@Azure Is it like this by any chance..?
https://www.reddit.com/r/electricians/comments/mpo0g2/this_is_a_real_power_strip_i_have_in_my_basement/
(I still need to watch that episode as well - context for others: https://youtube.com/watch?v=K_q-xnYRugQ "Perhaps the weakest link in the US electrical system", 25m47s by Technology Connections)
@digitalfox @Azure I actually love that for how much of a ghastly hack it is, and how much more flexibility it gives you with weirdly-sized wallwarts.
I mean I'd never want one in my house but
@digitalfox @Azure yeah "pigtail" extension cords are a thing I use way too much and I kind of hate how much of a mess they make. I also have way too much stuff plugged into some of my outlets via power strips in general and like. Gah why is power so hard
(and why does everything do its own AC->DC conversion? I wish USB-as-power-bus were more popular for things that aren't tiny)
@digitalfox @Azure oh also one time I had a cheap power strip fall apart and its internal construction was surprisingly similar to the 1940s power strip, with full-length rails going the whole way down instead of having discretely wired sockets. I wonder how many power strips are actually built that way.
also I've seen some truly horrific power hacks with people doing things like running lamp cord through the little holes on the ends of polarized plugs
@fluffy @digitalfox @Azure the answer is "most of them" - only one in my house has modular duplex outlets fitted in a power strip frame. the rest use the mentioned 'bus bar' internal construction because it's way cheaper, and also lighter. the one with discrete duplex has a fairly heavy stamped steel body. the problem generally isn't the bus bars or socket leaves, it's whatever the cheap ones use as TVS/Surge protection.
@fluffy @digitalfox @Azure cont, if you have a "wide-body" power strip, it's probably got a decent surge arrestor circuit, with spark gap capsules and the like. but the common cheap ones may not have anything other than a 15 amp breaker
@fluffy @digitalfox @Azure this is the closest I can find to the described design. I know I've seen ads for a version that goes in a Decora-plate gangbox but I can't find anything like it online
@fluffy @digitalfox @Azure helps to paste the actual link - https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Tap-A-Line.html
@digitalfox @Azure oh christ I was just watching an Adrian's Digital Basement episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_URDN2G88s and at about 3:22 there's a rather OH GOD NOT ANOTHER ONE moment