Central Loose Tube Slitter K-SLT

• Four grooves, every standard tube: 1.5–1.9, 2.0–2.4, 2.5–2.9 and 3.0–3.3 mm — the size chart is moulded into the top shell, so the right groove is picked at a glance and the range is never in doubt in the field
• The groove is the gauge: each groove holds its tube size at a fixed depth, so the alloy blade scores the tube wall and stops there — the fibers inside are never reached by an edge, and there is nothing to adjust or set wrong
• Clamps on anywhere along the run: the two shells close over the tube mid-span as easily as at the end, opening a window to branch one tube while the rest of the cable stays closed — the job this tool exists for in outdoor cutover and FTTx maintenance
• Pocket size at 50 mm and 30 g: it rides in a shirt pocket or the smallest pouch of the tool kit and is on the tube in seconds — squeeze shut, draw along, done
• Moulded finger scallops on both shells keep the grip sure with gloves on, and the latch button holds the shells closed around the tube while you pull
• Supplied neutral and unbranded as standard; private labeling is made to your requirements — labels with your logo, part numbers and barcodes on the inner boxes and outer cartons, so the goods arrive ready for your warehouse

A loose tube is a thin plastic pipe, and inside it the fibers float loose in gel — that freedom is what protects them, and it is also what makes the tube awkward to open. Cut too shallow and the wall will not part; cut too deep and the blade reaches the fibers, and a nicked fiber is a future break. The K-SLT removes the judgement call: the tube's own diameter sets the cutting depth, because the groove it sits in is sized for exactly that range.

Pick the groove whose range brackets your tube — the chart moulded into the top shell lists all four — and lay the tube in it. Close the two shells and latch them: the groove now holds the tube centred under the alloy blade, which protrudes into the wall by a fixed, factory-set amount. Draw the tool along the tube in one steady motion and the blade scores the wall along its full length. The tube then peels apart along the score line and the fibers can be lifted out with a fingertip, dry and unmarked.

At a cable end the slitter is simply the fastest way into the tube before the fibers go to the tray. Mid-span is where it earns its place: clamp it over a tube anywhere along a live run, open a window long enough to work in, cut and splice the fibers you need, and let the express fibers pass through the opened tube untouched — the standard move in outdoor cutover and branch work.

Match the groove to the tube every time: a tube forced into the next groove down is held too tight and the blade reaches too far. Keep the grooves brushed clean of gel and wall shavings so the tube seats fully, and wipe the blade after gel-filled tubes. The blade is a fixed part of the shell — when it finally dulls, the tool is replaced, which is why the pattern is built light and inexpensive. Store it latched shut so the groove edges stay protected.

• One K-SLT central loose tube slitter