Never had a problem with mine and wouldn't be without it tbh

If you have a happy little well behaved dog or an elderly one with no desire to pull or run then a retractable leash might work fine for you. My dogs are incredibly strong.
For their safety and mine I use a woven mesh lead of the width they use for horses. They would break any retractable leash instantly.

I have the "happy little well behaved dog" Can see your point actually,maybe not the best choice for all dogs.

I'll never use one again. I had one with my dog and it broke... came clean off the roll one day. It was not a mega cheap one, either. The buttons also tend to malfunction too often IMO, as well.

No real need for them, either in my case. My Jade gets two normal leashes if she wants extra length in the yard, otherwise she stays on a normal leash. My Nigredo gets a short leash, or let off the leash entirely.

Hate when people use them improperly... such as in places like pet shops and stores. Their dogs may as well be loose!

My Jade would instantly break one, too. She's 54 lbs and half pitty. Nigredo doesn't pull, but he's 85 lbs and it's just not a good idea to use those flimsy things. Even the ones made for big dogs are unreliable. Trust me, it's happened to me twice.

My first dog had a nice dash while I went chasing him all over the 'hood and Nigredo turned around like HUH??? when his just came clean off the roll once it got to the end.

I don't like them and much rather prefer a long line that you can keep slack. They're much safer and don't cause tension. I have a reactive dog so when we encounter other dogs I have to make sure there's no tension on the lead so she doesn't think there's something to worry about. I have much better control over her with a long lead, and she still gets a lot of freedom.

We use one for a bit of freedom, until he had a good recall. Now his recall is fine, he Is just taken to fields etc on his standard lead. My dog is only 8kg though

Just an observation, but the heavy duty, flexi tape lead that I am using for Rosie was bought for my old boy Sam (Border Collie) 18 years ago and is still as functional now

Can I just ask, what happens if you meet another dog and your "reactive" dog is on a slack lead, how do you maintain or get control?
I have only ever used a normal length lead, one that I feel I have complete control over or a flexi lead on a dog that doesn't need restraining just keeping in sight

I keep thinking of Helena, nearly losing her fingers

If you have the line looped in your right hand you can quite easily feed it in and out, Helena's like me, used to lungeing horses, and it was a freak accident she had there. i know of more people that have near taken their fingers off with the retractable ones than anything else, I've heard of them snapping and also know of at least one dog where it snapped and pinged back and the dog lost its eye, none of which happens with a line. I always use a line with Cariad and Lona because of their history with b...y collies and they now hate them with a passion, so I can feed the line out and back in again if needs be. You do have to be alert, but when you have dogs that dislike other dogs you keep your eyes open anyway for anything that is coming towards you. I can't understand how people can cope with the massive plastic thing that is a handle on these retractables, there is no flexibility in them at all