A retractable clothesline: 21 ft (6.4 m) of nylon rope in an ABS plastic shell, with a crank arm to wind it back in. 2.5 oz.

The reel is the answer to the thing that makes people stop carrying a clothesline: packing it away. A loose line goes back in the bag as a knot, and next time you need it you spend five minutes on that knot. A reel is three turns of a crank.

Twenty-one feet is slightly shorter than the fixed 25 ft line, and two and a half ounces is the price you pay for the mechanism — but it is the one you will actually keep using.

Nylon rather than polypropylene here, which is stronger and thinner for the same job.

If you want maximum length and tensioning for a base camp, buy the 25 ft Clothesline. If you want something that goes in a pack and comes out tangle-free every time, buy this.