Tabs for code books...

[ultramegabob]

I have never had tabs on my books and Im thinking about buying some, I have seen some on ebay for sale, some look like they are just yellow with printing on them, some have differnt colored tabs. Does anyone on here have tabs on thier book? are they worth the 15 or 20 bucks?

 

[480sparky]

The only time I felt them truly useful is for taking a test, and time is of the essence. You can either find the exact page you need (T310.16, or a certain article) or get close enough you aren't flipping through 100 pages to find the article you are looking for

For everyday work, they're kind of a pain. But that's just me.

 

[infinity]

I've had them on my last 3 codebooks and would be lost without them. They really increase your speed when you're trying to look something up. If you do purchase them I would go with the flexible yellow ones that are printed on both sides of the tab. For the 2008 I bought the NFPA rigid plastic tabs and they're only printed on one side. This forces you to close the book every time you want to look at a previous article. For what it's worth the rigid clear tabs are easier to install on the pages.

 

[ultramegabob]

If you do purchase them I would go with the flexible yellow ones that are printed on both sides.

I will have to check if the ebay ones are printed on both sides, if not, where did you get yours?

 

[infinity]

I will have to check if the ebay ones are printed on both sides, if not, where did you get yours?

It was a few years ago but I believe that they came from Mike.

http://www.mikeholt.com/productitem.php?id=732&year=2008&from=Products&title=NEC&searchtext=&product_type=Other&category_from=Other

 

[ultramegabob]

thanks, the shipping is free also, makes it cheaper than ebay:grin:

 

[chris kennedy]

It was a few years ago but I believe that they came from Mike.

http://www.mikeholt.com/productitem.php?id=732&year=2008&from=Products&title=NEC&searchtext=&product_type=Other&category_from=Other

I highly recommend these. Cheaper than NFPA, printed on both sides and at your door in 3-4 days.

 

[GilbeSpark]

I picked up 2 sets from Mikeholt.com and I HIGHLY recommend them. You can flip through a codebook a lot faster than without them. You can see the area you need to be in instead of cracking open the book looking for random pages.

 

[iwire]

This is the first year I have bought the tabs.

I may cut them off, I find them of little use.

 

[roger3829]

This is the first year I have bought the tabs.

I may cut them off, I find them of little use.

I teach in a high school and half the students buy them. Don't know if it helps. They do have a tendency to rip off and tear the book if you are not extremley careful. I have never used them myself.

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

I have been teaching for years. Prior to the 2005 NEC, tabs were of some help.
One thing to remember is that most people who have tabs wind up not using them. They either go to the index or use some other method of finding the location they need.

Since the 2005 NEC, tabs are pretty much useless. The top right hand corner of the page has a section number printed on the page. That does help for the guys who are more familar with the NEC.


If you are going to put tabs on the book, my suggestion is to put them on the top portion of the page, not the side of the book where most people install them.
On the side makes it harder to turn the page.

I have about 10 tabs on the top of my book that I made myself, those are the 10 most used pages based on my classes.

 

[DanZ]

If you do get them, make sure you get the ones that go to the code you are using. I'm not sure how different they would be, but I know they changed from code release to code release.

I've found putting them on the sections you use the most comes in handy when you can't remember the section number.

 

[rexowner]

It depends.

On my first codebook, they were more of a memory aid,
e.g. to remember 440 is A/C & refrig, 690 is solar, etc.
I thought they were the greatest thing since sliced bread,
and they helped me learn the #'s. I would recommend
them highly to somebody new.

If you are already familiar with the numbering system,
I don't think it helps much to have a finger-aid to finding
the page, and they are probably pretty useless, esp.
as has been pointed out the #'s are in the upper right.

 

[JohnJ0906]

I started using them with the '05, and also got them for my '08. I like them.

I borrowed a friend's '99 NEC that had tabs to take the master's exam, and it helped speed wise. I would definitely recommend them for tests. Everyday use? I like them, but I know most won't.

 

[iwire]

The top right hand corner of the page has a section number printed on the page.

That is what I use.

 

[infinity]

Since I usually use the Handbook the tabs are great. At 1300 pages it really helps to find something quickly. Need to look up and ampacity, in one second 310.16 is open. Works well for me.

 

[frizbeedog]

I don't use the tabs. Gets to be that there are too many to be useful. Like highlighting. Pretty soon the whole book is highlighted and you can't see what you highlighted for all the highlights or why you did it in the first place. I've seen code books with so much highlighting it was like a rainbow of colors. I'm sure they understand thier own color matrix, but for me it just gets in the way.

 

[quogueelectric]

I am tabbed to the gills I like it but I still have years of classes to go to and they come in handy for me. The tabs I have have about 100 tabs per code book TAB CENTRAL.

 

[tom baker]

Tips
1. Tabbing your book helps
2. Take your code book to Kinkos and have it spiral bound. They cut the binding off -punch and insert a spiral. can open and it will lay flat.
3. I use mostly the electronic version of the NEC to find things. It can be installed on two computers, the 2005 couldn't be installed at all, had to left in the drive.

 

[iwire]

Tips
1. Tabbing your book helps

Isn't that an opinion and not a fact?

I have tabs, they do not help me.

2. Take your code book to Kinkos and have it spiral bound. They cut the binding off -punch and insert a spiral. can open and it will lay flat.

Now that is an interesting idea, thanks. :smile: