Jeff Wisnia wrote:

(some snippage by me)

The first thing which struck me as having a strong smell of
stupid about it was that the installer had mounted a four pole
30 amp female socket on an inside garage wall and made my friend
a 30 foot flexible cord with a MALE plug on BOTH ends to use to
connect his new generator to that receptical. The ramifications
of using male plug on the house end of that cable should be
obvious to a blind man.

From a purely technical aspect, I'm sure that setup will work
just fine when operated by someone who knows exactly what they
are doing, but it's hardly idiot proof if the person using it
suffers a "brain fart" and forgets to take all the proper steps
in the correct sequence.

The 30' connecting cord your friend now owns is sometimes
called a "Dead Man Cord" or "Death Line" or "Suicide Rope",
at least that's some of the names I've heard.

There's a good reason for that!

But first, the double-male cord has so many nicknames because
this particular setup is done often. I used it when I worked
in the cable industry and we had to power a remote antenna site
from the emergency generator on the truck. Something tells me
that OSHA never knew about it.

Is it legal, to code? ???. Being that the fixed receptacle
in the home is probably wired to code, that's likely where it
ends as far as the NEC is concerned. Is it safe? Exactly as
safe you say it is. Does your friend realize that he must
have a totally clear head when he goes to use the thing?, that
having a few beers in him or a family problem on his mind
could fry his ass? He better.

--
The real Tom Pendergast [ So if you meet me, have some courtesy,
aka I-zheet M'drurz [ have some sympathy, and some taste.
Accept no substitutes! [ Use all your well-learned politesse,
$1 to Mick for the .sig ---[ or I'll lay your soul to waste.