I stopped by a local camping store after their recent major renovations. (They didn't take the golden opportunity to improve on their store layout for some silly reason, but that's another story.)
I found these little things called Niteize gear ties.
http://www.niteize.com/collections/gear-tie I picked up a package of 4 - 3" ties to try out on some electrical cords. These things are kinda neat as they are a heavy malleable wire covered with grippy rubber and they have a bit of larger knob on each end. They come in a variety of sizes from 3" - 32" long. In short they work. A lot better than the inexpensive paper/wire or thin plastic twisties. You can reuse them which makes them more versatile than single use plastic straps. I will have to buy they larger ones to see how well they work against bungy cords. Bungies are great for compressing on an item tight but what if you don't want to compress and tie -- well then use one of these gear ties.
I am going to buy a few more and see what other uses for them I can find around the house.