The reel you use makes a tremendous difference. Spend $20 now and get a Hewes so you can bypass all the horror stories. Look closely at a $5 reel and you'll see why they're so hard to load: the sides aren't parallel!(posted 8834 days ago)The Hewes reels don't have that problem and they have a better loading system. Once you stick the film end under the clip, the sides are already starting to enter the spirals. It is so nice not to have to worry about ruining your film in the darkroom.