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How Do You Organize Your Gear?
truffle writes "Like many geeks, I have acquired a large amount of items and gear over time, including miscellaneous hardware, cables, and such. I have books, papers, Lego, and more. I generally store most things in roughly sorted cardboard boxes, which is neither efficient nor attractive. For the non-messy geeks out there, how do you organize and store your geek stuff? Is it possible to have a clean organized grown-up home, without throwing everything away?"
I have a cheap ass wardrobe from Ikea that works great. the top shelve is for hdds, keyboards and other weird shit, while I use the coat hanger rod for cables and other wiring. the bottom shelf works great for extra cases and small parts in shoe boxes.
this was actually given to me and has solved so many problems since I got it. it's cheap, but it's been a great solution.
Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
This is pretty much what I do. Also you can get stackable rubbermaid drawers which have the added advantage of being easier to access when you have stuff piled up. Put a peice of packing tape across the front to use use as a label, so it is easy to change the label. Lastly, tackle boxes are great for organizing small things - screws, jumpers, resisters, etc.
I'm moving appartment and I'm finding bits and pieces all over the place (I usually keep the stuff I need in a couple of drawers). Since I cant remember putting it there I am just assuming I have no further use for it and its going out with the garbage. Simple and effective.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
I use two things heavily:
Sterilite storage bins, and WireTech wire shelving.
For the storage bins, I make heavy use of the clear storage drawers and bins. See this page for all storage options. Quite a few places sell Sterilite.
The other huge thing is WireTech shelving. It's very heavy-duty coated steel wire shelving in chrome, white, or black, that looks great and is very strong - each shelf can support 300 pounds. It can also be organized in nearly an unlimited number of ways. Take a look at Sensible Storage's site, click "Products", and then see Shelving Kits, Custom Shelving, and Accessories. I strongly recommend checking it out. WireTech is the only type that I have found that is like this. They work great for everything from equipment rack type setups, entertainment center towers, making really complex shelving setups, or just plain old storage.
There are a bunch of different places that sell WireTech, but there is one, and as far I can tell only one, place that sells everything online: Great Ace WireTech shelving. It's actually an Ace hardware store in Chicago, but I've ordered various WireTech things from them a couple times before and I've been happy with the results.
You'd be surprised how much the right tools help with the job, even for things like storage. Good luck.
There is a container for everything...
There is a show on TLC called "Clean Sweep." The whole idea of the show is to take someone who has amazingly disorganized and cluttered rooms, and to make their rooms organized and uncluttered. Watch a few episodes of this, and you should come up with some great ideas. I know I did, and it worked great.
Jason Lotito
I've taken to buying a bunch of Storage contains from target, like the 4 Gallon one. I fill each with junk until it's full and then put it into Gorilla Rack shelving in the garage.
The trick is to enter into a simple text file the location of each piece of item, taking care to fill in enough detail to search for it in the text file. Each of the containers is numbered.
If I take something out of the container, it doesn't have to go back into the same one, I just move its description from one location into another.
This saves me from the heartache of trying to sort stuff. Sure, I keep cables and stuff like that sorted, because I have so many of them. But... for those odds and sods, it makes more sense to just put them in any old box, and keep track of them with a text file.
You could get a bunch of Rubermaid containers, or some of those plastic shelving systems.
If all else fails, get yourself a bunch of identical boxes, like banker's boxes, and label them.
Whatever you do, if the containment system can be kept neat, the collections won't appear to be junk."I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
My girlfriend forced me to do the same. I'm actually happy about it because now I KNOW where everything is.
These containers work, and are pretty cheap...
Oderint dum metuant
As I count myself as a member of the Hardware Geek Guild I feel your pain. When we moved into our apartment I built a unit out of timber stock that contained ten box files mounted horizontally. Box files make great (cheap) storage boxes and the eventual result is reasonably neat.
Cables are sorted into different types and then stored in supermarket carrier bags behind the cupboards. Use a permanent marker to write the cable type on the bag.
Books are stored on the bookshelves (duh!!)
Consider rack mounting your gear, it avoids various boxes all over the place and keeps the cable runs short.
One final note that may be of use for those geeks who live with a significant other. Store all your stuff in one place and then hide it behind a pair of double doors / cupboard fronts / curtains. This will help reserve the peace.
Ed Almos
The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws. - Tacitus, 56-120 A.D.
There are ESD bins that you can buy for static sensitive stuff. Things like screws and such don't need that protection though.
