I _might_ have gotten a little obsessive about wiring my dinky little shop, but so far I'm absurdly happy with the results. Thought I'd mention a couple of the products that worked very well (I am NOT in the electrical business; these are just happy little discoveries).
Eaton Arrow-Hart receptacles: I LOVE these outlets! I've mostly used Leviton in the past, but these feel more solid. They have side screws that aren't made of cheese, and they "back wire" by inserting stripped ends under a beefy little plate and clamping it down hard. That makes them both safe and reusable, as contrasted with the little "gator teeth" in cheapie back-wired receptacles; it also means you can backwire with 12-gauge conductors. Their tamper-resistant versions are also weather-resistant, and <choirs of angels> there's a stout, clever bending lug that lets you wire up the ground in a jiffy. These are best-of-breed in my somewhat-but-not-entirely-limited experience. Sourced from local Lowe's, which delivered to the house, but SLO-OWLY.
WAGO wiring connectors: these Deutsche doodads were a tip from a local friend. They solved my space issue for pig-tailing 240V twist-lock outlets into single-gang boxes, as they take up far less room than the large wire nuts that would have been required. The 221-613 size accepts 10-gauge conductors; they grip the wires like a baby monkey holds onto mama; and they're vastly easier to place than twisting wire nuts onto 10-gauge. Because you can pigtail shorter, they also require less wrestling around to bend metal into place. They're reversible, reusable, and generally excellent to use. About 50 cents a pop, which seems high, but you can repurpose them if you ever rewire, instead of cutting them off and throwing them away. Sourced from Amazon.
Amazon Prime for receptacles? Srsly? Yes. Ordering L6-30R Leviton twist-locks from Bezos's baby brought them to my door in a couple of days, for about half the price of me driving down to Home Depot. That economic eye opener saved me more than 150 bucks on those outlets alone. I picked up a few other items from them (e.g. 50A welding outlet) that were also highly price competitive and saved me masking up for in-person missions. I wouldn't want to buy things online that compete with local businesses, but I don't exactly feel protective about HD or Lowe's -- they're beastly big and doing fine, near as I can tell.
GFCI breakers: I have long mistrusted GFCI outlets, not least because over the years I've had three of them melt in the walls of three different locations (only one of which I installed, if you're wondering). Stuffing the subpanel with GFCI breakers (I chose Square D QO, to match the house panel) avoids those tricksy buggers, and also reduces hunting around outlet boxes and squinting at little ivory buttons. Just go to the box and check for an orange flag, and flip it back.
Journeyman-Pro connectors: picked up a pair of these (the "generator set") to repurpose a length of 10-gauge SO cable, which had been hanging in the shed for years, into a twist-lock drop cord. The J-Ps are super solid and easy to use. I bought a couple more of their plugs to bling up my tool cords after I came up short in my electrical rummage box.
Although I find a lot to like in my current wiring arrangement, these items were standouts of quality and convenience. For those anticipating a wiring project in the near future, there are definitely worse doodads than these to check out. Hope that's useful to someone.
Cheers,
Jack