How are you organizing your spare cable drawer?
How are you organizing your spare cable drawer?
Currently they're in types in ziploc baggies but there must be a better way
the baggies:
- USB A > USB C
- USB C <> USB C
- USB A > USB B Micro
- Ethernet
- HDMI to different sized HDMI
- HDMI to USB B
- HDMI to other USB
- HDMI to HDMI
- USB female to male and extenders
- Dongles, converters, and USB hubs
- VGA
- USB A to lightning bolt
- A few old ipod charging cables
Not pictured: separate drawer for guitar cables, XLR, headphones jack to jack and adapters, phono and midi; separate duffel bag for long power cables; separate baggie in another drawer for international adapters and plugs
Toiletpaper-rolls works 👍
This is very clever.
What did you do with all that toilet paper, though?
Shit on it
That's a great hack. Reduces the cleanup of having them zip tied together too. Grab and go
That's a great idea, plus you can label them on the outside of the roll!
I mostly use assorted small cardboard boxes – usually from computer peripherals.
Why you need so many though?
It just feels wrong to throw away cables...
You'll make the bidet people cry
I don't go through toilet paper quick enough for this to be viable, I'm not waiting years to have a pile of them
If Lemmy gave awards I'd give you one. I'm glad it doesn't though.
I joined the conversation only to post this question. To it, you beat me
I may be dull, but I'm certainly not organized or motivated!
You guys have drawers??
Hehe
I just noticed the empty drawer just below the pile.
Hm.
The plastic box?
Sweet harmonica.
Shit, THAT'S where that thing has been.
Thanks :)
Things like this make me think of the only good advice from Jordan Peterson.
What's that?
How are you organizing your spare cable drawer?
Should I be?
Buy a refrigerator box, write "CABLES" on every side and put all cables in the box
Sorted
Throw them in and let them become one.
Like a techno rat king!
And somehow never have the one you need.
No drawers in the server closet, so 3D printer to the rescue:
Just wanna say, this is gorgous
Thank you! It was a fair amount of work, so that's nice to hear.
mind sharing those .STLs?
Sure! Here are the cable organizers and "magazine".
The magazine is for a gridfinity setup but I modified it to work with my printed Skadis panels, which are in turn a heavily modified version of this openscad model with a custom "wedge" mount to lock the panel tighter onto the wedges as more weight is added. My customizations aren't shared anywhere, but if you're interested, I'll put them up on printables.
For those that haven't yet discovered them, reusable cable ties exist. They make keeping cables properly coiled a lot easier. No more rat kings!
If you have Ethernet cables that are old or have damaged ends in your pile just sacrifice them to make your own cable ties. Cut it into pieces as long as you need to wrap your other cables and in each section you cut you get four twist ties.
Cheap, readily at hand, and if the cables were bad you can call it recycling.
You can also just buy an entire reel of velcro tape and cut pieces as needed.
Wait, you're supposed to organize your spare cables??
Are you kidding me? I have 21 drawers of cables and bs.
(Not all of these are filled / bottom right are empty)
I was about to ask if you could show off some of your assorted cables, then I couldn't stop thinking of Professor Farnsworth
Prof. Farnsworth: Let me show you around. That’s my lab table and this is my work-stool. And over there is my intergalactic spaceship! And here’s where I keep assorted lengths of wire.
Fry: Whoa! A real live spaceship!
Prof. Farnsworth: I designed it myself. Let me show you some of the different lengths of wire I used.
Michael's store sells thee 16 5x7 photo organizers in a carry case.
It's called Simply Tidy: Photo and Craft Keeper. Also fits 3.5 inch HDDs.
There is no better way. Any more structure, like hooks or dividers, reduces the usable storage space.
Label your ziplocs and call it a day.
Mine are just chucked in with no organisation whatsoever. If I want a cable I have to search the entire box and untangle it from all the other cables.
Or buy one then realise you already have several in that tangled mess.
Usually it's, "I'm sure I've got one of these", can't find it, buy new one, find it somewhere else whilst waiting for the new one to turn up.
Organize?
Shockingly similar. Ziplocs with labels.
my bags are transparent so i didnt label them.
Ponytail hair rubber bands. soft on the cables, reusable, cheap...
Organize?
Rubber band everything and throw them in a series of different drawers of varying sizes with a vague organizational scheme
I prefer a more stochastic approach.
I have all the "USB-A to ?" cables rubber banded together at the opposite end. That way I can find the non USBA side that I need quickly.
Into nooses.
I used to have a big plastic tub that I just tossed all the cables into. After a few years, it was literally all one piece; no matter where you pulled, the entire thing would come out. It took 5 minutes of untangling to get anything out. My brother called it an abomination.
I bag each type separately, as you do. I have fewer audio cables, so they are also bagged in the same bin, quarter and eighth inch phone cables separately. No Apple stuff. Extras like DE9 serial and MIDI cables. IEC power cables are in the bin, extension cords coiled, hanging from the basement ceiling.
Like that photo.
I use a combination of zip lock bags and small cardboard boxes with the contents written on the outside.
I only keep one spare of each type.
I use cable ties to keep them coiled
Then how do you keep your spare spare cable drawer sorted?
There's not really enough to sort. I just put them in a box.
I don't, they're everywhere
It's the one with the spare cables in it is how it's organized. I think there's an old clock, an airbrush and a couple long expired sectional charts in there.
Mine is a cable storage tub, but same way. Baggies.
I just get a big ziplock and stuff cables in it till its full and get a new one.
I just go through looking for a cable by going "hmm would this be a 2015-2020 cable or a 2010-2015 cable?"
My system is undoubtedly flawed, but it works well enough to not fix it.Three drawers, divided into USB, A/V, and power supply/adaptors.
Clear plastic bins full of toilet paper rolls with the cables folded and inserted so that both ends stick out upwards. Keeps everything tidy and visible at a glance.
I have a few small totes. I have a few categories: USB, networking, computer internals (SATA), power, A/V. From there, I just coil them up and hope for the best. I still have to hunt a little to find stuff, but the vague categories makes it a lot easier.
I have a 5 gallon bucket 3/4 full with just USB cables of all types.
went to a shoe shop and asked them for old shoe boxes. now i have free cardboard boxes, all the same size and easy stackable.
Nice! So far I have a box of bags, vaguely sorted by function