I've always liked plugs on items such as lamps or other appliances. I know this will vary by country.

My favorite styles are old bakelite plugs that are ornate with lines or oak leaves moulded to them.
Second would be the little moulded on plugs from the 1950s-70s and some 80s styles.
Also I like when appliances have grounded moulded plugs and heavy cords, makes them feel heavy duty and quality.

Black, White, Grey, Yellow, Orange, Clear, and Landscaping color wires
ALL have to have a ground pin in order for me to like it otherwise I'll just use it because it works

HEAVY AMP CORDS YO!

European 2.5A 2P - suitable for many small, double isolated loads

Italian Luce 10A 2P+E - suitable for loads up to 10A, while not bigger than the 2.5A plug. Socket is compatible with the 2.5A plug too. Not polarized - can be inserted either way

German Schuko 16A 2P+E - suitable for loads up to 16A. Fairly strongly holding in the receptacle, suitable for heavy duty use. Socket is compatible with the 2.5A plug too. Not polarized - can be inserted either way



The current Israeli standard have 2 disadvantages :

 - The plugs/sockets are rated 16A, but their performance above 10A is questionable (the socket contacts in most sockets make too weak connection to reliably hold 16A)

 - The plug is polarized, which lets the appliance manufacturers (and electricians etc) expect to have Phase and Neutral in specific positions. When the positions are not known (as in the European plugs), this forces the appliance manufacturers and electricians to treat both poles as live, which leads to safer work practices



And for heavy duty, the IEC 60309 in its different versions

What I differentiate (assume all are code compliant) are design features that "promote" correct and "discourage" bad handling but at the same time being compact and slim (quite contradictory requirements, but that is the design challenge to handle these when designing the plug, so what I then admire).
So a good design is a 90deg angled (cord leaving at a right angle from the pins), with deep groves on the plug body sides to grab it when you want to disconnect it. But very easily it may become an impractical beast (an outstanding bad example of that is what became the UK standard)
A bad design is straight plug with no groves, so users are very likely disconnecting it by just pulling on the cord (common on many cheepeese cords for either EU or US standards, used to appear quite often on old things; the UK standard inherently excludes this, so UK is quite safe from these).

We have both straight and right angle plugs. I prefer the straight plug, but with the body shape that promotes correct handling

This is my fav model (of the Israeli standard)

Powercon True1 by neutrik, hands down my favorite followed by the British 3 prong plug because of safety. I also like the IEC pin and sleeve jobs as well though the larger ones can be a pain to deal with.

UK 13A plug, of course. Best make is MK.

My faverout plug is the old BS 546 15 amp plug although it says 15 amp im sure it would handle a lot more best design ever I also like  5 amp and 2 amp plugs the 2 amp ones are so dinky they are absolutely tiny I use all these types in my shack workshop as well as the rather boring 13 amp standard

My faverout plug is the old BS 546 15 amp plug although it says 15 amp im sure it would handle a lot more best design ever I also like  5 amp and 2 amp plugs the 2 amp ones are so dinky they are absolutely tiny I use all these types in my shack workshop as well as the rather boring 13 amp standard

We use the 5A one for the feed to the router from the UPS, see here.

Thats a good idea using a non standard plug the idea is used in industry a lot. My sockets are all old bakealite ones I think yours is fairly modern

Thats a good idea using a non standard plug the idea is used in industry a lot. My sockets are all old bakealite ones I think yours is fairly modern

Yes it's a new one, the plug is new as well, Screwfix have them in stock, someone is making them somewhere it seems.

My favourite non-standard plug is the Walsall Gauge 13A one with the pins rotated through 90 degrees. I have a few of them but they're single pole fused and I really need the double pole fused version so I can use them on the centre-tapped 110V transformer I have.

Wow I didn't know they made the UK plug in different flavors like that! Are the BS 546 the ones with the round pins?

Wow I didn't know they made the UK plug in different flavors like that! Are the BS 546 the ones with the round pins?

Yes, the BS546 ones are the 2A/5A/15A round pin plugs. The Walsall Gauge 13A plugs are no longer made and are considered obsolete, which is a pity as I find them very useful. They were made in both single-fused (as per a normal plug) but also in a double-pole fused version with 2 fuses, one in each leg. This was useful for the output of a centre-tapped 110V transformer where both legs are at 55V with respect to earth. Sadly, I don't have any and so far have been unable to source any.

If anyone knows of any going, PLEASE get in touch..!

Yes, the BS546 ones are the 2A/5A/15A round pin plugs. The Walsall Gauge 13A plugs are no longer made and are considered obsolete, which is a pity as I find them very useful. They were made in both single-fused (as per a normal plug) but also in a double-pole fused version with 2 fuses, one in each leg. This was useful for the output of a centre-tapped 110V transformer where both legs are at 55V with respect to earth. Sadly, I don't have any and so far have been unable to source any.

If anyone knows of any going, PLEASE get in touch..!

have any pictures? I never know what I'll encounter on my explorations...

have any pictures? I never know what I'll encounter on my explorations...

Externally it's the same as the picture I posted above. You can only tell by opening it up.