Tangled in Cables? Try This Clever Travel Cord Organiser

If cables are the bane of your life, check out this clever travel cord organiser, an invention created by a well-travelled pilot.

Fed up with his mobile-charging cable and earphones getting tangled every time he travelled with them, Qantas international pilot Shane Thompson unleashed his inner Tom Ford and, using a home sewing machine, stitched up the Cord Roll – a wallet-like roll-up pouch – to keep his cables under control.

But he didn’t stop there. For 12 months Thompson road-tested and refined his accessory, launching it with a Kickstarter campaign last November. Sure enough, it struck a chord with frequent flyers.

“It got fully funded in about 11 hours and I raised just under $32,000 in three weeks, which is a massive achievement,” says the Sydney-based Thompson.

Made of vegetable-tanned leather, the compact Cord Roll has three loops for cables and earphones, plus a pocket for a wall plug, hair ties, USB stick, lip balm… even make-up or a small tube of hand cream.

“From the age of five, flying was my dream,” he says, “but I always had this creative streak. I was making furniture from the time I could hold a saw.”

Along with the Cord Roll ($65), Thompson has launched his design company, Afternoons with Albert, a tribute to his grandfather with whom he spent many afternoons as a child building furniture for the family.

While the Cord Roll is Thompson’s first creation, he insists it won’t be his last. “I like to make things that make life easier and better. So my next product will be in the same vein – probably a leather product, maybe a passport/travel wallet kind of thing.” Ready for take-off?

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