My "blue" Ideal snake is due for replacement. I've only managed to get 14 years out of it.

Most of how well a snake lasts has to do with use and care. I have no idea what you're doing to the snakes but many of them get daily hard use with relatively few problems. Believe me, nothing used by the trades stays on the market long if it's junk. Post back with more info about what you're doing and how.

UNK

Klein advertises their fish tape as "easy to turn with one hand in either direction". I haven't used it but Klein usually doesn't make junk. I also have a blue Ideal 50' that is getting stiff to turn.

I have a Klein that's still going strong after 10 years. A little lubrication and WD40 (to remove moisture) keeps it working smoothly.

I have a cuple of long fish in reels, but also have a number of shoprter pieces about 10-15 feet long just coiled on themselves.
All have flexable tips attached.
For most residential work a short piece is a lot easier to work with then the entire reel.
For times when a fish is just to fleaxable, fiberglass fish 'rods' work very well.
You can push them through fiberglass insulation in a strighter line than a regular steel fish tape.
The only down side is if you get one stuck it costs more than just cutting off the end of the steel fish and the flex tip.
For larger pulls there are thicker fish tapes available than the standard 1/8 inch wide ones.
I have a big tape that is 1/4 inch wide and a litle thicker than 1/16 inch.

Snakes are what plumbers use.

I must agree with brickeyee on this point:

plumbers use snakes. electricians use fish tapes.

(I'm just kidding. It may simply be a geographical thing)

try a stainless steel tape. more expensive but more resistant to corrosion.

If you do not use a tape very often, you need to be sure it is kept dry. You ahould also simply unspool the thing once in a while and using (my preference WD-40) some sort of water displacing lubricant, clean and treat the thing.

No tool is going to peform well if you do not maintain them and even the cheapest of tools often provide satisfactory service if taken care of.

the rods brick spoke of are one alternative but there are also fiberglass fish tapes supplied on reels very similar to the steel tapes. again, more expensive and they are fatter so they are not as easy to push through insulation and such.

I had fibreglass poles in Australia, which I regretfully sold when moving back to Canada...I really liked them. I hadn't seen fish tape til I got here, I can see it could easily get messed up if you don't look after it, I did try mine as an emergency plumber's snake, so I should unroll it and wipe it down with wd-40.

The glow-in-the-dark fibreglass rods sound pretty cool.

I've found that I need many types of fishing tools. The fiberglass ones on reels are very flexibile, good for pushing through conduit. The rods are great for being stiff so you can put it across open areas in attic and garage screwing sections together as you go, thin metal ones are good for small jobs and are more flexible, and thick metal ones are good for poking through insulation, but are not very flexible. I have not found one that does it all.

It sounds weird, but I've used a wide steel measuring tape to fish across a drop ceiling. Worked great.

I personally like pythons.