Shown here is something I use at least 5 days a week – a spring-gate carabiner (Mammut) and a nylon sling (Black Diamond).
A few months ago I talked about a different carabiner, but this one’s a little larger.
Advertisement
Every morning, I gather the kids’ lunch boxes and water bottles, clip them together, and haul it out to the car. They’re preschoolers now, and at some point soon they’ll be responsible for their own gear. We’re often crunched for time, so I grab everything and go. The carabiner and strap allow me to carry a couple of things while also being able to hold onto two little hands.
I’ve used the carabiner + nylon strap to o lash things to their stroller, back when we still needed it. Stroller accessories are expensive. Climbing equipment isn’t exactly cheap, but the combo shown above was $7 for the carabiner, and $4 for the runner. Stroller clips cost around the same, some even more, but they’re unitaskers that you can’t use for anything else. When the combo is no longer needed for lunchboxes and water bottles, it can still be used for travelling, at the beach, or even for hoses or cords.
The carabiner and runner also served workshop needs too, mostly for cinching things up and out of the way, but also for supporting loads when lifting certain equipment or moving things around.
I’ve even used it to support a dust collector vacuum hose from above, so that it wouldn’t drag over my work. I think that’s my favorite use so far, and will likely add an eye screw to the ceiling so I can do the same the next time I have a similar-sized project.
I didn’t really intend to find all kinds of uses for nylon runners, which are basically super strong sewn-together loops of webbing material. I saw them at the store, and the price was just low enough to allow me to explore their potential.
Carrying lunch boxes, water bottles, and on some days nap maps is not what these things are made for. But, neither are commercial food storage containers designed for workshop use. We use bathroom trays for sorting Legos, disposable cups for mixing small amounts of epoxy or glue, and reusable plastic food storage containers for workshop storage. Cotton swabs and toothpicks have all kinds of workshop applications. Kids’ spill-free painting cups are great for holding certain workshop fluids.
Advertisement
Tools are misused or improvised for all kinds of things, slotted screwdrivers most of all. Other things can be misused or improvised as tools or workshop implements. I once had a roommate that used a butter knife as a screwdriver and pry bar for some kind of car console repair or installation. (I know because it was my butter knife that was unintentionally bent in all kinds of ways.)
Most of my improvised uses are pretty bland, unfortunately, and so I’m hoping that you guys have some other crazy-useful “hacks,” misuses, or improvised uses to share! Things like… using a playing card as shims.
Hilton
When you need to crimp one of those boot lace ferrules onto thin stranded wire, when you cut the wire it often frays like my wife’s hair which make it impossible to insert a ferrule. I use a drop of super glue gel to mold the frayed wire into a single crimp-able strand. I’ve not technically used the super glue to actually repair something so maybe this counts?
Rob
I do the same thing before cutting down the end of brake/shifter cables for bicycles.
Jared
That’s a pretty good idea. I’ve wrapped a piece of tape around it with mixed results. I’ll give this a try next time.
bobad
I won’t even attempt to use thin strand cable before soldering the ends. Got stuck by that stuff, and it’s nasty.
Doug
I find I get less fraying on such thin stranded wire by using a bike cable cutter, rather than a straight bladed cutter. Such cutters usually have a crimping part built in too, for the ferules at the ends of brake and derailer cables. Some options between $9-$65 per: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bike+cable+cutter&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
Dave
Very much this. After spending my high school years working as a bike shop mechanic, I still swear by Park Tools for cutting small-gauge braided wire – expensive, but worth the cost, the cable cutters I bought when I was 14 are still going strong nearly 25 years later, as are many bicycle-specific Park brand items like chain breakers and pedal and cone wrenches.
Skye A Cohen
Me too! Also those cone wrenches come in handy every now and then I have a drawer full of them. My old boss at the bike shop was a home shop machinist and made many of his own tools so have some of them too. That whole scene is kind of what got me started geeking out about tools.
I actually broke my park wire cutters recently cutting some way too big stainless deck rail cables, not a smart use of that tool but the fact that they could even do it says something
Matt
Cone wrenches were perfect for torquing end links on my BMW 3-series!
