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

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

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.

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.