Assume you need 4 wires to power your connection. Running each wire individually would be the old fashioned way but now manufacturers surround all 4 wires with a PVC or Rubber jacket for protection and ease of installation.
PVC Jacket
A PVC jacket is cheaper than rubber because it doesn’t offer the same amount of environmental or impact resistance that the inner wires may need. Romex, for instance, is an indoor cable but having an electric cable with all the wires is much easier than running them individually. So is there a point to having an expensive rubber jacket on it? Definitely not.
Some PVC insulations and jackets such as MC cable can resist water, moisture, solvents, gas and oil but have very little impact resistance.
Rubber EPDM Jacket
You can find a rubber EPDM jacket on SOOW, extension cords and industrial power cable because these cables require more handling and outdoor use. These power cables resist water, moisture, gas, solvents and oil while maintaining plenty of protection to the inner wires.
Job sites with power tools will need to use SOOW cable and industrial job sites with use Type W and Type G-GC cables. Cables such as these are dragged across dirt, rocks, cement and much worse while also getting run over by trucks and stepped on each and every day. So an advertisement for power cables like this would probably look something like the “Ford Tough” commercials.
