I hope you’re all well and are having a great Holiday season!
Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays!
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Happy New Year!
I hope everyone is staying warm and safe.
Let’s talk gifts! Did you get or give anything fun?
Oh, and the photo above? I found that display at a Harbor Freight store. I couldn’t think of a suitable holiday-themed image and didn’t want to use AI, so I picked something random from my phone.
John
Thanks for avoiding AI art. I’d take either of those compressors over the Kobalt 26g I bought last year. It’s the loudest piece of equipment I’ve ever owned. My kids scream and my dog runs away when I turn it on. Merry Christmas to everyone except the Kobalt compressor engineers.
Josh
My wife’s gift to me was a certificate for any new tools I want, price is based on heirloom quality!
Last year was Lie Nielsen chisels and veritas planes but she wasn’t sure for this year so went homemade card.
It’s funny because the daughter and I knew she wanted boots but we don’t want the responsibility of picking those out so went homemade card too made a 3d printed gift card for an all day shopping trip that we accompany her on as long as she feeds us and we will carry her bags and not complain to much. lol
We both knew what each other wanted but it’s a lot of pressure.
We did a good job of tricking her with nesting Amazon boxes with random kids toys in each box then hid the card in the second to last box taped to the bottom of the box.
Daughter saved that brown paper that comes in Amazon and some Kraft paper from the shop and hand drew the decoration on the wrapping paper.
It was a huge hit
Scott K
👌👌
I’ve also been saving that Kraft paper that comes with online orders and using it as wrapping paper for the last few years.
MM
It makes a handy drop cloth for messy projects too.
MikeK
My wife does pottery, so it’s great to reuse as packing material.
Jim Felt
Brilliant! Thank for sharing.
Daniel
Merry Christmas!
The wife got me a few pairs of Carhartt work pants. I spend my money on tools so she gave me the perfect gift because I needed them.
JoeR
Daniel, after washing and wearing several times, gives us a review of the pants please. Tired of beating up my levis for work and was wondering how well the Carhartt held up. Keep eyeing their work shorts at HD, but the quality doesn’t appear that great and there is no place to try on at HD.
Thanks.
Jack D
I’ve had pretty good luck with Dickies, and they warranty them pretty well. Had a stitch in the belt loops fail early, and they sent me a replacement pair, just had to confirm the label and receipt. That and the price is much more reasonable.
JoeR
Thanks Jack. I have a very old pair of Dickies work boots that are finally giving up their sole. Perhaps it is time to try their pants. And I agree on the price, I was just trying to see if the cost differential was worth it quality wise. Appreciate your response.
Hope Christmas was good for all. Best wishes for the coming New Year.
Daniel
JoeR, I’ve had one pair of the Carhartt Rugged Flex Relaxed Fit Canvas 5-Pocket work pants for almost two years.
I don’t wear them daily, but I’ve been pretty hard on them. They are really great. The fabric feels thin, but has held up well. Wore them for several projects. Tore my deck out and rebuilt it, resided my house, ran new electric circuits, finished my basement and replaced two patio doors. I also wear them in my handyman ministry where I help people learn how to work on their homes. I even wear them to mow the lawn.
So far so good, no tears or holes and the color has held up well. The fabric flexes in the right places when squatting or climbing. I really like the cell phone pocket the right leg.
With lots of new projects ahead in 2026, it will be nice to have two more pairs to add to the rotation.
Mine came from Blains Farm and Fleet, if you have one near you they have dressing rooms you can try them on.
JoeR
Thank you Daniel. I will give them a try as well.
Stuart, as always, thanks for your hard work and providing a forum where we can ask and learn. Happy New Year all!
Nathan
So I think DeWalt compressors are rebadged puma compressors. Some are made in Memphis yes of foreign components occasionally.
So look up a puma they go on sale time to time seem to be well made. I’ve almost bought one a few times but cordless power has caught up so well
Nathan
Meanwhile Merry Christmas and happy new year and any others I might not know
Stuart
I don’t believe so. All of the Dewalt and Craftsman air compressors I looked at recently were imports, even where there used to be USA-assembled models.
Jerry
I was in Bomgaars recently, and they had several models of DeWalt air compressors that said something like ‘Made in USA with USA and global components’. These were more like shop compressors, with the oil lubed compressor pumps.
avi
My wife got me the 10 in. metabo miter saw from amazon, partly as hint to build the shed already. I’m not complaining.