I now have 5 rubbermade bins that are about 24x18 inches and 8 inches deep stacked up with stuff. Works good and looks clean. The trick is when you need more being able to find the same ones and the same colors. Damn wal-mart will change the lid cover or something every other week.
These bins are solid and have nice locking handle. They are slightly tinted so stuff doesn't stand out, but you can still see stuff. Then inside i have stuff in smaller bins. Down to pill jars of screws. The main reason for it all is for moving. All the crap just goes with no issue.
I think the other thing for most people is as time goes on they realize they are just hanging on a lot of crap. If you need something just buy it for a few bucks instead of storing it for years and having it be outdated when you need it. I had a bunch of computers, now i'm working towards one. There is more important things then bunches of computers. I think thats how the more adult bit comes into play, once your out of college and get married and stuff you tend to just use a computer as a computer, not mess with it all the time, hense you get rid of all the crap. Unless you got a good place for it.
Choose life.
Choose a job.
Choose a career.
Choose a family.
Choose a fucking big television.
Choose washing machines, cars, compact disk players, and electrical tin openers.
Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance.
Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments.
Choose a starter home.
Choose your friends.
Choose leisure wear and matching luggage.
Choose a three-piece suit on higher purchase in a range of fucking fabrics.
Choose DIY and wonder who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning.
Choose sittin' on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game-shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth.
Choose rottin' away at the end of it all, pissin' your last in a miserable home nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats that you've spawned to replace yourselves.
Choose your future.
Choose life.
But why would I want to do a thing like that?
The same thing happened to me. My wife would always ask me before throwing anything out, but if I said no, she kept asking. Every once in a while, I would be sick or tired or weak and just say "yes, go ahead". That would be the end of my precious stuff.
For those, I recommend those CD binders. The Walmart in my area has ones that can hold 280 CDs for $25. It ends up being a lot neater and more compact than 1000 jewelcases (or even individual sleaves).
-no broken link
and don't forget that after you've donated that stuff, get a receipt saying you donated "printer, monitor, etc.". I used to think it was a waste of time, but at the end of the year you can claim that you donated $500 in computer hardware, and that can be a tax deduction. You'll still donate the same stuff, but at the end of the year you'll give less money to the government (whether that's good or bad is debatable... I happen to enjoy not giving away so much of money to the IRS, ymmv).
I like using bookcrossing for the books I want to get rid off. Just for the paperbacks I would throw away otherwise. The others I lend to friends so I can borrow them whenever I need too.
BE very careful of static with plastic tupperware. YOu could very easily fry your gear.
For sure!
I use a similar no-no for non-CMOS electronic components. I have a huge stockpile of passive components - resistors, capacitors, etc - and things like tubes, bipolar transistors, etc. Over 20,000 vacuum tubes alone, according to my last inventory.
What I use is 4x8" generic ZipLock-ish baggies which I buy at the local head shop. The guy must think I'm a mega-dealer, because every few weeks I go in wearing a shirt and tie and buy 100 (or more) 4x8" baggies for $6.
I drop a piece of cardboard with a label into each baggie, then I stuff it with components. Then I put the baggie into a 4" wide cardboard parts tray (Bankers Box # 7353). The trays are then stored in cheap metal shelving units with 9" space between shelves. I have 6 shelves for vacuum tubes alone.
Unlike doing this with other methods (small drawers), I can simply insert a weird resistor value between standard values. I can drop a bag of #6-32x0.75" screws between the #6-32x0.5" and #6-32x1" screws. If I fill a baggie with 1k 1/4W resistors, I just add another baggie. Suddenly find a 12AX7A? Stick it in a new bag behind the 10 or so full of 12AX7s. I can take a group out, throw them into my toolbox and take them with me, not worrying that I'm going to spill them. It's very handy.
For static sensitive stuff, I use 4x8" antistat baggies which I purchase from Newark or DigiKey.
I can't claim that I invented or discovered this method - I first saw it while I was working for Litton, and I loved it.
Doesn't work for big stuff like transformers, stepper motors, complete assemblies. For that, I still have to use TupperWare (or the disposable resealable containers.)
Having an inventory of parts is useless if you can't find what you need when you need it. But it's even worse if you *can* find it but it doesn't work. Remember to think about static.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
The clear plastic storage drawer sets you get from the Container Store hold up better and make more efficient use of space (less "rounded" corners and sides) than the Rubbermaid ones from Wal-Mart. They're stackable and come with wheels too.
