Extension Cord Reel

Purchased for SDI/Coax Cable after seeing a colleague use one, I'm a video production freelancer. Can easily hold around 500ft+ of R6 Coax, I have 250ft in mine, and it's pretty easy to use with a couple of feet standing on the sides or sand bags. If you need to store long Power/Coax cables this is a really easy solution.

We're a group of radio stations that perform numerous live broadcasts from on location, including high school sports. More and more of our broadcasts these days are delivered via audio codec over IP with dedicated, special equipment built for broadcasters. With high school sports we are increasingly given a dedicated internet connection by the schools to carry their games. We needed a lot of UDP cable in order to connect to the network drops in the gyms and football fields. We bought the Reel-A-Pail to put 300 foot of cable on, so we could more easily reach the school's internet drop in the gymnasium or in the football press box, or whatever venue we happen to be broadcasting from. This reel handles the 300 foot of UDP cable quite handily with room to spare. We don't experience jams or any mechanical problems. The hand-off is smooth and the reel-up process at the end of the broadcast is fairly easy. We aren't experiencing any of the jamming or handle difficulties that other users are reporting. The UDP cable is about 1/4 of an inch in diameter, so it doesn't fill up the pail all the way. Instead, it probably fills it about 2/3rds of the way which probably accounts for how smoothly our pail is handling. The guys carry a small 5 port Ethernet switch with them to boost the signal coming from the drop so it can be sent down the 300 foot cable without signal loss or an intermittent connection. If you're a broadcast outfit that's starting to use more and more codec broadcasting, you might want to consider this size of pail for your UDP cable. I used CAT 6 with re-enforced core to build this cable, it should last a long time. The handle does fold down on top to allow it to be stacked with other stuff. I allowed about 9 foot of cable to remain on top, where it can be spooled into the pail's top lid retainers. This will allow the guys to connect more easily without strain on the cable. I'd highly recommend this Reel-A-Pail for anyone needing easy portability for long runs of cable. It helps avoid a lot of twisting which inevitably happens when people arm-wrap cables. This can spell the death of UDP and microphone cables because today's copper wire is more brittle and breaks more easily when a lot of jacket stress is put upon it. The pail is a little expensive, but we think it's worth it. I wish I had thought of it!

Simple product that works as advertised. I don't think it will break, but if it does I'll buy another one.

I switched to electric lawn equipment because I just don't have it in me to do the maintenance for gas powered appliances. The only Achilles's heel is the 10' ga extension cord that I have to use with everything. It's heavy, tangles and is a big unwieldy pain. This reel a pail basically nullifies that. You reel it in and you pull it out. It's just that simple. Excellent product!!

Works beautifully. The instructions are not useful though. As other reviewers have pointed out, pull enough cord to the top tray to reach the outlet before loading the spool. When using the bucket, pull the cord needed before plugging in. When done, unplug from the wall, load the top tray and then wind the cord. You may need to guide the cord to get it to load evenly.Still the easiest cord real for 100' 10ga wire I've ever used.

This thing is genius! I have 200 feet of outdoor extension cord I use to power some lawn equipment (edger/trimmer, hedge trimmer, blower/vacuum), and this pail makes it SO MUCH EASIER to work with that much cord (it could probably hold another 100 feet!). It works as advertised and I don't waste time winding up cord. The only thing is, you need to unwind the cord prior to plugging it into the wall -- but it winds up so easily and quickly that it isn't a burden. And, storage is simple and keeps my garage neat. I may buy a couple of these as gifts!

Makes life so much easier. No more tangled cords

Best cord reel I've owned!