Renoah, I’m with you about the cord being a pain. I like to use a variety of needles so I don’t get bored. I have all kinds - may as well use them!
BTW, I’ve heard that you can get the cord to loosen up a bit by heating it up with a hair dryer for a little while.
I don’t think they makes needles longer than the 14" or 15" length, I have always use straight needles up until 2yrs ago when the pattern I was doing called for circular needles and now I won’t go back t o straight needles, they are easier on the hand and the chance off dropping sticthes are less to happen and you don’t have to worry about miss placing a needle it is always there.
You can sometimes find longer needles on eBay. They are usually vintage needles, like this auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/KNITTING-NEEDLES-VINTAGE-30-PAIRS-VERY-NICE-VARIETY_W0QQitemZ8289786698QQcategoryZ11799QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem