Twisted

One of my very favorite pieces of gear is my headphones.  They're Yamaha brand, and I think I paid about $30 for them at Fry's on closeout sale, so they're not cheapos by any stretch.  I love the sound quality, and they fit my gaping ear holes perfectly, staying put right where I stick them.  They seal great; not letting sweat in and cutting off nearly all background noise--perfect for the treadmill, (but I'm going to have to figure something out when I start running outside).  The cord is long enough to reach my ears from the book ledge on the treadmill, but not so long they get tangled in my legs.  They're pretty much perfect.

Pretty much.

The only downside?  I have never owned a pair of headphones that can tie themselves in knots like these!  Every time I'm done using them, I coil them neatly (I've even tried folding them!) and the next time I go to use them, they are all knotted up.  And I'm not just talking about simple square knots either.  These babies will put your Eagle Scout to shame with some of the complex knots I've discovered.

My wife laughs at me while I struggle to detangle them at the beginning of every run.  She thinks it's something that I'm doing, because her headphones for her iPod coil into a tight circle that she then clips into the iPod itself. And they stay that way until she gets them out to use again.

But I swear it's not me.

As an experiment one time I held them untangled, hanging free and watched in astonishment as they coiled back on themselves right before my very eyes.

But no matter.

I truly like my imperfect, difficult, pain-in-the-ass headphones.

They kind of remind me, well, of me.

What's your favorite piece of gear?