Best way to organize loose cables

[PurpleCodes]

I have a bin of about 100 loose cables ranging from HDMI, DP, USB, Power etc. Currently they are in 1 big tangled mess. What's the best way to organize these cables. All the tools i've found online are focused on organizing cables that are plugged in. I don't want to wrap each cable individually and I want easy access. In an ideal world I should be able to take out a cable and put it back within 5-10 seconds and not have to worry about coiling it up and tieing it off. 

[Bombastinator]

22 minutes ago, PurpleCodes said:

I have a bin of about 100 loose cables ranging from HDMI, DP, USB, Power etc. Currently they are in 1 big tangled mess. What's the best way to organize these cables. All the tools i've found online are focused on organizing cables that are plugged in. I don't want to wrap each cable individually and I want easy access. In an ideal world I should be able to take out a cable and put it back within 5-10 seconds and not have to worry about coiling it up and tieing it off. 

I like twist ties or electrical tape myself.  There is also flexible sloted plastic tube and spiral plastic tube that is sold for such purpose.  I got mine at the local hardware store.  They had both types.  You want to go really hardcore the best one is those false floors in data centers.  There’s also various kinds of electrical conduit if you need electromagnetic ground protection.  All systems reduce access to one degree or the other, while improving trip hazard and aesthetic stuff.  The most minimal (and ugliest) is twist ties.  Duct tape can be used to reduce trip hazards. You basically tape the cable to the floor the long way.

[BobVonBob]

I don't know of a way to organize a cable bin other than individually wrapping each cable. You could get some sort of segmented storage system and put one cable in each segment, but that's going to massively increase the storage space required and it will be expensive.

 

Honestly cable ties, twist ties, or elastic bands are the way to go. Put on a podcast and sit down for two hours to get the initial wrapping over with and you'll only ever need to wrap one or two cables at a time from then on.

[Bombastinator]

20 minutes ago, BobVonBob said:

I don't know of a way to organize a cable bin other than individually wrapping each cable. You could get some sort of segmented storage system and put one cable in each segment, but that's going to massively increase the storage space required and it will be expensive.

 

Honestly cable ties, twist ties, or elastic bands are the way to go. Put on a podcast and sit down for two hours to get the initial wrapping over with and you'll only ever need to wrap one or two cables at a time from then on.

I guess the definition of individual wrap is at issue.  I’ve got a flexible slotted tube holding all the cables I need for my desktop, but the thing is even bigger when it passes by my desk and grows smaller S some external devices (like a usb hub) are split out and a power cable is added.  It continues on till it reaches my monitor because that has 4 cables in it.  I did this because the shelving housing my desktop has rollers and I wanted to have some limited mobility for cleaning.  So my assumption was this was not individually wrapped because they contained multiple cables and there is only one thick hose going to my monitor.  If that means individually wrapped though then you are correct in that except for the false floor thing I don’t know of any.  One could I suppose drill holes in the floor and run the cables through the underneath rafters which sort of turns the regular floor into a false floor, but the access isn’t just worse, it’s much worse.  As a result this is normally only done for 110v outlets, ethernet wires, and occasionally speaker cable.  It’s common enough that there are parts made for the purpose.  In that case I would look at a grainger catalog or something.

 

there is also the concept of having shelves which go underneath one’s desk for such purposes.  Some desks actually have them built in.  The range isn’t large enough for my needs though because it only does that under the desk and has no real organization function. One still has an ugly mass of cables it’s just harder to see (which is more or less what the false floor thing does). They have them on Amazon.  Search “under desk cable shelf” for something that appeals to you

[BobVonBob]

9 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

I guess the definition of individual wrap is at issue.  I’ve got a flexible slotted tube holding all the cables I need for my desktop, but the thing is even bigger when it passes by my desk and grows smaller S some external devices (like a usb hub) are split out and a power cable is added.  It continues on till it reaches my monitor because that has 4 cables in it.  I did this because the shelving housing my desktop has rollers and I wanted to have some limited mobility for cleaning.  So my assumption was this was not individually wrapped because they contained multiple cables and there is only one thick hose going to my monitor.  If that means individually wrapped though then you are correct in that except for the false floor thing I don’t know of any.  One could I suppose drill holes in the floor and run the cables through the underneath rafters which sort of turns the regular floor into a false floor, but the access isn’t just worse, it’s much worse.  As a result this is normally only done for 110v outlets, ethernet wires, and occasionally speaker cable.  It’s common enough that there are parts made for the purpose.  In that case I would look at a grainger catalog or something.

 

there is also the concept of having shelves which go underneath one’s desk for such purposes.  Some desks actually have them built in.  The range isn’t large enough for my needs though because it only does that under the desk and has no real organization function. One still has an ugly mass of cables it’s just harder to see (which is more or less what the false floor thing does)

This isn't a question about organizing cables under a desk, it's about organizing a box full of cables.

 

57 minutes ago, PurpleCodes said:

I have a bin of about 100 loose cables ranging from HDMI, DP, USB, Power etc. Currently they are in 1 big tangled mess. What's the best way to organize these cables. All the tools i've found online are focused on organizing cables that are plugged in.

[Aragorn-]

i just coil them up. Maybe add a tie. But my box of cables got so big that it became multiple boxes, so i went to ikea, got some of the smaller plastic SAMLA boxes, and sorted the cables into type. Now i've got a tray for "display cables" a tray for "USB" a tray for "ethernet" etc etc.

 

Makes things much easier to find, and they stack neatly together on a shelf.

[Bombastinator]

14 hours ago, BobVonBob said:

This isn't a question about organizing cables under a desk, it's about organizing a box full of cables.

 

Oh, then twist ties or Velcro stays by a mile.

[Bombastinator]

7 hours ago, Aragorn- said:

i just coil them up. Maybe add a tie. But my box of cables got so big that it became multiple boxes, so i went to ikea, got some of the smaller plastic SAMLA boxes, and sorted the cables into type. Now i've got a tray for "display cables" a tray for "USB" a tray for "ethernet" etc etc.

 

Makes things much easier to find, and they stack neatly together on a shelf.

That’s on my list of “stuff to do if I get time”

[RokinAmerica]

My office is in my garage (WFH for last 3 years), so I use metal pegboards and accessories and attach via magnets on the side of my file cabinet.

I hang them by type/size and it is very easy to find whatever I need. I have all audio, video and PC related cables there, and there are a lot.