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Comment by mootothemax | Hacker News Reader

I'd argue that the really good thing about the UK plug is 1) the switches in the sockets and 2) that the devices are all well-grounded

There are quite a lot of safety features built in to UK plugs. Other ones I'm aware of are the holes being shuttered until a plug is inserted, and the internal design meaning that if you pull hard enough on the external wire, pulling it out, the internal wires will disconnect in a safe order.

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At an old workplace, we had a piece of equipment with a European plug that we regularly had to shoehorn into a UK socket. It was a case of shoving a screwdriver or a pencil into the earth hole on the socket to simulate that pin being inserted and unlock the others, then fumble the EU plug into the live and neutral holes. (All while the socket was powered down, of course.)

Not particularly safe, and the result of someone who found you could buy equipment cheaper from Germany!

Why didn't you just buy a converter? One side is the UK plug, other side allows you to plug in a variety of different plugs (including the continental one) and they are very cheap.

You could have used an adaptor?

Would a travel plug not be easier?

Also the base of the pins is often insulated so that you can't even wrap a finger around the plug and touch a pin while shoving it clumsily into a socket.

If only the safety features went as far as making them less horrendous to stand on.

Isn't it easier to just stick the bare wires into the socket with matches?

There used to be a 1970s government training film showing you how.

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