[TOGoS]

NEMA power inlets are weirdly expensive and therefore hard to come by. So if you want to have a wall-powered device with a detachable cord, using an outlet as an inlet and a male-to-male cord is a simple solution.

(And yes, I'm aware of other solutions, like using IEC inlets, but it just feels a little wrong to use one of those on e.g. a power strip with NEMA outlets.)

[kuschku]

Expensive?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DCXKNXQ/

That's 60ct a piece. Rated for 250V 10A.

You can just buy any cheap cord like https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003MGB0IK/ to connect to it.

There's no excuse for suicide cables.

[drewzero1]

That's an IEC inlet... I think OP is referring to something specifically intended as a generator inlet, like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Reliance-Controls-30-Amp-Power-I...

Not impossible to get, but certainly a bit more expensive.

[josephcsible]

It's a simple solution alright, just like using a lighter to look inside of a gas tank because you don't have a flashlight handy is.

[TOGoS]

Except that flashlights are easy to find in any gas station, and NEMA inlets are not.

Yeah, it's dangerous because some kid might take that double-male cord and plug it in somewhere problematic, but given the lack of obvious alternatives, I can understand why someone would do this. If we want to discourage it, we should make the correct solution more obvious and widely available.

[josephcsible]

How are they not widely available? Home Depot and Lowe's both sell them.

[TOGoS]

Looking at my local Home Depot's website, they do have a few different options for NEMA inlets in stock, but the options are pretty limited, and they're all larger connectors, not your standard 3-prong connector onto which you could shove the female end of an extension cord (which is what I really wanted for my power-strip-with-detachable-cord projects; I can't really speak to why others might want a male-to-male cable).

[leeter]

They are?

https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-Available-515CR-Outlet-Ground...

[TOGoS]

Sure, but that's more of an inline-style connector. I want something panel-mounted. With enough epoxy something like what you linked to could be adapted, but my time has value also. What I want is something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/265239624399 but note the 15$ price tag, and compare to that of IEC inlets, which are an order of magnitude less expensive.

[eternityforest]

That's what IEC inlets are for