6381Y - why to buy by the metre ? And what size to use

[SimonH2]

Getting to the point of needing to gather matierals together, but am hitting a wall trying to find 6381Y (as per this thread).
Of my local wholesalers, both can get it if I wanted 100m (or possibly 50m) - but neither can do short lengths, and one at least (didn't get that far with the other) can't do brown and blue. Neddless to say, at one of them I got the inevitable question of "what's wrong with 6181Y ?" Similarly, the very small number of online vendors I've found so far only seem to do grey and blue.

Anyone know where I can buy brown & blue (and G/Y) by the metre ?

I did find this interesting thread while I was looking which also casts a bit of a cat in the pigeons regarding what size is needed

Ah carp, can't edit the subject when you spot the error

 

[OwainDIYer]

Blue, grey and green/yellow
https://www.comtecdirect.co.uk/category/power-cables-6381y

 

[SimonH2]

Hmm, now I take another look, I think I may see why no-one stocks brown ...
According to the specification sheet available from http://www.elandcables.com/cables/6381y-bs6004-flexible-pvc-cable the options are :
Sheath Colour (Insulation Colour)
Blue (Blue) Grey (Grey) Green/Yellow (Green/Yellow)
Special colours to order
So I guess that because hardly any wholesalers stock it, few sparkies will be using it, so there's no demand for it, and so the wholesalers don't stock it* - and so the main use will be telecoms where they don't use brown Guess I'll have to use grey then, but it's always going to niggle the OCD in me.

Thing is, it doesn't seem any more expensive than 6181Y, has a smaller minimum bend radius, has to be a lot easier to work with, so is there any good reason to NOT use it ?

* Reminds me of when I first got introduced to wire basket. The local wholesalers didn't stock it because no-one asked for it, and apart from I guess a lot of people never having heard of it, if it's not in stock to take away, it's not going to get used much.