A W
Yes, but have you tried that on your wife’s hair yet?
Bill
Any concern for the possible insulating value of the glue?
Bill
Sorry, this should have been in response to Hilton’s above post.
Hilton
I don’t know enough to comment. It’s only a drop but maybe there’s a issue I don’t know about.
Chris
I don’t think he’s referring to electrical wires…or at least I hope not. :/
Chris
Like this.
https://www.amazon.com/JooFn-Brake-Mountain-Silver-Golden/dp/B07BPQWPLQ/
Bill
Yes, I think you are right Chris, on a reread I can see I missed the boat.
Don’t mind me I’ll just go back to sleep now. 🙂
Kilroy
Stuart- Cut down an older one of those straps, attach it to a keychain, and you have a “REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT” style red flag. They’re great for attaching to keys or other things that you need to make a bit easier to fish out of pockets or containers.
My favorite “misused” tool is using the battery-operated leaf blower to clean up the driveway and garage after I’m done making sawdust. In the time it would take me to unfurl an extension cord and plug in the ShopVac, I can blow all the sawdust onto the grass, saving time and landfill space.
James Madara
I thought that’s what leaf blowers were for! 😉
Rob
That might be the only reason I popped for a cordless “leaf” blower…
Kilroy
That and getting charcoal burning really fast and hot. 🙂
Takis
I do that with a hair dryer.
Sam
box fan + extension cord. Turn it to high to start it, then if it’s too humid, rainy, cold, or otherwise bad conditions for a BBQ, just adjust the power settings and keep it going as long as you need. Works wonders for doing ribs or brisket in sub-optimal weather.
Source: am Texan
MrWeedley
I use a battery operated blower to dry off the car
rob
Very common for detailers who don’t want to touch the paint to use an electric or battery powered blower to clear water off a car. There are also some small mini blowers with rubber nozzles listed for garage and shop clearing also sold for car drying. If you want to go big time you buy a Metro Vac (out of my price range) and they receive mixed reviews. Some love them some say big waste of money and not worth the hype.
https://www.amazon.com/Metropolitan-Vacuum-Cleaner-Blaster-Motorcycle/dp/B0002SPCGC/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=car+blower&qid=1557433799&s=hi&sr=1-2
rob
I should add many detailers use air compressors to blow out vents and seats when cleaning interiors and blow water out of wheels and mirrors when doing a full detail of a vehicle. And those like Larry at AmmoNYC who preach the value of using a blow gun on a compressor to clear out your buffing pads regularly.
Nathan
so I’m that odd duck that does the same with my blower but I put an air filter over the intake when I use it to dry the car.
Yes for one of my cars the paint is treated a bit more than the others but I used the same method for all of my cars even the truck.
Chris
I do the same thing. I bought 2 of the Gen.1 M18 leaf blowers when HD was clearancing them out for ~$30 and they are simply amazing for this kind of indoor stuff.
I’ve even put an intake and exhaust fan in the front and back door of the house and used the leaf blowers to “dust” out all the nooks and crannies behind furniture and large items that don’t get moved (just wear a dust mask).
Chip
Three years ago I used my brand new Ego blower on ‘turbo’ to dust under the fridge. How could this go wrong, I thought. There was a thick layer of under-the-fridge dust on everything in the house. My wife still talks about it.
PB
That’s awesome! And you probably did get the dust out, extending the fridges life. If only you recorded it for YouTube.
bobad
Were any bunnies harmed by this procedure?
Champs
Bicycle mechanics cut, grind, and bend old spokes for all kinds of applications. The simplest ones are for poking, scraping, deburring, reaming, and feeding parts through other parts. A more advanced one holds the chain together while you install the master link.
Nail clippers on zip ties are as good as diagonal cutters.
Ren
Bicycle spokes reminds me of the MIT Lock Picking Guide in the early 90s. Bet still floating around on the internet.
PAntonvich
you made me google it: https://www.lysator.liu.se/mit-guide/MITLockGuide.pdf
Corey
That was an oddly satisfying trip down memory lane. I *may* have used that guide in college.
