Holy Utility Belt Batman! Storage solutions for iPhone/iPad accesories?

November 16, 2012 5:28 PM

Chargers, adapters, and cables - Oh My! What are the items and techniques you use to store all of your iPhone and/or iPad accessories?

The only thing I love more than my iDevices is buying card readers and cables and chargers and other iDevice gear to use with them. Right now I keep my road iDevice gear either in my Scottevest or in Ziploc bags in my backpack, and my spare/backup iDevice gear at home in cigar boxes. It's an OK solution, but what I was looking for was a better storage solution for both (or either) home and the road. The trouble is that I don't know what that better storage solution might be.

What kind of things do you use for small parts storage like iPhone accessories at home and on the road? Tackle boxes? Makeup organizers? Something I don't know about? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

posted by Rob Rockets to technology (13 answers total)

Toilet paper rolls. Genius!
posted by DarlingBri at 5:34 PM on November 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

At home, we use toilet roll inserts stood on end and packed into a shoebox (or four). We leave the connector bit sticking out the top so we can easily tell which gadget it belongs to. (Obviously that's no good for bulky chargers, but they now live in ziplock bags in the fifth shoebox.)

We've got earplugs and USB connectors and chargers and all sorts of treasures in there, and it's changed our lives. No more "Mum, I can't find the whatsit for gadget A, I can only find the whatsit for gadgets B, C and D".

That's no help on the road, though, unless you can source the perfect sized box to store the toilet roll inserts.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 5:37 PM on November 16, 2012

Or upon posting before previewing, what DarlingBri said.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 5:37 PM on November 16, 2012

Portable toiletry kit. I have one similar to this except it's got more compartments and is made entirely (on the inside) of clear plastic, so I can see what's what.
posted by mannequito at 6:50 PM on November 16, 2012

Go to your local Walmart/Kmart or sporting goods store and get a plastic transparent adjustable compartment fishing tackle box (small or medium flat rectangular size). Adjust the internal compartments to your hearts content and store it in your backpack.
posted by plokent at 6:51 PM on November 16, 2012

It is definitely a splurge, but I travel enough that I'm always looking for things that make time on the road easier, and packing a no-brainer. I bought the Aviiq travel charger a year or so ago, and it's _awesome_. one little zipper pack, goes in my travel bag, no worries about charging anything.
posted by griffey at 7:21 PM on November 16, 2012

I recently got one of these from Ikea. It's small enough to fit unobtrusively into my bag, but large enough to hold all cords neatly and effectively.
posted by mynameisluka at 7:41 PM on November 16, 2012

Grid It - available in different sizes. The Apple stores in Canada carry them.
posted by backwards guitar at 3:57 AM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

I just wind the cables up and secure with a rubber band for travel. Toss em all in an old laptop sleeve thing.
posted by bystander at 4:44 AM on November 17, 2012

One thing I do for iDevices is to put chargers all over the place. It's suboptimal, but I never have to look for a charger in my shop, bedroom, lab. Ditto cords. The cords (in the pre-Lightning versions of iStuff) are cheap on Amazon. I bought a bag of 10. Two stay in my cars. Others attach to the chargers mentioned above.

Regarding other stuff, I never take with me what I won't use. Tiny, light, portable are useless if you have to support them with a travel chest of accessories. Defeats the purpose and main feature.

Cigar box at home in one place for anything not relevant to the current trip. Zip lock bag, otherwise, sometimes assisted with binder clips and other cord stabilizers.
posted by FauxScot at 5:18 AM on November 17, 2012

I use one of the over the door shoe hangers that has the clear plastic pockets for shoes. All iDevice to usb cables in one, all USB A cables in another, wall warts in another, etc. That way our house can grab any cable it needs. It hangs on the spare bedroom door's back side so it doesn't visually clutter the space.

For our bedroom I got two charger / stands which are each designed to hold and charge 1 iphone and 1 ipad each.They are called "XtremeMac incharge duo." Thus, our ipads and iphones have a permanent home and are always charged
posted by BrooksCooper at 7:28 AM on November 17, 2012

I buy multiples of everything. I keep one set in a little zipped up mesh bag in my travel bag so that I always have a complete set when I'm traveling. I have some sub-bags so if I need the AV kit that comes separately or can be removed separately, or if I need the headphones, extra mouse, ditto. After a while you get used to eyeballing whether it's all there or not when you have to pick it up and go. Everything at home stays either plugged in to the wall [charging station in each room, they never get unplugged - I have a small place] or in this big (but inexpensive) toolchest that I go through every year or so and get rid of old stuff.
posted by jessamyn at 7:38 AM on November 17, 2012

I have a few zippered bags I bought at Target for $.99. This is pretty close, but mine are more round instead of triangular. One for cables, one for USB drives & such, one for AC adapter, another for the stuff that accompanies the AppleTV I take along for the hotel.

At home, I keep the same sort of stuff in a few of these. Big enough, but not so big that it becomes frustrating to find any individual item.
posted by chazlarson at 8:07 PM on November 17, 2012