The cable management thread.

[Knuckledragger]

The WAT? Ya rly. After asking about cable ties in the "Whatchoo bought?" thread, I concluded that this topic needs further discussion in its own, less scrollerrific thread. There's two distinct subjects here:

#1 Keeping cables that are in-use from taking over everything in sight. I'm not so good at this. The back of my headphone/computer rig looks like a Moog modular on steroids, and my HT rig even scares Cthulhu. I'm curious if any H-Cers are successful in keeping the upper hand over their interconnects. Maybe I should call this Post A Picture of [the back of] Your Rig.

#2 Keeping cables that are not currently in use sorted. I wear several hats: computer geek, home audio snob, lighting tech, and occasional sound engineer. Each area has its own requisite pile of cables. I have a lot of cable ties, but still not enough to keep all the copper I have coiled and sorted.

Experience has taught me that the cable ties that don't stay attached are all but useless, especially for field work. The kind I like look like this:

I asked in the bought thread for links to places that sell cable ties in bulk. So far I got this:

Velcro One Wrap, Wire Wrap, Velcro straps, Velcro Tie Wraps

Additionally, I found these:

12 inch Grey Velcro ONE WRAP STRAPS-Roll of 15 $6.59

18 inch Black Velcro ONE WRAP STRAPS-Roll of 12 $8.39

12 Inch Velcro Cable Tie Wraps Comparison Chart - Secure 50 for $27.

This place sells in massive bulk: [url=http://www.design-craft.com/velcroTie.asp]Design Craft | VELCRO

[Salt Peanuts]

Maybe I should call this Post A Picture of [the back of] Your Rig.

Here's a quick pic of mine. Nowhere near as bad as I expected and surprised to find no cat toys.

Edited July 25, 2010 by Salt Peanuts

[Dusty Chalk]

What is this "cable management" of which you speak?

Here's how bad I am -- there is no "back" of my rig, and when I want to listen to anything on the computer, I have to connect the USB cable and the power to the headphone amp, otherwise I keep them disconnected, because they span the doorway.

[HDen]

I should organize my cables too, they're all bundled up behind the desk so I don't have to see the mess

[CarlSeibert]

What is this "cable management" of which you speak?

x2

In one of my brief flirtations with a non-slovenly approach to wires I discovered that it takes miles of cable-wrap stuff to tidy up the birds nest under my desk. I was cheered to find that, for places that don't show, they sell it by the reel at the garden store. It's the stuff that lightweight cable wraps are made of. It's ugly green. Gardeners use it to tie up plants. Otherwise, I use the things that knuckledragger shows, except I like the ones that have somebody's name printed on them 'cause they're free.

Ordinary tie-wraps are a pain because you always have to cut them apart a month after you get everything tidy. They're good at the office, though. We tie-wrap steal-able cables to heavy objects.

[The Monkey]

I like those velcro ties, too, but I wish they were shorter and moar elastickier or rubberier so that they would have a tighter grip.

[Nebby]

For desks, I've found the Ikea Signum cable "rack" to be extremely helpful.

IKEA | Desktop solutions | GALANT system | SIGNUM | Cable management, horizontal

[CarlSeibert]

For big unweildy stuff like strobe cables, I use things like this one

[url=http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Dockmate_Rope_Wrap&i=75861&merchID=1006&r=view]Overton's

[mypasswordis]

How about making friends with the cable guy?

[wgb113]

These guys have some cool ideas and nice designs for such an unexciting topic.

Bluelounge

[The Monkey]

^ I have one of their charging stations. It's surprisingly decent for what it is.

[wgb113]

Cordies anyone?

quirky | Cordies Cable Management

[screaming oranges]

Easy on the wallet solutions:

Cyberguys.com - Search Results for cable organizer

[screaming oranges]

Reks, that thing you posted looks like a turd.

[jjinh]

Easy on the wallet solutions:

Cyberguys.com - Search Results for cable organizer

For an even cheaper solution head off to ebay (or possibly dealextreme).

I was too lazy to snipe properly the week before so I ended up with 10 auctions worth of cable ties. Evidently there are a lot of fluoro pink ones but whatever... it only cost about $5 in total for that whole lot shipped.