A fiber optic cable including at least one optical fiber and at least one dry insert disposed within a cavity of a cable jacket and methods for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The dry insert has a first thickness and a second thickness located at different longitudinal locations along the dry insert, where the first thickness is greater than the second thickness. The region of the cable having the first thickness of the dry insert provides and/or increases the coupling level of the at least one optical fiber to the cable jacket. In further embodiments, the optical fiber(s) have a predetermined level of coupling to the cable jacket that is about 0.1625 Newtons or more per optical fiber for a thirty meter length of fiber optic cable.