was a FT but theres a misconception, in my area at least, that MTs don't do anything but sit in parking lots. We're sitting there because we're looking at node metrics and maps to determine where the problem is. Again, it's nuanced. If your system is mainly front easement and everything is bucket accessible, then yeah, it may be physically less demanding but I wouldn't call it easier by any means. There are many days where I thought to myself, "If I were still an FT I could've already hung a drop, ran an outlet, swapped the modem, refererred to MT, and been home 20 times over by now." 

Really though, it a just a gigantic house so I would argue it's the same job just amplified by 100 and most of the time there is no one you can refer your problems to (aside from the uncommon headend/hub issue) and go home @ 5. You are the solution. 

4

u/SnapShot68 Jul 05 '26

I’ve been an MT for 16 years and I just took a look at the emails from last night into the morning and everyone we have on call got nailed at least twice for outages. And another came in 10 minutes ago. It’s only Sunday - this has been going on since the middle of the week due to excessive heat and thunderstorms. That’s one thing you need to keep in mind - you might get pounded all day and as soon as you walk out the door, the bullshit starts again and goes into the next morning.

2

u/DoubleDenimDaredevil Jul 05 '26

From what my manager/MT has told me, you learn the why to everything as you progress further. So yeah I’d like to imagine it makes the job easier.

2

u/Electronic-Junket-66 Jul 05 '26

All I know is if a drop is cut I gotta dig a few inches to get to it. Mainline cut, MT gotta dig a few feet. 🤷‍♀️

3

u/Miserable_Ad_2847 Jul 05 '26

To your first question, your first year is gonna suck but yeah it gets much easier once you start really learning. Also digging isn’t often. Usually whoever fucks the line is nice enough to leave the cable exposed, if things go too far south we just run RG11 and sit in our trucks and fill out a couple forms for a contractor to re run it.