The Frugal Networker

The Recoil Combo Pack

Recoil Automatic Cord Winders
Recoil Winders
$9.99 each or set of 3 for $27.99
(Set of 3 Combo Pack comes with Storage Rack)

I’ve had the theory that any two cables laid side-by-side, as neatly as possible, will somehow, through the magic of universal entropy, become impossibly entangled without human intervention. I’m sure you’ve experienced this too. The funny thing is that now my theory has a corollary: Any cable will become impossibly entangled upon itself in a pocket, a drawer, or even on a desktop. I just want to know why that is.

Often, on my way to gym, I place my earbuds into my pocket so that I don’t look like a total nerd until I get to the weight machines. I pull out my iPhone. I retrieve my earbuds, untangle my earbuds, place my phone back into my pocket and start my workout.

Even funnier than my theory, is that the five minute drive and two minute walk into the gym, collects enough entropy to twist and mangle my earbuds into knots and Moebius strips that require another ten minutes, forty calories (OK, I’m thankful for the calorie burn), quite a bit of cussing, and a whole bucket of frustration to detangle the !@#$% things.

And now here’s where I sound like a late night infomercial, which I hate more than detangling my earbuds every time I use them.

But, has this ever happened to you?

Well, now there’s a solution: The Recoil Winder.

Large winder loaded with USB cable.

Yeah, I know, a TV Pitchman could say it better and with more zeal. But seriously, you know what I’m talking about with tangled earbuds, USB, and Apple power cords. It’s enough to make me want to break the law. The Second Law of Thermodynamics that is.

The Recoil Winder is a clever little gadget that comes in three sizes so that you can organize your earbuds, USB power cables, Apple power cables, and other small gauge electronic cables into a neat little entropy-defying package that fits neatly into your pocket, purse, backpack, or whatever.

The video provides a far better look at the product than I can give you in text format. Take a look to see what I mean.

I use the smallest winder for my earbuds. No more cussing. No more ten minutes wasted at the beginning of every workout trying to untangle tasteless spaghetti. No more starting my workout with an elevated anxiety level. One tug and the cable is out. And it’s just as easy to load: just loop, pull, and let the Recoil Winder do its job.

I should warn you that the Recoil Winder really grabs the cable, so you need to be careful until you acquaint yourself with the product by practicing a few times. And when you remove a cable for use, pull it all the way until the Winder stops and locks, otherwise, you might loosen your grip and allow the cable to rewind onto the Recoil Winder unexpectedly. You can see for yourself in the demo video that you need to keep your fingers out of the way. Don’t worry, after a few times, you’ll get the hang of it.

The Recoil Winder is a cool product. I’m not sure how I kept my cables organized and out of the way before. You see, it’s not just a winder product, it’s also an organizer. I have trouble keeping track of my cables. One reason is that they get tangled up. The other reason is that they tend to get lost. Now they do neither.

The Recoil Winder is one of those products that you look at and think, “I should have thought of that.” It’s both handy and obvious that you need it. The only problem that I have is that I have more cables than Recoil Winders.

The only three negatives I’ve found with the Recoil Winder is that one, I wish they made bigger ones for laptop cables–I hate those things. Two, $9.99 is a little steep for as many as I need. If you only need one, two, or three, you’re OK. I need like ten or so to keep all of my various gadget cables tangle-free and where I can find them easily. And finally, the third negative is that I wish that I could pull out a cable part way so that I could use the cable but keep it partially wound.

Maybe in Recoil Winder 2.0, they’ll add that feature.

Why it’s frugal: The Recoil Winder is frugal because it keeps you organized and that has value. If you’re fumbling around for a USB cable, earbuds, or other cable, you’re neglecting something else. And the Recoil Winder only takes about half a second to wind a cable. It saves you time, which is essentially money.

Review: 9/10

Recommendation: Pick one up and try it out. Chances are very good that you’ll buy more–one for each annoying cable that you have.