Tools

DT8 Flashlight

I’ve found flashlights to be one of the most versatile and important tools to carry. It is nearly impossible to do quality work in bad lighting. I’ve been through a few flashlights, but I’ve recently started carrying a DT8 by Noctigon-Emisar. This, and the D4V2 that I carried before it, is referred to as a “hotrod flashlight”. It has the ability to prioritize pure lumens over all else- particularly temperature. In turbo, this light gets to hot to hold at the front in under a minute, but puts out nearly 8000 lumens in the process.

One of the most important features of the light is that is uses Anduril 2. Anduril is a type of operating system for flashlights. It allows incredible tunability and customization of the light and its output. It also means you don’t have to cycle through strobe every time you turn the light off.

The light is surprisingly cheap for what it is capable of, but can be a bit hard to learn Anduril at the beginning.

Knipex Cobras

On the surface, these aren’t that special. They are just a pair of channel locks with an improved adjustment mechanism. Once you actually get your hands on a pair, however, you will notice the teeth are sharper, harder and have better geometry than other pairs. It’s very impressive how big of a difference this makes. It’s not uncommon for the tiny set to have success on rounded fasteners that significantly larger pliers have failed on.

The jaws on my smaller set are a bit misaligned, but I think that happened when I side-loaded them one day. It also has no impact on performance….

Mitutoyo Calipers

A lot of people buying these expect to be more accurate than cheaper models, but that is usually not true. Most cheap calipers will hold +-0.001” just as well as these can. However, these do to tend to hold their zero better (i.e. after a full day of use without re-zeroing, they will still read zero when fully closed). You should always check your zero before measuring anything important though, so this makes minimal difference in my experience. The one massive advantage these have is their power draw. It is roughly an order of magnitude better than any other calipers on the market. They also feel significantly better in the hand. Some call this, the “Fizz Factor”

As a final note, the steel is known to be better on these, so they should hold up a bit longer.

ICON Flush Cutters

I bought these for cutting zip ties completely flush, and they do an incredible job of that. They are for “plastic and soft wire only” and the edge geometry reflects that. Standard side cutters will have cutting knives that are slightly misaligned to increase longevity; these have matched cutting knives, so every time you cut something, especially if you use a lot of force, the knives slam against one-another. The grind angle is also much sharper, which contributes to the massive durability concerns with cutters like these. If you know this going in, they hold up really well. These aren’t that notable from other zip tie cutters, but the lifetime warranty is nice. They are showing a bit of corrosion, so maybe some Ballistol or similar wouldn’t be a bad idea if you invest in a pair.

Knipex Side Cutters

These are the necessary pair to the above flush cutters. Without a pair of more durable, duller cutters you will inevitably push your luck too far with the flush cutters and notch the knives. I don’t have much to say about these, they are pretty standard for a higher end pair of cutters. My only complaint is the joint is a bit stiff at points throughout travel, even after some pretty heavy usage.

Snap-On recently came out with a product called the ComboCut. They have standard cutting knives close to the joint and transition to flush cutters near the tip. They seem like a great option for a small tool-kit, as long as you are careful to not damage the delicate flush cutters.

Knipex Pliers Wrench

When I bought these, Knipex was the only name in the game. Since then, many “knock-offs” have come to market at varying levels of quality. Knipex still tends to stand near the top, but the price reflects that. Its worth looking into other brands, but I have no personal experience with them.

More generally, the concept of these is excellent and, in my opinion, makes the crescent wrench obsolete. They exert force upon your fastener instead of relying on fitment alone. This also makes them practical for flattening/bending thin sheet.

The reason you usually see these chrome plated when most hand tools are black oxide is due to the affect of the coating on the tool. Chrome is harder and more corrosion resistant than black oxide, so it seems like an obvious choice for all tools. However, chrome is so hard that it is difficult to grind off of tools. As such, chrome plating is the final step in tool manufacturing. Contrast this to black oxide coating, which is done before final grinding/sharpening (see the cobras above for an example).

When a tool is chrome plated, a thickness is built upon on the metal’s surface. This makes teeth and cutting knives dull, hence why most side cutters, standard pliers, etc. are only ever available in black oxide. Chrome is also brittle, which makes it sub-optimal for cutting knives and teeth. On smooth-jaw tools, chrome is ideal as this thickening is irrelevant.

M12 3/8 Stubby (2562)

Overall, this is a really great product. If you have read other reviews, or have the gen 1, you probably already know that. What is less documented, however, are the downsides to this tool.

  • The mode-switching on this tool (put it in neutral, double click the trigger) is a downgrade from the button. I find myself accidently changing modes occasionally. I wish there was some feedback besides the dim LED when modes were switched.

