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Getting Untangled with CableOrganizer
 
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Kurtis Kronk
Brian
CableOrganizer
Jun. 11, 2007
PET Wrap Braided Sleeving
I've used braided sleeve before, and it's a real pain to snake cables through. With this, you wrap it around the cables and secure it with Velcro. It's also flexible enough that you can leave a section of it open for cables to come in or out in the middle of the sleeve if needed. My only problem with it was that the end of it tends to fray if you stretch it out too much. You could solve that problem with a heat gun to make the ends of the sleeve stick together, but that's part of what I don't like about normal sleeving. If you don't mind that, then this stuff is really convenient. Keep in mind though, just like with wire loom, this is going to be a bit of a hassle to add and remove cables later on so it's really best for an application where you don't plan to change things very often. I used the 1.25" size for cables going from my monitor to my computer and it worked well aside from the above issues. It certainly looks better than a bunch of tangled cables. The PET Wrap Braided Sleeving will run you about $3 per foot. It isn't cheap, but it does look nice.


Spiral Wrap
Hate is a strong word, but it's not strong enough. I really don't like this stuff. I think the guy who came up with spiral wrap must have been sitting and thinking to himself: "I love wire loom, but I just wish it was a bit harder to install! Eureka! I'll make it so you have to wrap it round and round and round!" I really can't think of a single compelling reason to use spiral wrap. Installing it would be a pain, and you can bet that removing it wouldn't be any more fun. Plus, this stuff is made of a harder plastic than the kind I've seen before, so that makes it even harder to work with. You can buy some for about $1.20 per foot, if you really feel compelled to torture yourself.

Velcro One-Wrap
I've actually used products similar to these for a number of applications well before CableOrganizer sent me some. You've probably seen them in a retail store near you. These Velcro straps are extremely useful for all sorts of cables, and you can either make them secure by feeding one end through the slit on the opposing end, or just stick it to itself like normal Velcro without the extra security. Network installations, behind the desk, inside a computer, in a photo studio! I've used these for all sorts of stuff. They are a little more expensive than the Mille-Ties, at $2.50 for 5 or $17 for 50, but I'd say they are my favorite and most-used cable management tool. One nice thing about the Velcro One-Wraps I was sent by CableOrganizer is that those little slits were already punched out for me. Any time I've bought them in a retail store, the slit is already loose but you have to give it a tug to get rid of it. It's a minor thing, but I definitely appreciated it.


Wire Loom
By now you already know what I think of wire loom in general! This particular wire loom is relatively rigid though it's still pretty flexible. I didn't find it useful, personally, but that's because I hate wire loom. It could be useful for some applications, just keep in mind that it will be a bit of a pain in situations where you need to swap devices etc. and get at what's inside the loom with any degree of frequency. You can get 10' of this 1" loom for about $14 or the .75" variant for about $10. You'll probably want to pick up the Wire Loom Installation Tool as well for another $3.

Wrasse Cable Snake
The Cable Snake is basically a cloth version of the PET Wrap Braided Sleeving. Down the middle of it is a Velcro strap which is helpful in getting cables through, and on either end is a cord cincher so that you can tighten it and avoid slippage. I guess an ideal use for the Cable Snake would be to gather all the cables coming from your desk going to the ground, avoiding clutter behind the desk. In my setup, I don't have a lot of cords in any one place on my desk going to the floor, just four cables. I also prefer to use the holes in my desk for routing the cables rather than just dropping them to the floor. I had initially installed the PET Wrap Braided Sleeving around these cables, and it looked nice except for the frayed ends. I tried replacing the sleeving with the Cable Snake, but what I found was that the Cable Snake was a bit too fat and it just didn't look as clean installed as the sleeving did, since there was basically a fold where it went through the hole in my desk. So the Cable Snake wasn't for me, personally, but with my old desk setup I had a lot more devices next to each other in one spot on my desk, so it would have been more useful in that case. This thing isn't cheap though, at $10 to $12 (depending on the color), considering it is only 1 yard in length.

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


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