Cable Keeper Review: A Hip Cable Organization Solution

Anybody with even the most modest collection of electronics is bound to have a mess of accompanying cables. If you’re reading this review, chances are that you have more than just a modest collection of electronics, meaning you have an abundance of cables. If you’re like me, organizing said cables is nearly impossible; as I write this, I'm looking at three boxes of tangled, unorganized cables. As the name implies, the Cable Keeper seeks to remedy this situation, bringing order to your clutter, happiness to your life, and absolution for your sins. Okay, it might not go that far, but for the electronics junkie, installer, or Audioholic, finding a solid cable management system can be like a religious experience.  Read on to see if the Cable Keeper reaches its holy goal.

Overview

The first thing to know about the Cable Keeper is that it’s currently a Kickstarter project, but with more than 20 days to go and funding at 75%, it’s likely to be a purchasable product in the near future. You might wonder how I got my hands on a review sample if the product isn’t in full production yet. That’s an easy answer; I personally know the creators and they called to see if I would be interested in writing up a preview or review. Now, some people might say that hurts the credibility of this review. The truth is, once you’ve been in the A/V magazine industry long enough, you have personal relationships with people at most companies.

The Cable Keeper isn’t a particularly revolutionary design. In fact, it’s so simple that it’s surprising it doesn’t already exist. In essence, the Cable Keeper is just a few elastic bands sewn onto some canvas. Obviously that’s an oversimplification, but you get the point.

Portable Cable Keeper

The elastic bands are sewn into four distinct sizes: xSmall (use for: pens, cable adapters, precision screwdriver, etc.), Small (use for: phone cables, thin/short audio cables, misc. adapters), Medium (use for: Ethernet, USB, short audio cables or thin/long cables), and Large (use for: HDMI, VGA, DVI, power, or thin XLR cables). Each Cable Keeper also comes with at least one Velcro strap, which allows you to accommodate non-cable gear, like a power brick or portable hard drive.

Cable Keeper sizing chart (click to enlarge)

The Cable Keeper comes in three sizes, small, medium, and large. The small size is $35 and is designed for the on-the-go techie. At 13”x19” it’s small enough to toss in a bag or carry under your arm and sports 3 xSmall, 5 Small, 5 Medium, and 3 Large cable areas, plus one Velcro strap. The Medium Cable Keeper is priced at $45, is 13”x35”, and adds an additional Velcro strap, 3 Large, 4 Medium, 4 small, and 3 xSmall cable areas, for maximum capacity of 30 pieces of equipment/cables. The Large Cable Keeper retails for $55 and is a rather lengthy 59” long, about triple the length of the portable size. Compared to the Medium, the Large adds two extra Velcro straps, 6 Large, 3 Medium, 3 Small, and one xSmall. The Medium and Large Cable Keepers wrap up and clip together using plastic clips, while the small Cable Keeper uses wooden toggles and elastic straps.

Hands-On Use

Of the three Cable Keeper sizes available, I received the portable size for review. At first glance, I could immediately tell it has high quality fit and finish. The 14oz heavy duty canvas is tough stuff, and should be able to withstand any sort of abuse you throw at it. The elastic bands also seemed sturdy. While they did stretch out a little bit, which is expected, they never become loose and all of the stitching held solid. I also noticed that three of the four sides were double stitched for added strength (it’s not possible to double stitch all four sides and maintain only a single visible row of stitching).  Finally, the wooden toggles and elastic bands used to hold the Cable Keeper together are built with the same attention to quality and style as the rest of the unit.

The Cable Keeper actually has a very distinct style. It looks like something a hip sound technician or trendy tech guru would use. The use of the wooden toggles (on the portable size), elegant logo, and overall minimalist design make the Cable Keeper both functional and stylish.

Portable Cable Keeper clasped

Beyond wondering about build quality and style, the ultimate question I had about the Cable Keeper was its ability to actually accommodate my equipment. When I was first contacted about reviewing the Cable Keeper, I hoped that it would allow me to easily tote around the mess of microphones, USB cables, and XLR cables I use for reviewing home theater gear.

I’m happy to report that, for the most part, it worked perfectly. I was able to use the extra small (xSmall) areas for a 1/8” to 1/4" adapter, RCA Y-splitter, and precision screwdriver. The small areas worked well for each of my microphones with the exception of the MartinLogan PBK mic. The PBK mic was slightly too large for the extra small areas and too big for the small areas. It did fit in the small areas, but would sometimes fall out if I held the Cable Keeper in a vertical orientation while walking. The medium and large areas worked well for larger cables, including Ethernet (7’), USB (12’), HDMI (8’), and power (6’) cables.

Unfortunately, extra thick or long cables aren’t going to fit in any of the elastic band areas. For example, my 50’ BlueJeans Cable RJ45 and 16’ Monster M2.2s speaker cables are too much for the Cable Keeper to handle. At first I was a little disappointed, but then I thought about how heavy and cumbersome the entire unit would become if I loaded it with a bunch of cables that each individually weigh a couple pounds. However, if you need to tote extra large/long cables, the Velcro strap(s) would allow you to do so. Instead, I opted to use the Velcro for the external soundcard that comes with the XTZ Room Analyzer II Pro. The Velcro securely held the soundcard in place, but I had to shuffle around other cables a bit to get the Cable Keeper to wrap up and clasp shut. The actual production model should mostly solve this problem as the toggles are going to be placed on elastic cord rather than regular cord . Another change that might be nice to see is the addition of a small mesh pocket for miscellaneous parts, like RJ45 ends. However, that might mean sacrificing some cable storage space.

Conclusion

The portable Cable Keeper is a functional and stylish solution for those who need a simple way to store and transport cables. It isn't designed to accommodate long, thick cables, but most anything under 15' or so should fit. I see it being particularly useful for people who frequently find themselves digging around a drawer for a specific cable, or taking cables and other small electronics to and from home or the workplace. If you're looking for a solution that can hold more cables at the expense of portability, the large size is probably the best option, while the medium size seems to balance capacity and portability. No matter the size you want, you won't have a chance to get any of them if the project doesn't hit it its Kickstarter goal, so you should act soon if it's a "must have" product for you.