I may be missing something, but how useful is a cord reel such as the one pictured with a 100-ft long extension cord?
I'd like to think that a 100-ft extension cable with a pretty good gauge (12) would act as a substitute for a 50-ft and even for a 25-ft cable. But after winding on such a cord reel, one end will be inaccessible, and so even to use it as just a 25-ft extension, I'd have to unwind the whole thing out. Is that right?
I saw suggestions online to buy a specialized reel that picks up the extension cable from its centerpoint. That would solve the problem, but it would also introduce a stress point through excessive bending. Yet another suggestion online is to avoid a reel altogether and use a piece of wood, though I'd really rather not spend half a day fabricating something like this myself.
Best Answer
Those cord reels are very useful. You'll need a BIG one to hold a 100' 12 gauge though. If you leave 6" or so hanging out one of the big holes on the side, you can wrap it with the end accessible.
I wrap these with the female end on the spool, so you plug it in first and walk to where you're working. I guess it works OK either way.
They make cord reels with receptacles on the spool ...
and those work great except when you're working on a ladder. Sometimes the cord on the tool isn't long enough to reach this thing on the ground.
When you're working on a ladder it's nice to be able to pull some slack off either end. This is a pretty good way to go:
That's from a tip sent into Fine Homebuilding.
The Cordwiz Pro
does the same thing as the bucket trick, if you'd rather not do it homemade.
One other thing to get if you're shopping, a portable GFCI