Comments on: Help me organize my gadgets.

Question: Help me organize my gadgets.

jacobian — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:20:24 -0800

Like any self-respecting geek, I've got a bunch of cool toys I carry around. Each of those toys, unfortunately, comes with a bunch of wires -- chargers, adapters, connectors... Help me keep them organized!

I'm looking for some sort of carrying case that I can stuff all my gadgets and their wires into. Right now I just drop stuff into my backpack, but it all falls to the bottom. This sucks because I have to root around to find what I'm looking for, and it doubly sucks because it puts all the weight at the bottom of the pack.

So I'm looking for some sort of zippered container, roughly paper-sized (so it'll fit nicely in my backpack), with a whole bunch of pouches for gadgets and/or elastic/velcro for cables. Something like a Trapper Keeper for gadgets, or one of those "business organizers" with a bunch of extra pockets.

I'm totally game for a DIY solution involving modifying something that's not quite there, but I'd really prefer just to plunk down some cash for the perfect thing.

By: YoBananaBoy

YoBananaBoy — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:24:35 -0800

This is serious business.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:41:16 -0800

I have a smallish pod from RoadWired. It's maybe a little more than I need, but if you're one of those people that really likes each cable and battery and charger to have its own little place, it's a great accessory. However, it's not flat. They also have the accessory wallet, which is. However, once I'm at that level of small, I find that using a roll up tool kit (smaller ones for bikes and you can buy them without the tools,naturally) makes the best use of space and is easily portable.

By: TheNewWazoo

TheNewWazoo — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:47:26 -0800

Take a trapper-keeper (sorry, I'm a child of the 80s) type thing that has no bells or whistles on one interior side, and get a big sheet of sticky-backed velcro. Stick one side (the soft side) to one side of the trapper keeper, on the inside. Now get a roll of double-sided velcro, like they sell for cable management.

When you wind your cables to store them, wrap them with a small length of the double-sided velcro (maybe two) with the rough side out, and stick them on the big sheet. You could also just "pin" the cables down into the folder with the smaller lengths. Zip up the folder, and your problem is solved.

For extra geek points, discover that almost anything can be charged via USB with the right cable, and then discover that BlackBerrys come with a wall wart that accepts an A Male USB cable.

By: judith

judith — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:50:33 -0800

waterfield's cable guy or gear pouch.

By: zpousman

zpousman — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:07:06 -0800

Various travel companies (eagle creek, victorinox, etc.) sell small zippered bags for packing a suitcase. Some of the smaller ones of these may be perfect for your task, and will be a bit cheaper than waterfield's gear pouch. Generally the small sized ones are $10-$15. Some zipper on 2 sides, some on 3. I have a bunch that I use for travel (packing clothes), but when I have a lot of gear, I use one for all of the gadgets / chargers / lenses / &c.

Another good source are the small travel bags that sometimes come from business / first-class seats on airplanes. These are often small, but I use one that I got from a friend as my iPod case and on-plane fun-bag. It holds the phone, charger, iPod, charger, and earphones, as well as gum and chapstick.

By: desuetude

desuetude — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:19:58 -0800

Snake Charmer by Tom Bihn. (I highly recommend all of their bags.)

By: twistofrhyme

twistofrhyme — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:20:55 -0800

i just used this answer on another thread, but it applies here, too:
i have a geek traveller friend who loses a charger in every hotel.
i bought him this eagle creek two-sided packing cube.
it's large enough to hold all 8 of his gadgets (chargers for laptop, cel, ipod, & camera, plus camera connect cable, belkin adaptor, and his noise-cancelling headphones in an altoids tin). the double-sided design is key because it holds about 4 gadgets per side, nicely spaced out-- so it lets you see *when someting is missing* so you know immediately that you forgot something.
when i bought him the case he was like, "meh", but then he emailed me after his next roadtrip and said
it was the first trip where he didn't lose a single charger.

By: twistofrhyme

twistofrhyme — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:25:12 -0800

oops, sorry, i linked to the wrong eagle creek page. should have been this two-sided cube. sorry.

By: sunshinesky

sunshinesky — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 12:18:49 -0800

My roommate, another self-respecting geek who requires organisation for his 'toys' uses Civilian Lab's Holster contraption. This may not be exactly what you're looking for as it exudes a certain ultra-geek je-ne-sais-quoi, but he really loves his, and it does a good job of keeping things together. Also, very customisable.

By: sunshinesky

sunshinesky — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 12:21:34 -0800

oops, I misread the question. You wanted a place fo the cords etc. not the toys themselves!

By: jacobian

jacobian — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:56:42 -0800

@sunshinesky: either/both, actually...

And @everyone else: wow, some great options here! Now I just need to decide which one to buy...

By: sunshinesky

sunshinesky — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 15:07:23 -0800

Let us know!

By: krisjohn

krisjohn — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 18:16:15 -0800

You might also want to investigate iGo to reduce the number of transformers you need to carry...

By: blag

blag — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 09:06:35 -0800

Seconding the iGo or similar; I've got a powermonkey and it's now the only charger I carry with me. It handles my phone, camera, bluetooth headset, iPod... and it also acts as a backup battery. Sweet.

By: flyawaygal

flyawaygal — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 13:49:42 -0800

Another recommendation for Waterfield's pouches. (www.sfbags.com). I have two laptops and two Cableguys to store all my cords, etc. I also have two Gear Pouches. One for miscellany and one for my digital camera, battery charger, manual, cards, etc. I also have their iPod Gear Pouch and am thinking about the new DS Lite Case. The Gadgetter.com has reviews of some of their stuff. Amazing quality and great service.

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/waterfield_design_cableguy_pouches

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/waterfield_ipod_gear_pouch

By: Listener

Listener — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 22:22:13 -0800

I guess you may not be reading this, but nevermind those expensive mesh pouches. Medium to large size ziploc freezer bags are the way to go for cables and stuff. They're see-through. Easy to find stuff. Pack them all in another bag.