For extra extra organization, I have mine categorized and labeled just in case I can't immediately identify the types of cables/connectors/weird stuff from the outside. It's also worth the time to untangle, roll up, and secure the cables with twist ties . That way not only are your cables organized and *useful*, but you also get rid of most of the twist ties that have been collecting in your kitchen drawer for years (the ones that come with garbage bags).
Of course, it helps to get rid of all the completely obsolete stuff you *know* you will never use again too. Here's a good rule: find everything you don't need now, haven't used for three or more years, and don't actually plan to use in the forseeable future, and list it on eBay in lots (SCSI cables, 500MB hard drives, 150W AT power supplies, 286 boards, giant ISA video cards with 2MB ram or less, dot matrix printers, those cables you acquired some years ago and never figured out what they were for, etc). Whatever meets those criteria and doesn't sell on eBay, throw away; it's junk. Trust me, you will not miss it.
-=[You cannot consistently judge this statement to be true.]=-
>Biggest tip: Give everything you own a home.
This can be overdone, especially because what you own is not what you will own. I bought a vastly overpriced and flimsy desk with shelves for every peripheral I needed.
The PC changed from a minitower to a full tower and then a server cube, neither of which fit in the original opening
The scanner left
The monitor grew from 17 to 19 inches and 21 is looking awfully tempting lately.
I replaced the $19 2.1 speaker set with a $26 stereo system, and thus no longer have little satellites fitting the space
Now I have a huge, half-empty desk that looks like it will collapse under the mass of the monitor any second now.
Next time, I'm going to get one of those heavy metal teacher's desks.
It's just like a fascist dictatorship, without the punctual rail service!
> Is it possible to have a clean organized grown-up home, without throwing
> everything away?"
Yes, mostly. Designate one area of your home as the "work area" or "mess
zone". A basement room is a good choice. Outfit it with shelves on every
wall and a table, some benches, a desk, that sort of thing (i.e., lots of
horizontal surface area). Here you can have computer components sitting
around, boxes and bins of different kinds of cables, stacks of manuals and
papers and books, and so forth. A three-drawer cabinet or two (like a filing
cabinet but with high-sided drawers made for holding things besides papers)
is a good kind of furniture for this room, too. Also, you want a couple of
easily-repositioned lamps, for shedding light in exactly the right part of
a computer case, or whatever.
Keep all your junky stuff in this room, and out of the rest of the house.
When (not if) the room starts to get awefully cluttered so that it becomes
difficult to navigate to the opposite side of the room, box up some of the
stuff you use least often. If there's no place to put the box, cart it to
the attic for longer-term storage. (Striking a balance between keeping
a high enough percentage of your stuff boxed up that you have room for
most of it in the room and yet keeping enough stuff layed out that you can
reach the things you need constantly does take some thought, but it's not
an impossible balance to strike, generally.)
Now, the rest of the house can have some computer equipment, but only in the
form of complete, working systems with covers on the cases that have some
hope of being used in any given 24-hour period. When you need to work on
a computer, or when you stop using it regularly, you bring it to the work
room. If you have family members who don't like mess, you make a bargain
with them: they leave your work room alone, and you do your part to keep
the rest of the house picked up. (Dirty clothes in the basket, and all
that sort of nonsense.)
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
I use clear heavy-duty zip-loc bags for storing rolled up cables (one each for IDE, Power, Phone, etc.) and connectors. The bags are nice to stuff into a large bin because they pack well and are easy to look inside for that certain special part.
:-)
I use shoebox sized clear plastic bins so I can hold up the bin and look inside from the sides and bottom of the box, fast random access while searching for that certain connector.
I label my bins:
* RF (tv,vhf,wifi),
* Analog(audio,phone),
* Comm(rs232,ps/2)
* Power(dc adapters, converters, connectors)
I keep files (paper) for useful magazine articles (or scan to store images) and use 3-ring binders to store CDs that aren't ripped to my drive. My desk is often an archilogical site, which is when I know it's time to clean up. I try to have a place for everything and keep everything in it's place, but still believe a clean office is the sign of a sick mind.
However, my wife still isn't used to me refering to the linen closet as the "server room", But she's finally comfortable with the kitchen PC (laptop on swivle stand with WiFi) for reading morning news and looking up recipes.
Suncoast Linux - Sarasota, FL
Several local geeks swear by these things for storing their junk.