Getting Untangled with CableOrganizer

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Kurtis Kronk
Brian
CableOrganizer
Jun. 11, 2007

Specifications

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Getting Untangled

First things first, I needed to clear my whole desk. With papers and miscellaneous devices all over the place, I needed a bit of room to work my magic. While nobody else in the house seemed to appreciate it, I found it helpful to throw all my junk and cables into the hall, in the interest of starting from a clean slate. Sometimes to clean a mess you need to make a mess. With that done, it was time to check out the goods from CableOrganizer and get to organizing.

Cable Clamps

The cable clamps are only available in a kit of 5 (1 medium, 4 small), and the kit costs about $6. They work well and are easy to open and close with one hand, so they're convenient, but they are definitely more expensive than some of the other solutions. I used these to bundle some cables from my cable modem and NAS device on my desk since they are prettier than the other cable tying solutions. CableOrganizer doesn't carry them yet, but they now make a MEGA Cable Clamp as well, and they offer larger kits for sale too. You can find those on CableClamp.com

Cable-Safe

At the risk of sounding like a total dork, I will say that the Cable-Safe is sweet. It's not perfect by any means, but I really like it. It looks a little complicated when you first open up the box, but the instructions are easy enough to follow. There are a few options for mounting the cable-safe; you can clamp it onto your desktop through a cable grommet hole and lock it in place either hanging under your desk or invert it to organize cables above your desk; there is also a wall-mount option. The photos on the box show it holding a small hub, power inverter, a power strip, and a bunch of cords hung neatly around hooks. For my application, I decided to put my networking equipment on the Cable-Safe's little shelf. I was successful in doing so, but not completely. I did manage to get my router and VPN on the shelf, but I had to secure them with Mille-Ties (which I'll get to later) rather than with the included 10" Bungee Straps; they were just a little too short to hold my stuff securely. Ideally, I would have liked to place my cable modem and my NAS on the cable-safe rack as well, but it would be a tight fit, and it also has a 10 pound limit, which I didn't care to max out; just placing the NAS on it made the thing flex. I could make it a bit sturdier by screwing the thing to my desk. This is definitely a product I would recommend, and you can buy one for about $30.

Now here's a suggestion for the people that make the Cable-Safe! Make a version that's a bit larger and sturdier so that people can put all their networking equipment on it. Even a wider clamp would help with sturdiness. It's sort of nice to be able to see the status lights of your networking equipment at a glance, but honestly I'd rather just have it all out of sight under my desk rather than on top of it. I also have pretty bulky power strips, so the extra sturdiness would help there as well.

Cable Tamer

I'll be honest; I'm really not a big fan of wire loom, so I decided not to use these for my home office! With that said, this stuff is a much softer plastic than the other wire loom, so if I was to use wire loom, I would definitely prefer this stuff. Now, that isn't to say that wire loom isn't for anybody. Brian loves wire loom for cable management. The thing to keep in mind is that wire loom is really best suited for long-term applications. I change stuff around in my office way too often to use cable management techniques that will make it a hassle for me to remove a device and any cables attached to it. I mentioned that I'm lazy, right? If you have an application where you won't need to mess with the cables for a long time, this could be what you're looking for. 5 feet will run you about $9. You might consider the Wire Loom Installation Tool as well for another $3.

Cable Turtle, Mini Cable Turtle and Giant Cable Turtle

The Cable Turtle is a strange little product. I had a tough time finding a useful application for it, but I did find one. My Dell 2005FPW monitor has a built-in USB hub, so I plug things like a card reader into it. Rather than having a bundle of cable hanging from the monitor, I wrapped the excess cable up inside of the Cable Turtle (the medium size). I didn't end up finding a useful application in my office for the mini or giant versions of the Cable Turtle, but I guess it's really up to your cable management style; I'm not really the winding, spooling type of organizer. I was checking out some comments from people who have purchased these, though, and one suggestion somebody had for using the cable turtle is for window blinds, to wind up extra cord and keep it out of reach. The mini works really well for this, but it does stick out like a sore thumb, and it's sort of expensive as a window blind cord shortening device! The mini is $5, medium is $6, and giant is $10.

Mille-Tie

The Mille-Tie is a very clever reincarnation of the zip tie. Unlike standard zip ties, it is reusable and it is also made to be flexible. My favorite cable management tool is Velcro straps (more on those later), but these take a close second. The Mille-Ties are a bit longer, and you can cut up unused portions of them to create a separate tie. Just like the Velcro straps, these can be used for all sorts of applications. They're also more affordable than the Velcro straps at $12 for a pack of 100.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Getting Untangled
Page 3: Getting Untangled, Continued...
Page 4: Conclusion

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