Clay
I have the Hitachi-branded one and that thing is a beast. Hate to use the cliche, but punches way above its weight class.
MM
Merry Christmas to everyone!
This is the first year in a while that I made any significant tool purchases. My gifts to myself were a Jet JSG-6DC combo 6×48″ belt & 12″ disc sander and a Jessem Mast-R-Lift Excel II router table. Those are tools I have needed for a long time but I got stuck in the psychological trap of not wanting cheapos and not wanting to spend the money on anything nice, so I bought nothing at all and kept doing various work-arounds. This year didn’t have many other distractions and there were good sales so things worked out well.
I also received a Lie-Nielsen #2 bench plane, which I am very happy about!
I gifted a bunch of art supplies to someone in my family. Among the assortment I put together was a big set of Ohuhu alcohol markers. I really want to play with those myself. They appear to be just as good as Copics but at a much more reasonable price.
CharlieD
Merry Christmas & thanks for the excellent site that you publish and maintain.
A W
Merry Christmas Stuart.
Thanks for the fantastic content year round.
Al-another-Al
Merry Christmas. Thanks for all of the thoughtfulness and sharing. Always looking forward to more. You are my #1 clicked bookmark on my phone.
razl
Like AW said above:
Withing you and yours a very Merry Christmas, Stuart.
And thank you for all the great content every year. Yours is one of the few sites that I just don’t ever stop coming back to.
NN
Thank you, Stuart, for keeping your integrity intact in this little corner of the internet. You deserve more respect than you receive, so wishing you the best for 2026.
All said, I have a Goodyear-branded air compressor that I cannot stand. It’s got a near-unstoppable slow leak from some weld at the bottom and takes forever to get to pressure. I’ve been eyeballing some of the HF upper-end air compressors (Fortress?) because Ive seen good reviews for the smaller ones.
Think I’d like one to take with me on the road for flats and the ocassional use I have for one at work. Do you have any experience with these for home or travel use?
Sean Flynn
Not tool related, but the wife got me a miniature remote control excavator and a miniature remote control dump truck. I spent Christmas morning loading teaspoonfulls of scrambled eggs into the dump and “serving” them.
Clayton
I didn’t get any tools for Christmas per say but I did get the wera Advent calendar leading up to Christmas. The elf (my wife) brought Advent calendars for the whole family. She got me the 2023 edition, she found it on clearance for 39.99. Then I found the 2025 on clearance for 49.99 halfway through the Christmas season.
Alexk
Merry Christmas, Stuart.
JoelLikestools
Merry Christmas!
Bought a lot of tools for work, so no Chrostmas tools this year.
Catamount
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone. Many thanks to Stuart for the endless hours of research and thoughtful posting that make this site the best tool website of them all! Also, thanks to all the commenters giving all of us the benefit of their many years of experience.
Here is my dilemma: one of my gifts this year is the Workpro Multi-Purpose Roll Up Tool Organizer. I was thinking of using it to make a small tool kit for my small truck. But what tools should I put in it? The tool roll can only hold so much, but I feel like putting everything (including the kitchen sink) in it. Maybe worth a separate post or two for the new year? I would like to know what everyone has in their vehicle tool kit and which tools turn out to be the most useful when your vehicle has a problem on the road. Thanks.
Flooring
Ratchet strap, tarp straps, roll of duct tape, jumper cables, old hiking shoes, hat, gloves, extra coat and blanket for the winter.
Scott F
Merry Christmas to you Stuart and all of the readers. Very appreciative to have this Internet refuge to read about tools and the trades – like others this is my most visited bookmark.
This year all of the tool-giving came before Christmas l, my wife and I tend to give as we go versus waiting for Christmas Day. Took a few wants off the wishlist (M12 stick pump, Ryobi 18V power scrubber) and added a few new impulse buys to the collection (Ryobi 18V compressor and 18V 4.5″ circular saw).
Kind of tool adjacent, but my father got the wife and I some heated gloves and heated socks from Costco (mobile warming brand gloves and 32 degree heat brand socks). Anybody else used these/thoughts? I tried the Mobile warming socks several years when I first saw them (2020-21?), ended up returning because I did not like the batteries on my calves. Interested to see if these are better and how the batteries last.
Scott F
Initial reaction after first use, about an hour of blowing/shoveling snow from the storm the other night, ambient 15 outside.
