I need to find a way to reduce the number of cables going back to the camera from my mixer. The DP has made it pretty clear that he wants me out of the frigging way, but with power cables everwhere (he uses a field monitor, plugs in the camera and has loads of lights) I've had a hard time managing very long cable runs and keeping from crossing the power lines, in addition to managing the cable from the boom op, and booming occassionally myself when we need to cover difficult scenes. (I hate recording direct to camera. I despise it. I really do.) If I could combine the headphone extension cord and two XLR cables together and send that back to camera, my life would be a lot easier and there would be less eyerolling at me. In a previous post (can't find it) a product was mentioned that does just that, but we're converting all of our cables to Star Quad and that thing looked a little a dodgy. If I got a 3.5mm stereo Belden cable and two Canare Star Quad cables, could I safely tape them together? I need a cable run of at least 30 feet. I'm feeding a mic level signal back to the camera. Is there an all-in-one product that will give me Star Quad reliability? Would like to solve this by Sept. 24.

This item is close, but not exactly what you need. They can make one to your specs I'm sure.
http://www.trewaudio.com/catalog/items/item368.htm

I know some of the Sound Devices mixers have a snake that does exactly this.

But I'd be curious... wouldn't gaffer tape work here? (which is what you're asking)

You may need to be a little careful that you don't kink up the cable (after you gaffer tape it, and coil it in normal use).
Certainly duct tape is not desireable because the gunk is hard to get out. Those are the only things I can think of.

I'm not sure what happened to the pic/info on their web site, but give the guys at Equipment Emporium a call and ask about their EQE Mini boom duplex cable, it has pretty close to what you're looking for. They're usually selling these at the tradeshows. Pretty cool.

Equipment Emporium Inc. voice: 818-838-4457 or 800-473-4554
http://www.equipmentemporium.com/

Here is the google cached text, because the info is no longer on their site:

"EQE Mini Boom Line $99.95

Tom invented this one! It is a thin, 50 ft Canare mic cable that has been modified to carry a headphone feed as well as one mic feed. At the camcorder end is a standard XLR male, to plug into your mic input box. A stereo mini plug connects to the headphone out. At the boom operator's end is an XLR female for the mic and a stereo mini jack for the headphones.

No thicker than a standard mic cable, this mini boom cable (the correct term in a "duplex cable", but most Hollywood types prefer the slang term "boom cable") solves the age olde problem of how to get audio back to the boom person if it is only a low budget video shoot without the luxury (necessity!!!) of a mixing panel. On Hollywood shoots, we use a heavy duty duplex rig that costs around $275, and is designed to take an output from the mix panel. But on low budget video shoots, the shotgun mic is often plugged directly into the camcorder.

The mini boom line is ideal for those situations, due to its light weight and light expense. The XLR mic plugs into the camcorder (or the audio adapter box on the camcorder), and the headphone plug connects to the headphone output of the camera. If you want to feed two headphones (one for the camera operator), then use a simple Y-cable adapter."

From http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:cjTsEGg5VysJ:www.equipmentemporium.com/miniboom.htm+eqe+mini&hl=en&lr=&client=safari&strip=1

Is there an all-in-one product that will give me Star Quad reliability? Would like to solve this by Sept. 24.

Yes, it's called a Betacam or ENG cable. They come in different lengths and in "breakaway" and "non-breakaway" versions. The "breakaway" cables are the most desirable as they separate into two segments, one is 18 inches long, and the other is however long you want it, up to probably a fifty or a hundred feet.

The idea is to connect the shorter end to the camera and the long end to the mixer. Then, when you need to move quickly, you simply disconnect a single multipin connector (the "breakaway") and move on.

You can get one from remoteaudio.com (made by Trew Audio) or from professionalsound.com (made by PSC). You cannot mix and match brands. Even though the connectors may look the same, the bias pins are wired differently.

By the way, I have both. The PSC is a bit more flexible while the Remote Audio is a bit more durable. Pick your evil.

Hope this helps.