RJ45/11 Crimpers & Punchdown Tools for the Road?

deerpig asks: "I spend more than half of my life on the road, mostly in far flung corners of Thailand (where I live), Laos, (I'm composing this in a forlorn spot over-looking over the Mekong River 15.48.718N 105.21.745E) Cambodia, Hong Kong, China, Malasyia and Japan. I carry two laptops with me and it is always a major struggle to keep all of the cables, adaptors, mobile phones and assorted gear I need for my work small and light enough to take as carry-on luggage (heavy travelers all despise checking in luggage). I've been able to find small or travel versions of nearly everything I need on the road with one exception; RJ45/RJ11 Crimpers. I have found that at least twice a month I'm in some weird situation that requires making a telephone or ethernet cable. And where I live and work it isn't possible to go to the local Fry's and buy a crimper. Since a good crimper is rather large and heavy, I am looking for smaller lighter crimpers which I could always carry when I'm traveling."

What I would really love to find is a sort of Leatherman multi-purpose type tool which would have a RJ45/RJ11 crimper, a wire stripper and a punchdown tool in one small, very tough little device. The multi-purpose tools built by Leatherman, SOG and Gerber already have most of the other tools needed like pliers, wire cutters, screwdrivers etc, but a real network tool which is built to be small, tough and can be used in hostile environments has eluded me.

If no one knows of a suitable product, I would like to put together a petition and a list of design requirements which I will submit to several of the multi-purpose tool companies. So please let me know what features you would like to see in such a tool and/or if you would buy such a tool if it existed and I'll pass them on to the companies mentioned above who build multi-purpose tools and let everyone who is interested what know I come up with."

Comments

Re:what about where you're traveling to?

[unitron]

He also mentioned working in Hong Kong and Japan, but of course we all know you can't find anything related to electronics in those places.

Or in any other place where there's enough demand for computer networks to justify his plane ticket.

Sheesh!

tool

[jerrol]

You may want to try the Cybertool from Victorinox (I think). I know Gerber makes a tool with a crimper (for exposives work...).

For dedicated tools try: (found on Google)
http://www.sescodatasystems.com/unicom/crimping. ht ml

http://www.cpu.com.tw/kh/tool/04/tool-4.html (chinese)

http://www.123av.com/Product_Detail.asp?DAVE_Act io n=Find('ProductID','300%2D508')&DAVE_Position=FIL% 3AORD%3AABS%3A8KEY%3A300%2D508PAR%3A%40Cat%3D27%21 %2A%2B%40Sub%3D188

Re:tool

[Phork]

I will agree, the cyber tool is an awsome tool for working on computers, but it is not at all what you need for making cables.

Victorinox does make a cablers knife, but all it has is special blades for striping large(20 plus pairs) cable.

A knife with a sarated blade can also be very usefull, i have one gerber folder that was the inner half of the blade serated, one of the serations is the exact right size for striping 4 pair cable(like cat 5). Gerber makes a lot of great knives, the folders are nice, There letharman style multitools are very nice, like a letherman but the pliers come straight out of the handle and can be flicked out.

Small screwdriver

[sharkey]

Until I talked my $ORK_PLACE into getting me a punch-down tool, I used a pocket-sized standard head screwdriver for 110 and 66 punch-downs. Works on keystone blocks, even the dog-shit ones from Belkin. Doesn't damage the Belkins the way a spring-loaded and bladed tool does. I use my Leatherman for stripping wire, it works better than any of the wire stripping tools I've tried. Just have to keep the blade sharp! And watch your fingers.

--

$5 110 Punchdown

[SEWilco]

I picked up some 110 punchdown tools for $5 at a nearby cabling shop. They look like a finger-long rigid plastic stick with two prongs. You wouldn't want to use it for eight hours a day for two weeks, but it's great for occasional use.

Unfortunately I don't have a part number and haven't found them from other sources...but maybe a similarly shaped chip-removal tool would work. A wirecutter with an appropriate nose is a good companion.

Re:$5 110 Punchdown

[Phork]

thats all well and good, but the poster was not asking about a tool for 110 punchblocks, he needs an rj45 and rj11 crimper, for make telephone and ethernet cables, so it doesnt sound like your tool will do him any good. But it does sound like a nice tool, i'll look into getting one.

Altronics

[Ronin441]

Altronics in Australia have a lightweight crimper that does 8-way, 6-way and 4-way RJ crimps. It's no smaller than a normal crimper, but it is lighter. It doesn't look very gutsy, so it would only be suitable for occasional use.

My favourite RJ crimper is a Telemaster, as pictured in the link, with the blue plastic guard in front of the blades removed. Durable, reasonable weight, fair price, widely available, easy to use.

AMP and Cyclops

[uberdood]

I know you want small and light-weight. Regardless, I advise you to reconsider. I've layed miles of LAN cable. I firmly believe good tools are worth the cost, mass, and displacement. Do yourself a favor and put these in your "away bag".

Cyclops for removing cable jacket.

AMP crimper with modules- RJ-11 and RJ-45

A cheap, light-weight tool that breaks at that remote site does you no good. And the torque required for a good crimp will simply wear out cheap frames. You'll be glad at that remote site when the tools work time and time again.