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zip tie construction toy

 Use cable ties to fasten struts.
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Zip ties (or "cable ties" -- those bits of plastic with ratchet-action holes at one end) are the best thing ever. They're everything duct tape is supposed to be but isn't.

There should be a construction toy (like LEGO, Construx, Erector, etc.) that uses zip ties to hold things together. The zip ties would come in refill packs; the toy itself would just have various blocks and struts and gears and whatnot that happen to have grooves and slots of just the right size for you to use zip ties to bind them together.

For experimentation, you could use the (somewhat more expensive) reversible zip ties that have a "release". Unlike other construction toys, you could easily go into "production mode" by using one-way zip ties and clipping the dangly ends for neatness. Since the pieces themselves would be terribly simple, you could just go get more rather than having to take apart your beautiful construction to build something else.

—egnor, Nov 30 2001

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       Hey! Don't go calling my house a toy!
—hello_c, Nov 30 2001
   

       The toy set would need a tool to properly clip and "blunt" the cut ends of the tie-wraps, as they are notoriously sharp once snipped.

"Egnorector Sets," or "LashUps."
—bristolz, Nov 30 2001
   

       Strangely, I have done this very thing with 15 in square plastic-coated wire mesh sheets and cable ties. They make the best shoe racks ever. We just keep changing the configuration when we move house.   

       I hadn't ever thought of building a car from them, but racing teams the world over use them to hold cars together on race day. They are an instant fix and very tough in the larger sizes.   

       Perhaps riot police could be encouraged to make larger structures of prisoners whom they restrain with zip cuffs?
—UnaBubba, Nov 30 2001
   

       [pun thread deleted]   

       I knew someone who, in high school, was idly playing with a zip-tie. He had it around his finger, and tightened it to the point where it started to turn blue, and couldn't get it off, and halfway through a lecture had to jump up, say "excuse me", run to the front and grab a pair of scissors to cut them off with.
—egnor, Dec 01 2001
   


 

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