Klein Tools has come out with a new fish and glow rod assortment kit, complete with 8 variable length fish and glow rods, 7 rod attachments, and a carrying bag to keep it all in.
They say that the new Splinter Guard fish and glow rid kit, model 56400, is aimed at providing electricians with an all-in-one solution for their next wire or cable pulling job.
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The rods have durable stainless steel connectors, with all 8 combining to provide up to 33 feet of total rod length. They’re covered with a Splinter Guard coating, to help prevent fiberglass from splintering.
What You Get
Rods
- 2x 48″ long, 1/4″ diameter Low-Flex Fish rods
- 2x 18″ long, 3/16″ diameter Mid-Flex Glow rods
- 2x 60″ long, 3/16″ diameter Mid-Flex Glow rods
- 2x 72″ long, 5/32″ diameter Hi-Flex Glow rods
The glow rods feature glow in the dark illumination, after being charged up in “everyday ambient light.”
Attachments
- Whisk
- Double-S hook – features an patent-pending design to secure wires
- Magnet
- Chain
- Bullet nose
- Single hook
- Twin hook
Klein says that the carrying bag is adjustable, to accommodate 4-foot, 5-foot, and 6-foot rods. Two exterior zippered pockets can fit shorter rods (18″, not included), leaders, and attachments.
Made in the USA.
Price: $131
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Buy Now(via Home Depot)
Buy Now(via Amazon)
If you’re already set with your fish rods, Klein’s Klein 7-piece fish rod attachment set, 56511, is also available separately, as is the carrying bag, 56401. Replacement parts are also available.
See Also(7pc Accessory Set via Amazon)
See Also(Carrying Bag via Amazon)
First Thoughts
I lack the wire and cable-pulling experience to tell you whether everything in this kit is a must-have, but the attachments seem to make sense to me, and it also seems convenient for Klein to include the different fish rod length and style options.
This seems like the kind of set that an apprentice might especially benefit from, or a pro electrician that’s tired of having to go back and forth to their van or tool bag if their application needs change.
Or not? For those of you that pull wires and cables on a regular basis, what do you think of this assortment? Would you add any components to the kit, or take some away?
Here’s their promo video:
fred
Klein also sells a lighted tip for fish rods:
https://www.amazon.com/Pulling-Illuminated-Klein-Tools-56119/dp/B00ABSYVUQ/
and a smaller set of fish rod end pieces
https://www.amazon.com/Attachment-3-Piece-Klein-Tools-56104/dp/B002PG282U/
Hilton
My question is whether or not this would be suitable for pulling CAT5/6 UTP cable please?
Nick
We use fish sticks at the time just like this to pull CAT 5/6 cabling. It works fantastically. This set would be awesome.
Hilton
Thanks Nick.
Ben
When I moved from the UK and brought a US house the Klein fish rods was one of my first purchases. They are incredibly useful!
I also have one of their 3-foot drill bits, it’s a beast to use!
fred
BTW – aside from tools by Greenlee and Klein – our Electric subcontractor seems to carry some tools from Rack-A-Tiers:
https://www.rack-a-tiers.com/product-category/new-products/
fred
While on the topic of things to add on your fish rods:
The Cable Ferret inspection camera (made in New Zealand) – and distributed by Rack-A-Tiers looks pricey – but interesting:
https://www.techtoolsupply.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CFI-CFWF50A
Nick Marques
I’ve looked at that before, but it seems pricey for something that could gear lost or broken in a wall or something.
I’m going to be trying out a $30 endoscope camera from Amazon…
Michael Quinlan
I’ve been installing “low voltage” calling for years. I have one set of sticks I primarily use, with 2 degrees of flexibility. All individual sticks are 5′ long, giving me 15′ of highly flexible length, and 25′ of low-flex length. I have yet to see circumstances where I’d want to use mixed flexibility, do I think their overall length claims are misleading.
I find 6′ long sticks too long for convenient use in a drop ceiling.
I also don’t see a use for the dual hook, or dual s-hook, but that might just be me.
Tyler
I can see the dual s-hook being useful in a situation where you might want to snag a line from a distance away. I can see it being useful for working around ducts and lighting in a suspended ceiling without having to pop so many tiles.
Corey
I was eyeing that double s, too and best I can presume is that it might be a retriever of sorts that will spread when pushed over a wire to grab it from a ways. Who knows. I haven’t touched my glow rods since moving into industrial electrical, but in my 7 previous years of voice/data, fire, and security I never needed more than a fistful of 4″ rods with a bullet and a hook. Longer sections than that defeats the ability to assemble them in the ceiling.
Corey
4′ rods* lol
Curtis
Six foot lengths are pretty good for fishing wires up from the crawl space though.
Jason L.
We run low voltage cabling in schools. The high flex rods are great when turning corners, going through holes, and tight spaces. They don’t work as well when going down a long hall with drop ceilings though. They droop too much to use the full length. Having the combo of low and high flex should be a good setup. You can switch out the rods without having to untape the cables.
Mike
If you’re a retired guy like me and only run wires occasionally, HF has a couple of much cheaper non-glowing flippin’ stick sets.
Bruce
I have a set of greenline rods. When you need them, they are a great fast way to move a lot of cable, when you don’t need them they are a pain to transport to the job site. I like the look of this bag. I wonder if they use the same threaded attachment, I could see adding this to the set just to gain a little extra length.