Cheap extension cords are infuriating.

I did a deck and pergola job last year where there was so much water and mud, my cords just kind of seeped into it. As soon as water got between the cord end and plug, out went the breaker. I probably lost two days just going inside the house and flipping the switch. Oh, and because this was mud-fest 6000 (even though the project ended up killers-ville, you can watch me suffer in this DIY-ish video I produced of it )—I had to take off my shoes and roll up my pants each time. Fun.

If I had a GFCI-protected cord with the GFCI near me, well, I’d be putting more money in my pocket.

Bad Ass Extension Cords makes such cords and a 50-foot 12/3 costs about $82.

Not cheap for a cord. And not a cheap-O cord either.

Plenty of go-juice can flow through all that burly wire. And the company makes cords in different, uncommon colors so it’s more difficult to confuse them on a crowded power pole. You’d probably have the only robin’s-egg-blue 50-foot 3-tap out there.

They also make a more-cheapskate-friendly 3-foot 3-way GFCI-protected splitter that’s more along the lines of something that would make it to my truck.

Also, they may have an improvement on what I’ve until now thought was the world’s most un-improvable cord, the 50-foot 14/3 24-dollar Ridgid 3-outlet in-line extension cord. (While officially these are “indoor” cords, I have two of those and they save untold amounts of time in outdoor conditions.)

BAEC makes a 50-foot, 5-outlet outdoor12/3 cord for $88. Be still my heart.