re: OT Licensed Electricians... pros and cons of backfeed cord extensions

You don't even need a sub panel. If you have open room in your breaker box for a 30 amp 2 pole breaker. I have an inlet box on the other side of the garage wall from my box (you want the generator outside for obvious reasons) to plug in the generator. Get an interlock switch (piece of metal that won't let you turn on the generator breaker while the main is on). Now, when power goes out you can plug in the generator with a white man's cord and the flip on the breaker and the only power the circuits in your house you choose by flipping on those breakers. This is good up to 8500 watts I believe which is plenty enough for most ppl. I did this myself for about 150-200'bucks. Worth it's weight in gold when the power goes out.
PS the time to do this was 3 months ago, not when a hurricane is barreling down on you