I've always carried a bag filled with a variety of different cables in a backpack with my PowerBook. This "bag o' tricks" used to be a disorganized, tangled mess, so when I saw an ad for a 13-piece cable and connector kit in an in-flight magazine I knew I had to have it. It contained USB, FireWire, Ethernet, and RJ-11 (plain old telephone) cables as well as a variety of adapters. The shocker was that it was on sale at a ridiculously low price—$9.99 after rebate.

I have had it in my backpack for more than a year now and whenever I whip it out in front of other Mac users they ooh and aah.

It's called the Ultra-Cord 13-Piece Connector Kit and it's available from TigerDirect.com. While the price has gone up to a whopping $29.99, it's still a darn good value. Here's what you get:

• A 59" FireWire Cable
• A 50" RJ-11 Cable
• A 50" RJ-45 Cable
• 2 59" USB AM/AF Cables
• A Mini 5-Pin USB Adapter
• 2 FireWire Adapters
• A USB Extender
• A USB Device Adapter
• An RJ-45 Cross-over Adapter
• A Microphone / Headset

All of the cables are retractable, so they take up very little space. And everything fits perfectly into the foam insert inside a convenient imitation leather zippered case.

The Ultra-Cord 13-Piece Connector Kit includes pretty much any cable you're likely to need.

The case is only about an inch thick so it takes up little precious space in my backpack. And it really does contain almost every cable I've ever needed on the road or at a client's location. In fact, the only other cables I find that I have to carry with me are an S-Video cable (just in case) and an extension cable for VGA projectors.

My only complaint is that the headset is a piece of crap. Mine broke after one use. But the other cables and adapters have been completely reliable over the course of a year and everything has remained nicely organized and untangled.

The Bottom Line
If you are truly a Mac road warrior, the Ultra-Cord 13-Piece Connector Kit is a bargain at $29.99 even with a crappy headset.