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Big problem is they are "generally" very light duty. Almost every one
I have around right now is only 18 guage -good for something between
2.3 and 7 amps, more or less, depending on length. Not much good as a
"general purpose" extention cord.

Agree. Even the ones that seem thick are actually 18AWG, sometimes 16 but
very rarely 14. I went looking for a 14AWG cord and found only one in a
box of dozens. IIRC it came from an AST Turbo Laser that dimmed the lights
when it booted up. (-:

For short, low wattage work I've bought adapters that have a male "D" plug
connected to a regular 110VAC outlet format. That turns it into a grounded
6 to 12' extension cord. Problem is, unless you shop for the lowest price
adapters, they end up being as costly as buying a new extension cord. Same
with putting a 110VAC plug on the cord. Those connectors cost $2 or more
each. Others may disagree, but I prefer a molded plug to a retrofitted one.

If you can find the "D" adapters cheap, they work out well. I like to use
them for wiring a stereo stack because you can label them for easy
breakdown/reconfiguration and bundle the cord that comes with the equipment
up so that you can unplug nearly in place instead of down at the power
strip. Who here hasn't had a problem fishing a long cord from an equipment
stack like that? Or unplugged the wrong item? I try to label cords at the
plug end just to be sure.

I also use 1' mini-extension cords for things like plugging six "wall warts"
into a powerstrip. The short extensions eliminate the problem with power
adapters that cover one or more of the adjacent outlets. I use velcro to
keep the power adapters attached to the piece of scrap shelving that I
attached the power strip to so that it's a little neater. They really make
a difference if you've got a lot of wall-warts (like my charging station
that now has a record 37 chargers of different types. Really, chargers for
cell phones, garden equipment, tools, batteries, shavers, kitchen gear,
laptops, PDAs, MP3 players, portable vacs, cameras, etc.) I, for one, am
glad that the EU led the way in forcing phone makers (at least) to
standardize on the USB charging plug. I bought a universal solar charger
for cell phones that came with 21 different adapters!!!!!!

--
Bobby G.