Our fourth and final featured “Most Valuable Tool of the Week Contest” entry is for a hand impact tool. These tools can be used to manually free frozen, rusted, or other such stubborn or stuck fasteners.

This is what 2WYKD had to say about the tool:

Maybe I think this is the most valuable because I don’t have one yet or because when I get to use it I absolutely love it, either way I nominate the hand impact!! Any name brand will do, I am going to go with Craftsman b/c there’s a Sears right here if I ever do break it. For $25 it’s a tool that lasts a lifetime and proves itself invaluable over and over

There are so many bolts on my motorcycle that are made out of something with the constancy of a low quality cheese that I need to get one of these instead of asking to borrow one every week.

We have seen these hand impact tools in action, and they are remarkably helpful for removing tight fasteners. These impact tools can also be used for for tightening fasteners, but most users will want to use a more controlable driving method instead.

Hand impact tools can be found for about $20-25 for the 3/8″ drive size unit.

Lisle 3/8″ Hand Impact Tool via Amazon
KD Tools 3/8″ Hand Impact Tool via Amazon

The third featured MVT as part of our current contest, is SK’s stubby ratcheting screwdriver set, as nominated by TooslandGarages Forum member Wilbilt.

Wilbilt had this to say about the SK 73676 stubby ratcheting screwdriver set:

I don’t work on cars for a living anymore. These days, I am usually dealing with rack-mounted network equipment and servers. This means driving lots and lots of screws. This set, with the provided bits and interchangeable shanks has proven to be my go-to tool at work. It is compact and easy to carry around, unlike a cordless drill with charger or a handful of regular screwdrivers. The quality is excellent. I have a Snap-On ratcheting long-shank driver, but usually grab the S•K kit first.

It looks like Wilbilt makes a very good argument and offers excellent points for choosing the SK set over other available option.

The contest isn’t over yet – there’s one more chance to enter with a “Most Valuable Tool” nomination of your own. Once the final MVT entry is chosen to be featured on ToolGuyd, two winners will be chosen from amongst the finalists. The top two prizes are a Gearwrench Roto Ratchet set, and a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate!

Currently it looks like the cheapest place to find one of these SK sets is via Sears, but it can be found elsewhere as well.

SK 73676 Stubby Ratcheting Screwdriver Set (Sears)

Prizes include a Gearwrench Roto Ratchet Set, and a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate.

This week’s featured MVTs are new generation fine-tooth ratcheting wrenches, as nominated by Uthscsaedu. We concur with his comment that these wrenches aid in accessing hard to reach fasteners.

Currently there are flat ratcheting wrenches, reversible ratcheting wrenches, flex-end wrenches, double flex-end variations, wrenches with locking flex-heads, some with interchangeable heads, and several other designs.

Our favorite ratcheting wrenches are Gearwrench’s reversible ratcheting wrenches. Such sets are often on sale at Sears, occasionally at 1/2-off, and they have proved to be quite indispensible.

This is the second featured Most Valuable Tool of the Week entry. There are still two more chances to be eligible to win a Gearwrench Roto Ratchet set or Amazon.com gift certificate – head on over here for contest rules and instructions, and then to the TaG forum to enter.

For our Most Valuable Tool of the Week Contest, we are featuring four reader-nominated tools, one per week. This week’s featured MVT is GoodFellow’s Wright flex-head ratchet.

GoodFellow had the following to say about the tool:

Clearly one of the best tools I’ve come across is the Wright 3440 3/8″ flex-head ratchet. It has a 1/4″ drive form factor; which makes it the most useful tool for working in tight spaces with 3/8″ drive sockets. For working around obstructions and hidden fasteners (such as under dash work) this ratchet has become a favorite tools.

I recently replaced the timing belt, idler, tensioner, and waterpump on my Isuzu Rodeo. Without this ratchet, the task would have taken much longer due to the limited space in the engine compartment. Standard length 3/8″ ratchets would not have worked well in this situation.

Congratulations to GoodFellow for being the first of four finalists! There are three more finalist slots open, so check out our MVT contest and head on over to the ToolsandGarages Forum for your chance to win a Gearwrench RotoRatchet Set or $20 Amazon gift certificate!

Photo Credit: GoodFellow

The first ever MVT (most valuable tool of the week) award is actually shared by two tools – a Wiha ergonomic screwdriver, and a 4oz Vaughan ball pein hammer.

Wiha’s 3K handled screwdrivers may not be the fanciest drivers, but they’re among my favorites. This week I used my aged but reliable #2 driver for a number of tasks – some required a delicate touch, others demanded brute force. Surely other drivers could have been used, but this Wiha was again my driver of choice.

Of Wiha’s 3K-styled drivers, I favor their grey-handled anti-cam-out (ACO) drivers in particular, but the regular blue-handled 3K drivers are available in a much wider selection of tip sizes and styles.

The second MVT is a 4oz Vaughan ball pein hammer which was used to tap a cold chisel to remove epoxy from a crucial component. An 8oz ball pein was a bit too heavy with too large of a head, and a tack hammer was a bit too small. But the 4 ouncer was perfect, with a large enough head and just enough mass for the delicate job.

Wiha ACO Drivers
Wiha Standard 3K Screwdrivers
Vaughan Ball Pein Hammers
(Links are via Amazon)

ToolGuyd is excited to announce a new contest – the Most Valuable Tool of the Week (MVT) contest. Every week for the next four weeks, we will be featuring one or more tools that have been nominated as MVTs. We will start off the contest with an entry of our own, and will post about the first reader-submitted MVT starting next week.

An MVT is any tool that helped you get through the week or even a particularly rough day.

To enter the contest, simply describe to us one or more tools that you feel deserves the title of Most Valuable Tool. From amongst the pool of submissions, four finalists will be selected, one per week, and their MVT entries will be featured on ToolGuyd. At the end of the contest, two winners will be selected from these four finalists.

The grand prize is a set of Gearwrench Roto Ratchets, and the second prize is a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate. This is a ToolGuyd-funded contest; the Roto Ratchets were purchased at retail price from Amazon, and the gift certificate will be purchased at the time it is to be issued.

Rules

All entries must be submitted via the ToolsandGarages forum. Once you are a registered member, you can submit your entry in the designated contest thread.

To make submissions easier to track, you are encouraged to create a separate thread to discuss your MVT tool and the experience(s) that led you to nominate it as MVT. You should then post a link to your thread into the contest thread.

You can submit as many MVT tool nominations as you wish, but all entries beyond the first require an accompanying photo.

The contest is only open to those with US or Canadian addresses.

ToolsandGarages Forum (TaG) Contest Entry Thread

You can post images via our Flickr Group or any free image host, or upload them to the TaG forum.