Let’s get right into it – here are some tool-related posts that evoked a response from me, good or bad.
Apparently there’s a Zippo “Bit Safe” screwdriver insert that fits into their iconic lighter housings. Plus, it’s made in the USA. At the time of this posting it’s only $15 at Amazon for the insert. I thought this was so cool.
It fits all Zippo lighter cases except for Slim or 1935 Replica cases. From what I’m seeing, cases start at around $16.
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Every single day I see more ads for the Titaner Fractal vise.
Even at “50% off,” it’s still around $1779.
I think it’s really cool what they did here, but the price makes it completely impractical.
Speaking of Kickstarter, apparently there’s now a trend where brands want you to “reserve” the right to pledge funding in exchange for a reward to be delivered at a later time.
They want you to preorder a Kickstarter funding pledge…
Craftsman thinks it’s a good idea to start messing around with electrical fixtures in the middle of the night. Personally, I think that’s a bad idea and terrible advice.
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My father told me a long time ago – “don’t start a plumbing project on a Sunday afternoon when parts suppliers are closed.”
Starting an electrical project in the middle of the night just doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.
Grizzly Tools shows off their table saw and says “hard maple never stood a chance.” Neither will your fingers – WHERE’S THE BLADE GUARD?
The American Red Cross says that you shouldn’t charge power tools indoors. They say “do it outside on a flat, dry area away from direct sunlight, water, and kids.”
What?!
I keep seeing posts from Kreg and their army of paid influencers, where they hype up the newly launched cordless power tools.
Frankly, I see nothing special here, just overpriced tools with the same features and similar performance specs as other modern tools.
It’s really leaving a bad taste in my mouth about the brand.
It seems that Woodpeckers looked at the Rockler Bandy Clamp and thought “let’s put our name on a red version.”
Semble is Woodpeckers’ own brand, and it looks like these are all just relabeled clamps rather than something brand new. I found similar clamps on Amazon, and also a 10-pack by Taytools on Amazon.
New Snap-on scrubbing hand soap. Only… $143.88 for a 12-pack, so $11.99 each. Looking on their website, it’s only sold in a 12-pack.
I usually like this YouTuber’s content, although not this particular video. Great energy though, and it gave some more info about the Snap-on soap.
WHAT is Instagram recommending to me?
Oh great, more fake Milwaukee… WHAT? Why are they recommending this nonsense to me?! Ugh.
Too much of my social media feeds are full of just AI garbage now.
Oh look, a kiwi fruit being fed a slice of itself.
It’s never been easier to quit social media. Unfortunately, AI slop and content mill garbage – no, Home Depot is NOT giving away Ryobi cordless power tool batteries for you to “claim,” and no, that Dewalt drill is not actually selling for “pennies” – has also become prevalent in all other forms of media and content as well.
There’s still some good content out there, but it’s being buried by the visibility algorithms.
The shift has been away from informative and entertaining content, to content that simply occupies you for longer so that you can be served more ads.
Rick
“Frankly, I see nothing special here, just overpriced tools with the same features and similar performance specs as other modern tools. It’s really leaving a bad taste in my mouth about the brand.”
Wonderfully ironic that your comment about Kreg also immediately preceded a piece about Woodpecker.
Stuart
At least with the generic Woodpeckers clamp, the 10-pack unit price is lower than for Amazon or from Rockler’s Bandy clamps. With Kreg, I don’t see what’s special AND it’s priced considerably higher.
Woodpeckers might have put their brand on generic tools, but at least they worked out a volume discount.
No
AI is just going to get worse. The only metric that matters is eyeball retention time which translates directly to dollars earned, so you’re going to see more and more outrageous, exaggerated, and made up claims/stories just to get engagement longer than the 0.3 seconds it takes to scroll. They will say and do anything for that goal.
Social media is facilitating this since its been co-opted into marketing. The new SOP is going to be to fact-check every ad, story, news article, headline, video, etc. you see from now on. Even then, who knows if its AI-generated the whole way down?
Truth is dying and we built the platforms the executioners are using to kill it.
