Thanks @troux and anyone else who did the same off the back of this thread!!!
@mog00 - it really depends on the individual - I like the make noise, erica synths, mutable (braided) cables and stackcables - I also have doepfer, arturia and tinrs - which I'm not so keen on (although the tinrs are really useful) - generally the important things are flexibility, reliability and the size of the plugs and cable - cables aren't expensive just buy a few different ones and try them out - try to aim for roughly 1/2 the number of jacks you have in the case - at some point you'll need less - but it's a good starting point
"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia
Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!
sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities