USB Flash Drives: Cap or No Cap?

3 Replies

I’m currently shopping for a USB flash drive (aka USB flash disk; aka USB thumb drive) and I realized that aside from the storage capacity and external look and design, I realized that the cap (or absence of one) is a factor I’m considering.

I’ve had a few flash drives before and my experience with capped ones is that due to my occasional forgetfulness, I lose the caps. On the other hand, the uncapped ones usually breaks down due to wear and tear (especially for the swivel types).

Now, I need your help. I’m torn between choosing the capped USB flash drive models and the uncapped ones. Am I missing out on some critical feature here? Better yet, any recommended brands? Thanks in advance.

  • http://azraelsph.co.cc Azrael
  • http://saim-baig.blogspot.com Saim Baig

    I prefer capped ones.And Kingston is the best brand i have used.

  • http://flickr.com/photos/26464039@N02/ Kenny

    Basically, a cap is normally meant to keep dust/dirt from getting into the USB plug. So at least you don’t have anybody plugging something dirty into the USB ports of your own computer. A cap also helps to cover the edgy bits of the USB plug so that those bits don’t accidentally cut into things…like your hand/fingers/pockets/bags etc. Swivel caps and retractable USB plugs don’t normally keep dust/dirt out. But these caps are still suitable for many people. They have their advantages.

    On the other hand, swivel caps and retractable USB plugs usually have a key-ring or lanyard connection point on the body of the USB flash drive. This means that if you connect a key-ring or lanyard to a USB flash drive with a swivel cap or a retractable USB plug, then there can be issues. Like, if you just want to plug the drive into a computer and then walk away, you might not be able to do this immediately. It can be fiddly because you need a way to unclip the flash drive from the key-ring, or to remove the lanyard from your neck. And there may be various hassles with unclipping things….it can be fiddly. Although, there are little spring-loaded jewelry mechanisms that allow you to disconnect the key-ring chain from the USB drive…..but they can be a hassle to operate as well.

    In the past, I needed a USB cap that could conveniently be connected to my USB flash drive, and could also be conveniently and easily detached by the user – but at the same time would not just fall off the USB drive accidentally (when the capped system is subjected to large bumps and jolts etc). I also wanted one that had a attachment point on the cap for a key-ring, and required this cap to hold and not disconnect from the USB flash drive (because I don’t want the flash drive dropping off the cap unexpectedly when I’m walking around).

    I wasn’t able to find anything that suited my very reasonable demand. So in the end, I just came up with my own kind of USB cap. It fits any conventional USB stick/thumb drive.

    You can actually see what my design looks like at:

    http://flickr.com/photos/26464039@N02/

    I think that they’re the best (or one of the best things for USB flash sticks) even though I developed them myself!.

    Kenny