Stuart
The biggest problem with click bait, rage bait, engagement bait, and similar, is that it’s rewarded with clicks and views, often at the expense of other types of content.
Al-another-Al
Flat dry area? My chargers are hanging vertically on a wall (per the manufacturer’s mounting keyholes), in a garage full of sawdust and flammable liquids.
Of course they want to stay out of direct sunlight. Those vampires keep calling asking to suck our blood!
Wayne R.
That Zippo thing; on one hand, cool! On the other, wtf?
Coulda made a bit Pez dispenser out of it, or for Pez candy or Tic Tacs or little blue pills or BBs or condoms or Exacto blades or ground Parmesan cheese or…
Coulda made a lot of stuff out of it, so why’d they stop there?
Nathan
Yeah but that’s not edc tacticool
Though I would argue a condom holder and pill holder is far more tactical than most people can use.
Nathan
Snap on soap. Yeah they can just fold now. Buy hey you can get it in bulk and pay for it on your 7 year loan for your tool box……
Robert
Stuart, is your round up of tools on social media going to be a weekly feature now?
Stuart
As with most things, probably on an “as it comes to me” basis. Why?
Robert
Just that I’d like you to do the heavy lifting of separating the wheat from the chaff on “cool tools.”
Stuart
So you want more or less?
With everything here, I wanted to say something about each, but not in their own posts. There was one more I saw today, and it prompted the roundup.
I often take screen captures or open new browser tabs, but they don’t always prompt a post.
Jeff
I got a free scrubby soap in a Toolbox widget a while back. Never used it, but I may have to give it a shot. Must be kind of useful if Snap-on is branding their own.
Adam
Is there not a Bob Barker mic that any influencer can hold? Holding these mics that are supposed to be clipped to your shirt drives my OCD bonkers, they must never have watched the news. I think its because it now appears to be the center of attention.
Stuart
The YouTuber seems to have the Hollyland Lark M2 – https://www.amazon.com/Hollyland-Microphone-Lightning-Cancellation-Recording/dp/B0CP7QXWPN/?tag=toolguyd-20 I bought a set for Pipeline last year, and it worked well but I kept leaving it behind.
Now, my pick would be the Rode Wireless Pro Set (which recently underwent a permanent price reduction) – https://www.amazon.com/Hollyland-Microphone-Lightning-Cancellation-Recording/dp/B0CP7QXWPN/?tag=toolguyd-20 There are less expensive options – I had the previous Rode Go set – here’s the newer one: https://www.amazon.com/R%C3%98DE-Wireless-Gen-Recording-Automatic/dp/B0DN1PGH94/?tag=toolguyd-20 .
I don’t know why influencers hold these mics rather than clip them on – holding and waving them around doesn’t improve sound quality.
For old-school mics, just a Sennheiser XLR plug-on transmitter is around $300 – https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-Transmitter-Color-SKP-100/dp/B07C7XXMWD/?tag=toolguyd-20 , not including a matching receiver which cannot be directly interfaced to a smartphone. Need phantom power? That transmitter will cost you more.
And, you’ll need a microphone – here’s a pretty good one: https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-MD-46-interview-microphone/dp/B0002U3S0M/?tag=toolguyd-20 .
Or you can just pick up a wireless set for $100 to $200, charge via USB and easily connect to a smartphone or whatever.
Rode makes a wireless interview mic – https://www.amazon.com/Interview-Condenser-Microphone-Broadcast-grade-Interviews/dp/B0D1FQS8X4/?tag=toolguyd-20 , and also a cheap plastic holder for their mics https://www.amazon.com/Rode-Interview-Handheld-Adapter-Wireless/dp/B086YXCDYC?tag=toolguyd-20 that simply looks like a slender interview mic.
The problem with interview mics is that you need practice to use them.
The handheld waving around of tiny wireless microphones bugs me too, but I absolutely see the appeal of these small and simple wireless mics. A lot of influencers and YouTube shorts creators just use their phones, which aren’t easy to interface with older wired or wireless audio tech.
I see a lot of ranting about influencers using modern wireless mics. There’s no good excuse for the handheld waving, but a lot of the other criticisms I’ve seen are off-base.