Chain-Coil Extension Cords So They Pay Out Without Tangling

The Problem

An extension cord tossed in loose loops knits itself into a knot by the next use, and the elbow-wrap most people default to puts twist into the cord that fights you every time you uncoil it. The worse habit — yanking a tangled cord until it clears — is how conductors get damaged inside the jacket where you can't see it.

The Technique

This is the same chain sinnet used for rope storage, applied to a cord:

1. Bring the two ends together so the cord is folded in half — you'll chain the doubled cord, which keeps the chain short.
2. Near the folded end, make a loop.
3. Reach through the loop, grab a bight (a fold) of the running cord, and pull it through. That's a new loop.
4. Repeat — each pull-through locks the loop before it — until you run out of cord.
5. Tuck the plug ends through the final loop so the chain can't creep undone in storage.

To use the cord, pop the ends back out of the last loop and pull. The whole chain unzips in one motion, straight and tangle-free.