Gloves are nice. They are appropriately warm on the lowest two settings (of four), and hot enough on the highest setting to be unnecessary in the given temps. I liked setting two. The cuffs did a good job at keeping snow out when using my arm/glove as a plow on the car windshields/hoods. And they have enough insulation to feel sufficient for general winter use without the supplemental heat.
The socks are going to take some more trial, but so far I’m not convinced. The heat grid is placed well and does not feel bad on the foot, but I admittedly did not play with the settings as much on the socks. My feet are naturally pretty cold, so I tried them on the couch for an hour before going into the snow. Setting 1 (also out of 4) did not feel warm, and setting 2 was just enough to warm my toes. I did not try them higher yet, but am already concerned with battery life if my default temp is 3 or higher. My real gripe with these is that they are knee high, with the battery at the top. Gravity wins unless you are in boots that can prevent the sliding, which makes using them as general purpose/around the house socks less desirable.
All said, I think the gloves are solid and will see good use. Time will tell on the socks, I don’t expect I will use them much outside of outdoor trips/events.
Clay
I did buy myself one of those Bosch corded angle grinders that were on sale after returning the Makita one. I guess that counts?
I did decide to get my teenagers their own drills this year though. The DCD800D2 kit was $129 at Home Depot and seemed perfect. (Stu had them as a doorbuster but they were in the clearance section when I got there).
Merry Christmas and many thanks, Stu.
Robert
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Stuart and the commentators. Best tool combo around.
Bobby
I got a US General mini tool box and I’m pretty happy with it. Much better built than the Kobalt model, and has ball bearing slides, comes with drawer liners.
Robin Dragoo
I received a Vevor Drum Sander.
My wife ordered it from Amazon, it was supposed to arrive by December 5th when I was at work.
It arrived the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, when. I was home. It came in a wooden crate with the Brand Name on the side.
Called wife down from upstairs and told her she had a package outside. When she saw it she told me she had a plan to hide it over at the Neighbor’s house until Christmas.
So I got to open and assemble a present a little early.
MFC
Bought my kids the Hitachi 10″ miter saw, the porter cable air compressor and brad/finish/pin nailer kit, an hvlp gun and a random orbital sander.
I’m going to teach them how to use them and they’re going to build their tree house (not with finish nails, haha).
CA
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thanks for you hard work Stuart!
fred
My family and I had a very nice Christmas celebration. No tools in my stocking – but I gifted a bunch that I bought during the runup to Christmas. Quite a few of my stocking stuffers were direct results of ToolGuyd posts (thank you Stuart) – but others were specific specialty power tools for relatives in the plumbing, electrical, landscaping and masonry trades. I like to buy new-to-the-market tools that I hope will make jobs easier or more productive – but are perhaps a bit pricey for the intended recipients to consider buying for themselves. The last ones were distributed yesterday. I think that they were well received and will find regular use.
For the rest of us, let’s all hope that all our endeavors in the upcoming new year will be happy, healthy and productive ones!
Flooring
Wife got me some real Muck Boots. Pretty slick deal on Black Friday, $49!
Also got a Klarus E5 miniature flashlight
Shrade hatchet
Mora knife
Flooring
Also, if you’re with family but forgot to bring a game, this was a lot of fun for us
https://crowdparty.app/game/trivia
Alexk
This time of year is tough for me. Not only am I missing a daily post from Toolguyd, but my to go place for coffee/farm foods is closed for a month.
However, everyone needs a break, so enjoy your time with family, Stuart.
My single stage EGO snowblower did a great job with the 10” of light snow here.
Used my new M12 Surge and love not needing hearing protection. Also, very glad I bought the two pack of M12 HO batteries. I’ve had to stop work with the circ saw to charge it. Now I can switch out while charging.
Jo B
Happy New Year Stuart! Thank you for all of your time, effort, research and writing that you did this year for our benefit and enjoyment – much appreciated. You’re awesome!
I received three tools:
1. Another 2.8mm Pica™, dry pencil – love them, have four now. I’ve added a Tracer™ carbide tip for it for fine-marking metals.
2. Pica™ Big Ink, deep, XL marker – I like that it has reversible tips.
3. Ox™ aluminum case, w/Kevlar™ line, chalk line. Compared to any other that I’ve used, the line pulls out super easy – over time, we’ll see how it is.
To everyone, have a great 2026!
Cheers!