860-piece resistor kit

A couple of years ago I started working on electronics projects again after a long hiatus. To stock up on components, I bought bulk packages of resistors, capacitors, diodes, and transistors.

The packaging for the 860 resistors I bought from Joe Knows Electronics is excellent. It's a rugged closable cardboard box with 86 sealable plastic bags, arranged by resistor value from 0 ohm to 10M ohm. Each bag is labeled and contains 10 resistors.

One thing threw me off when I got them — they are 5-band resistors, and I was familiar with 4-band resistors. (Bands are the painted colored rings on resistors that indicate their value.) But it was easy enough to figure out the value of the resistors, especially since they camed in labeled bags. (The inside lid of the box has a chart in case you pull a resistor out of a bag and forget its value.)

Joe Knows also sells a 20-piece transistor and diode kit, but I didn't buy it so I can't vouch for it. — Mark Frauenfelder

Joe Knows Electronics 1/4W 86 Value 860 Piece Resistor Kit $(removed)