Ethernet cable I can use at a gig

[franzbassist]

My new GR Bass Dual head has a footswitch that uses an ethernet cable.  My experience of these cables is they likely aren't very suitable for lying on a stage floor; they're won't lose their coil or lie flat, and will stay a trip hazard as a result.  Anyone know of any ethernet cables that are more like a guitar lead, so suitable for life on the floor of a stage?

 

Or maybe I should invest in something like this instead?

Edited yesterday at 06:44 by franzbassist

[jrixn1]

https://custom-lynx.co.uk/product/tukrj45-cat5e-tukrj45/ ?

[franzbassist]

38 minutes ago, jrixn1 said:

https://custom-lynx.co.uk/product/tukrj45-cat5e-tukrj45/ ?

That looks the biz, thank you!

 

[prowla]

You could search for armoured or military-grade ethernet cable.

[BigRedX]

IME no ethernet cable is as robust as a good quality Jack or XLR lead. I have jack and XLR cables that I made myself in the 90s which have been in use continually for gigs and rehearsals over the past 30 years that are still going strong, whereas the best ethernet cable in a similar environment lasted about 12 months.

 

As you have discovered the typical office ethernet cable is completely unsuited to the rigours of gigging. It's designed to connect a device to a wall-socket in an office and never be touched again until the device is replaced. In the days when I was using a rack mounted BassPod with the Floorboard footswitch unit I was going through a cable every 2-3 weeks. Eventually I bought two very expensive Van Damme coil-able ethernet leads with heavy duty shrouds on the plugs which were supposedly designed for gig use. Each of these lasted about a year at which point they would stop being coil-able and then fail very shortly afterwards. Luckily for me the failure of the second cable coincided with me replacing the BassPod with a Helix Floor. I deliberately chose the floor version of the Helix so I wouldn't have to deal with ethernet cables in a gig situation again.

 

A coil-able cable with heavy duty shrouds would be the minimum spec I would go for and I would always carry a spare. As soon as your lead shows any sign of less than 100% reliability chuck it in the bin and buy a replacement. Be aware that plugs with some of the chunkier shrouds do not always fit snugly in some sockets, but the locking mechanism on un-shrouded plugs will break with moderate use rendering the connection unreliable. If I was using ethernet cables ideally I'd like them to be fitted with EtherCon plugs, but they only work if your equipment is also fitted with the corresponding EtherCon sockets and for some reason very little supposedly gig-worthy equipment with ethernet connections has these.