My solution to cable tangle...

[CraigT]

Attached is a pic of my 3rd generation solution to headphone/glasses cable tangle.

Generations one and two used in-ear type phones.

Generation 1 just had the earbuds tied to the arms of the glassed and the cables tied together.

The 2nd generation used Nike Air ones with a swivel adjustment firmly attached to the arms, but it was still awkward to get them in the ears, and I don't like sharing in-ear phones.

The latest uses a pair of quite cheap Philips sports 'phones that have a hook that goes around the ear. I chopped up the hook a bit to suit the frame and have used cable ties to hold it all together. This is pretty much perfect.

One day I might get around to replacing all the cable ties with something a little more attractive - but hey, it works!

Cheers,
Craig

[Charles M]

Thanks for the input. Will work with this solution tomorrow.

Thanks,

Charles M

[Interdimensional_Playboy]

I just did the mod on my glasses. I had used cable ties to keep the earphone and glasses cables together, but that looked sloppy and still tangled somewhat. So I found a good source for nylon sheathing, http://cableorganizer.com/fray-resistant/ You can buy it by the foot and shipping is determined by weight. I'm not sure if they ship out of the U.S. or what their charges to other countries would be. I used the non-fray sheathing shown in the link provided but I still found that I had to take a lighter to the end as it started to unravel a bit when I first pushed the glasses connector through. I ordered three feet and the total cost with shipping was $4.27. I ended up cutting off about 10 inches when I used it. I had to order the 1/4 inch sheathing to allow it to fit over the glasses connector. My earphones connector was smaller, but be sure to check the size range of the sheathing and order a size that will fit over your largest connector.

At first, I kept the earphones loose, but they still tangled a lot, so today I followed CraigT's lead and attached them to the bows of the glasses. I'm using Koss KSC75 Sportclip Stereophones, which I bought at a reasonable price through NewEgg. There is a design flaw with these as the clip becomes detached from the earphone. I knew this before I bought them as the reviews at NewEgg address this problem. I already had a set that I'm using with my MP3 player and after experiencing the problem, I superglued the clips to the earphones. I did this to the set that I bought for my Procyon before I even used them. I used heat shrink tubing to attach them to the bows of the glasses. One advantage with this model of earphones is that the clips are metal wires and can be gently bent to "tweak" them for best fit and sound.

I'm attaching three pictures to this post. One is the complete setup. Another is a closeup to show how I used heat shrink tubing to keep the sheathing in place on the cable and dress the ends, and another picture is of the remaining length of sheathing that I didn't use to show as a reference. You may notice a bit of heat shrink at the front of the left bow. This holds the slack in the cables to make everything a uniform length. Unfortunately, the earphones cable was shorter than the glasses cable, so I lost several inches of the glasses cable in trying to get everything looking neat and even.

I'm really happy with the sheathing mod, it looks professionally done. But since I've worked as an electronic technician for 24 years now, I guess it was. The rest of the mod doesn't look as great but in session trails today, I'm very happy with the complete setup.

[CraigT]

Nice job!!!

That looks so good I'll have to upgrade mine now! There's an electronic outlet just up the road that supplies heat-shrink in a good range of diameters and wall thicknesses - there should be something that slips over the connectors and shrinks down nicely whilst still remaining suitably flexible.

Loved your other post Mister Trim, Taught & Terrific - I guess you're working towards full manifestation of your handle 'Interdimensional Playboy'.

Cheers,
Craig

[Interdimensional_Playboy]

Nice job!!!

Thanks Craig, your post at the top of this thread was the inspiration to do this.

That looks so good I'll have to upgrade mine now! There's an electronic outlet just up the road that supplies heat-shrink in a good range of diameters and wall thicknesses - there should be something that slips over the connectors and shrinks down nicely whilst still remaining suitably flexible.

I was considering using heat shrink to encase the cables. But I was upgrading computer power supplies at work a few weeks ago. The new ones had all of the cables encased in braiding like I used. Nicest power supplies I've seen. They must be for those gaming computers that have the clear windows in them so you can see the internal components. Our local electronics supply is Radio Shack, which seems more interested in selling cell phones than anything else any more. So I decided to do a web search to see if I could find the sheathing without having to buy it in bulk and came up with the company I linked to.

Loved your other post Mister Trim, Taught & Terrific - I guess you're working towards full manifestation of your handle 'Interdimensional Playboy'.

Cheers,
Craig

The handle started out as "International Playboy" at another forum as a joke and a tribute to one of my favorite TV show characters, Jethro Bodine from "The Beverly Hillbillies." As much as I'd like to be a "double naught spy" - James Bond type, I identify more with Jethro socially. The name evolved into Interdimensional Playboy when I joined a forum that deals with mind power and whose host company sells entrainment-type CDs and other self-improvement products. Since the MindPlace forum deals with related topics, I felt it was fitting to use it here too.