Is it even theoretically possible to organize test leads and scope probes

[mdszy]

I'm going to make this thing suffer before I send it to its destruction

This isnt even half of all the test leads I have..I dread having to use this thing for any reason. Touch it and a  cable falls off.

Buddy, I hate to break it to you, but you're using that thing ENTIRELY wrong.

We have them at my campus and they keep cables nice and organized, when you use them right...

You're not supposed to coil the cables over it like that. You're supposed to slide them on STRAIGHT and let them hang by a BNC connector or whatever the larger end of the cable is.

Then, if you want one near the back, you hold them all, slide them all off, grab the one you want, and slide the rest back on.

It's really not bad if you use it correctly. See attached.

The reason they are coiled over is because I keep it at desk-height so I can get to it to it while I'm working, and if I dont double them up the cable length over about 4 feet will be on the ground.

Even you use it as you show they are still in series so getting what you want would be a random event and you'd have to unload anything in front, and it would still be difficult to determine what cable end at the top belongs to which at the bottom, and would require them to be 6 feet off the ground so the cables arent touching the floor.

If you are in a environment where you are standing, have few enough cables or identical enough cables to where you can have 1 slot per type, then the pomona comb would be good (like a production test setup where you are standing and doing the same thing over and over).  Although still very expensive at $15 each although maybe there are cheaper versions.

If you are sitting at a workstation actively prototyping, debugging, or doing something unpredictable, and have a very wide assortment of test leads that you need to exchange out ever few minutes as you are doing different things, the pomona comb doesnt work, in my experience anyway

Okay, that is fair. I apologize.

At my university, these hang at about head-height between workbenches so you can get up, follow each end of the cable until you find what you need and then it's pretty quick to pull the row off, take what you need and slot the rest back. But again, it's this easy because they're high up and you're standing when you do it.

I can see how this would be a problem for a sitting position or above a desk.

I just ordered one of these, and plan to use it in a standing position. I don't mind if I have to get up to choose cables, and it will help to keep the area around my workbench less busy.

[TERRA Operative]

Here's my solution so far. Just the usual cable comb hanger thing, probably Pomona brand from Digikey.
I have another one to put somewhere once I find a place for it. I'm going to have to split the bunch so one holder is BNC, the other is Banana jacks. I'm always making just one more lead in the mddle of a project...

[Jester]

No, however lead carts help.

Lead cart #1

[schmitt trigger]

no comments required

[cur8xgo]

no comments required

The only way I can think of that giant pile of parts and wires being useful is if every part location is mirrored in your neurons...which I suppose is possible in some weird way

[Siwastaja]

For all banana plugs, just drill a lot of 4.0mm holes in a block of wood, install it high enough. Now you just "plug in" the cables! Friction keep them plugged in, gravity keeps them perfectly straight.

Use a big enough plate, with large enough number of holes. This is as close to perfection as it can get.

This only works for anything that has a simple plug that can be plugged in a hole. For BNC, alligator clips, etc., the problem still exists. But getting rid half of the N cables, the N^2 problem reduces by four times, and may become acceptable.