  • The selector switch is not only a bit mushy, but positioned too far down. Sometimes when gripping the tool, I bump it into neutral (this is especially bad given the above)

  • Battery selection has a very dramatic performance impact on this tool. This one isn’t as much of a downside, just something to be aware of. I’d rather have a tool that takes full advantage of better cells than downgrade itself for power similarity.

Once again, I believe this to be the best stubby on the market, but it isn’t perfect.

Lisle Mini Prybar

This is one of those tools that doesn’t sound all that handy until you get one. This item is ultra-useful, and can also take a beating (except the pocket clip). I use mine as a punch, screwdriver, drift, awl, prybar, you name it. These are also incredibly affordable, making them an easy choice if you do anything hands-on.

Large Metal Tray

No, this isn’t a joke. I genuinely believe this is one of the best tool purchases I have recently made. It’s a 4”, full size steam table tray. I use it as an extra-large parts/tool tray. Given the vast majority of my mechanical work is currently on the Baja car (see engineering section of my website) I’m frequently working outside, in the mud. Having a nice spot for all my gizmos, gadgets, trinkets, tools, and fasteners is super important to keep things clean and organized. The scale here also means that any reasonable undertaking can soley use this tray, and still have nothing overlapping.

This one is 24 gauge. The jump to 22 gauge adds a non-linear amount of cost and I haven’t had any problems; but if I had infinite money I’d get it anyway.

P.S. it makes a great place for all those stickers!

Milwaukee Right Angle Die Grinder (3485)

This tool comes with the same battery caveat that the stubby impact does: it needs a 5.0. If you give it one, though, it will give you plenty of power in return. I never used the previous gen, but I appretiate only needing one wrench to change the accessory (the old one needed two). If you haven’t used one of the milwaukee grinders before, be aware they all have “safety collets”. This means you will have to break the nut loose, spin it to the end of its travel, then break it loose again to remove the accessory (it’s no where near as annoying as it sounds, but still a bit clunky when you are trying to move fast).

In part due to the collet, and party because it is just the best solution, I strongly reccomend investing in the 3M roloc system for really any die grinder. It makes changing accessories so much faster. I’ve heard the previous gen had some trouble on 3” discs, but the 3485 handles them with no problem. If you go for the roloc system get started in the 3”.

Regardless of the specific accessory brand(s) you choose, I highly reccomend you get high quality abrasives. In my experience, they are one of very few “tools” that scale better than linearly. That is to say, the more you spend the better the item will be. And it’s not even close. I will swear by Cubitron II for all things sanding; if you have never used it before it’s truly mind-blowing. In testing it out I shaved down the length of a 1/4” bolt by about 1” pushing nearly as hard as the tool could handle. The bolt definitely was not cold, but it was far, far cooler than I would have expected given the products I have used in the past. The MRR is also insane compared to cheap abrasives.

Hardcore Hammers 24oz Ball Pein

The hammer itself is pretty standard for a higher end ball pein. The branding is actually embossed, the paint is thick, and the grinding is above average. They also grind the top of the head after installing the wedges so that they are flush. The thing I really appreciated was the customer experience. I had an email question replied to in 3 minutes! The hammer was also extremely well packaged along with a sticker and hand-written note.

My major gripe is that they (along with literally every other hammer manufacturer that I am aware of) covered their beautiful American hickory handle in a disgusting layer of varnish. Obviously I stripped this off and replaced it with BLO, as all scholars do.

Knipex Needle Nose Combination Pliers

I won these in the Knipex Christmas advent calender one year. The design is quite unique, and very useful. They are a great merge of linesmans and needle nose. Despite being reasonably fine at the tips, they are still very stiff due to all the material behind them. I’m not a huge fan of the nut/bolt grabbing portion. I’ve never really understood why this is such a common feature. I suppose it can be handy in a pinch, but the ergonomics of using it are dreadful since you need to squeeze so hard. I’d much rather have some more jaw real-estate or even blanks to flatten things out. Regardless these are great. Just dont use them as a hammer because the hinge will get super tight and, despite hours of messing with them, you will have to force stropping compound into the hinge to make them usable again… or so I’ve heard.
These come in the new soft-grip now, which I’ve never used but looks sick.

PB Swiss Bit Driver

This really is just a bit driver. But, it has a crazy Fizz Factor. It’s one of those items you pick up and it makes you feel something.

Maybe it’s the massive pit in your wallet because you just bought a $20 screwdriver…

On a more serious note, the grip is the best I have ever used, and the magnet is insanely strong. Notably missing the hex on the shaft for a wrench (I think you might be able to slip one on the handle), but this is more of a “precision screwdriver” than one you’d really beat on.

A bit pricey but a really nice splurge.