The velcro cable cathcer

I have a lot of electronic gadgets. Not a ton, but enough that it becomes annoying to deal with all of the power adapters that I have to keep track of. I need to find enough outlets to supply juice to the half dozen portable devices I use, and hopefully keep my apartment free from wires snaking their way into my path at every turn.


I've been a reader of Lifehacker for about a year now and I've seen a few projects that are designed to manage the ever growing bramble of cables that accompany the gadgeteer lifestyle. One of my favorite innovations they have covered is the "cable catcher", something that keeps the business ends of your charging cables from sliding back behind your desk when your phone/computer/camera is not attached to it. What a great idea! and it's available at the low, low cost of... $70? right...

LH readers offered up their own alternatives made from cheap and recycled materials, however none of these is very discreet; you can definitely see these when you use them. Also, I wanted my charge station to be on my dresser, a piece of furniture that doesn't immediately lend itself to being clung to by binder clips in my case (although that is a seriously cool trick).

My solution for the invisible cable catcher: Velcro!
For less than 5 bucks I got 4 feet of adhesive Velcro strips at Target, enough for half a dozen large cable catchers or more (I hope you don't actually need that many).

What I did:

1. Cut 8" lengths of from each of the two strips (the spiky kind and the softer kind)
2. Peel the adhesive backing off of the spiky strip and affix it to the back of my dresser just below the top surface
3. Leave the adhesive backing on the soft strip, you don't need to stick it to anything
   

After that I just run the cables between the two layers and the cables stay nicely in place. It's easy to get a little more length if you need it, or a little less if you prefer. Other elements of my charging station include a Power Squid to manage all those ridiculously over sized adapters that just about everything comes with, and a very nice valet my girlfriend gave me, which is essentially a very manly tray for your various accessories and pocket change. All in all its a very convenient way to keep the cables at hand, in one location, and to keep them from falling behind the dresser.

As for the rest of that Velcro you paid for? I like putting it on the back side of cabinet doors and sticking up tins of spices. Instant hidden spice rack!