In theory I thought this would be the perfect solution to having the cable on the ground. In reality, it's 10x better being on the ground. I went from "cable awareness" and stepping over the cable, to having the cable wrap around my neck like a noose and having to remove my headset to un-twist it. Components seem very cheaply made too, I don't expect the retraction cables to last long. The included parts are also designed for a drop ceiling, so if you don't have a drop ceiling in your house have fun installing. I had to buy tiny swiveling hooks to screw into my ceiling.

So, I had my doubts about this. Part of me thought I should go the hardware store, buy some ihooks to put into the ceiling, buy some extending dog leashes and do my best. I took a bit of a chance with this, but at the price point it was worth a shot. And I don't regret it one bit. It arrived in a timely fashion and it only took about 10 minutes of planning to figure out how I wanted to do it (hint: start at where you will be using the headset, not at the connector end). I put three up, adjusted with another couple to handle the excess wire. Full disclosure, my space isn't that large, the ceiling is a bit lower than I would like, but this has immensely helped my VR experience.

Initially I had my doubts about the pull strength. They seemed a bit flimsy, the pull weight wasn't that substantial. But keep in mind each one is not designed to hold the entire weight of the headset wire. When I had 3 up, none of them even extended at all unless I pulled on them. If you are using all 6 then they can more than hold the weight of the wire. Also though, I put one right behind me hanging from the ceiling with just a little slack, but I can move freely around my small area, I can't even feel the pull weight of one of the hooks. But when I return to center it pulls the cord right up.

I don't know how permanent this is intended to be, but I don't see a reason to do anything else unless this all of the suddenly fails. I would say it's well worth the money, and the setup was quick and as easy as it could be.

I'll never go back to playing with cords on the floor. For $2 at local walmart, I added a 360 swivel clip to the line nearest the line center of the room. Without this, I had trouble with line twisting and sliding off the hook at certain points in my play area. Loving my vr setup now!

Would be 5 stars if I didn't have to modify to keep line on hook

I've been wanting some cable management system since purchasing my Vive. Amazon has some listings for some lanyard systems, but the reviews were all over the map. I could only fine a single YouTube review, but the guy got it for free, so I wasn't sure if I could trust it. I came across a Reddit user who had purchased this system for his VR Arcade business and based on his experience I decided to order.

My play area has a drop ceiling (~8ft high) and I decided to use string to attach the lanyards instead of using the hooks with the adhesive because a number of reviews state the adhesive is so strong it'll pull off paint, etc. Using string to hold the lanyards actually seems to work well (of course this will only work on a drop ceiling). I don't have a big play area so I only used 3 hooks--the first to basically get the cable off the ground and the other 2 to suspend it towards the middle.

Let me speak to the "quality" of what I received. I paid $26 and I got 6 lanyards, 6 hooks with adhesive pads, and 6 carabiners. The lanyards are made of black plastic and the line seems like a durable fishing-line type material. The carabiners are metal. The carabiners look extremely cheap, but they function and I don't anticipate an issue with them. I have no idea whether the lanyards will hold up long term, but I intend to remove my cable whilst not playing in order to lessen the impact on them. Once installed, they do adequately suspend the cable and allow a degree of movement. The lanyard cables can extend to 4+ feet, but my setup is small enough that they were never maxed out. I can't speak to the quality of the hooks or adhesive since I didn't use them.

After I got the stuff installed, I spent numerous hours playing with the most vigorous test coming from a game called Windlands. Windlands requires a lot of movement, including constant turning as well as a lot of reaching up above your head. Overall, the cable management system has been superior to having the cable on the ground. Although it removes the hazard of stepping on the cable, I did find that you can wrap the cable around your head a bit since there will be (and needs to be) some slack in the cable going to the HMD. This wasn't too much of a problem, but it certainly isn't a perfect solution. Also, I actually hit the cable pretty hard while I was swinging my hands about my head--this is absolutely something to be super-aware of as it's a new type of hazard.

Bottom Line: They work fairly well for me. They're relatively inexpensive, but they also appear to be cheaply made so durability is questionable. Note that you will be trading the hazards of tripping on cables to sometimes having the cable droop on your face or wrap around it. If you play games where you swing your arms above your head you'll need to be careful not to swat the cable. For $26 it's a viable short-term solution until you move to wireless.

Photos:
#1 One of each item in the package. The "L" shaped key allows you to adjust the lanyard's cable
#2 Is of the cords entire weight on one lanyard (note that it isn't stretched to max)
#3 Note the barrel adjusters on the carabiner--you use the L shaped tool to loosen this which allows you to tether 2 lanyards together if needed
#4 I installed only 3 of the lanyards. Note that I used string instead of the included hooks. I merely wrapped the string around the drop-ceiling supports and tied the lanyard to them

I'm shocked this has so many five-star reviews.

Attached photos: first, this kit, installed. second and third, my replacement, using Key-Bak retractors.

A. These things have *terrible* retraction-force. I don't have a tool handy to measure it, but it has to be less than half-an-oz "” four of them, installed across approx. six horizontal feet, can't even hold the weight of a perfectly-still cord "” it would always droop down to approximately half extension, unless I manually took ahold of the cord, and "pushed" it back into place, giving these weak things a chance to retract.

B. The adhesive may work well for wood, as stated by another reviewer; but it *definitely* does not hold to drop-ceiling panels, nor to concrete (two sets tested.) The adhesive lasted less than one month before hooks began to fall down. Use a more permanent mounting-system, if you can.

C. The mini-carabiners are as shoddy in quality as the other two components (although, to be fair, that matters less in this situation.) Unrelated to the installation of the Vive, my partner accidentally pulled on one "” not hard, just a slight yank "” and the silver arm broke *entirely off of* the black karabiner. Like, wow.

----

The idea, however, is sound "” I've built my own, *much more robust*, solution, using Key-Bak-brand retractors. These are small, extremely robust, available in various form-factors / retraction-forces, made in America, and (due to having to use fewer of them), would be actually *cheaper* than this system (if you didn't experiment with different strengths, as I have.)

After some experimentation, I would recommend one (or two) Key-Bak Sidekick Heavy Duty (4 oz. retraction-force) holding up the middle of the cable, and a single Key-Bak MID6 (6 oz. retraction force) at the end of the "˜chain', supporting the weight of the rest of the cord leading down to the head-unit, wherever you keep it. (I finally resorted to drilling tiny eye-hooks into the concrete to support these, although a less-permanent solution is probably also possible. I also experimented with the Key-Bak SECURIT Heavy Duty, 8 oz. retraction force form; but it was too strong, in my opinion.)