How to Keep Your Charging Cables from Breaking

It seems that our charging cables always have a shorter lifespan than our phones, tablets, and laptops, but fortunately there are a variety of things that you can do to protect those charging cables from damage and everyday wear and tear. Here are a few tips on keeping your charging cables in pristine condition.

Use a spring from a pen to protect the end of the cable.

For smaller cables, try using a spring from a pen to prevent the charging end from breaking. Simply remove the spring from any pen, stretch it out slightly, and carefully roll it onto the cable. Then move the spring to the charging end of the cable. The spring will help prevent the end from bending too much, which is one of the most common causes of charging cable breakage.

Weave paracord around the end of the cable.

A more attractive method is to weave some paracord around the end of your cable. Simply “gut” a length of paracord by removing the white strand in the middle, and then melt the ends with a lighter or match to keep them from fraying. Then, start at the charging end of your cable and weave around the cable using a “cobra” knot. Finish it off after you’ve woven up 1 to 2 inches. Much like the pen spring, this will keep the end of your cable from bending too much.

Wrap cables correctly.

Many people wrap their phone and tablet cables the same way that those cables were wrapped by the manufacturer—in an back-and-forth fashion where the cable is bent sharply from side to side, then looped around itself to hold it secure. The problem with this, however, is that it can create sharp bends in the cable, which will ultimately result in kinks and worn down insulation. Instead of wrapping your cables in such a tight fashion, wrap your cables in loose loops. You can gently weave the ends of the cable between the loops to hold it secure, or hold it secure with a simple twist tie.

Don’t stretch the cable.

Sometimes we’re tempted to stretch a cable as far as it will go, forcing it into a socket even though it creates a sharp bend in the cable at the outlet. Creating a sharp bend in a cable, however, is never a good idea, as doing so repeatedly will eventually cause the end of the cable to break. Move closer to an outlet or reconfigure the cable’s position any time you would be forced to create a sharp bend in the cable.