Corey Moore
I said no such thing.
loup68
Stuart, I win the prize on this one!
I have to have a drainage ditch to help my wonderful septic system leach field drain because it is all clay here, only twelve and a half miles from the Atlantic ocean. Last summer and fall I had such a bad problem with deer flies (yellow flies down south) that lay their eggs in the ditch water. They will eat you alive.
Out of shear desperation one day, I took my Dewalt DCBL 720 blower and taped a cloth bag to the blower tube. I was afraid that the suckers could go through and not get hurt. Using ear plugs, I walked my 120 foot gravel road to our main side road to get the mail, holding the suction end by each side of my head.
It worked and when I opened the cloth bag up, only tiny diced pieces were inside.
Stuart
I can’t say that’s something I would have guessed, but I’m glad it worked for you!
Now, got a trick for mosquitos or whatever bit me all over when I took the telescope out the one time last summer?
Nathan S
https://www.bigassfans.com/fans/
Mosquitos can’t easily fly in wind.
Jim Felt
How about the 8’ high Airgo 2.0! Wouldn’t that be great with mesh screen on the output side. Maybe clear out anything?
Nathan S
Can’t even imagine an 8′ fan in my shop
Thom
Jersey mosquitoes.. Unkillable!
Bobby
I’ll take a piece of 1/2” pvc pipe or whatever I have laying around and tape it on to the end of my dust deputy hose if I need to get in a tight area. Makes a good small adapter quickly.
MacLean
How about the other way round? I have a toolbox in the kitchen…and I use my cordless Makita drill for mixing…works great on Adams peanut butter. And if I could I would post a picture of carving a turkey with a reciprocating saw…modified a carving knife blade to fit…
Blocky
10-12” cobra pliers are great for opening jars.
Jon Miller
I have a Craftsman (late model, pretty poor build) tool box set that I use in my office for organizing basic hand tools plus hard drives, data cables, power supplies, and much more. I had been looking for various organizers and even Sterilite drawers for the same thing, but by the time I buy enough of those I can get a good, used tool chest. So I did.
Scott K
General Tools 70396 Lighted Steel Claw Mechanical Pick-Up Tool
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00275F5I8/
Not sure if this qualifies- I bought this at a local hardware store about 7 years ago and I use it all the time. It’s become especially handy when I don’t want to move my baby’s dresser after she throws stuff behind it.
I’ve used it to for short wire runs in walls and to clean small drain clogs.
Stuart
I had a non-lighted grabber, and it worked great for getting lint out of the dryer underneath the trap. It was left in the laundry sink and ended up rusted. I now use long-reach pliers until I replace the long grabber. Hmm, that General Tools one looks like it could work… thanks!
Scott K
The light stopped working for a while- I figured water damage or bad batteries. I never got around to switching the batteries and it mysteriously starting working again. For ~$10 it’s been great.
I will definitely try it out in the lint trap. The extension on my Dustbuster does a pretty good job, but it can’t get everything.
Carlos
I use a old serving tray to clean my Table saw Blades.
The tray has about an 1/2 inch lip that can hold a pint for pitch and grim remover & when the blade is cleaned, I can save the solvent for another cleaning tool day.
Mike (the other one)
When installing wire mold, I’ve used painter’s tape as a third hand to keep it steady while mounting it.
I’ve used a tape measure to pull cable. I’ve fed it down inside a hollow wall and attached a pull string at the bottom hole, then retracted the tape along with the string to the top.
I had a client drop a memory card inside a printer. I couldn’t get my fingers or even needle nose pliers in it, so I took a drinking straw and rolled some tape in the end, sticky side out and used it to pick up the memory card.
Jon Miller
Magnetic tip tape measures are, I’m pretty sure, used for picking up dropped tools (especially if you’re on scaffolding) more than for actually measuring. 🙂
kman
In my enclosed trailer I repurposed an old heavy duty filing cabinet to hold various tools. I can reach it through my side door standing on the ground. It is really good for quick grab items.
Jon
I use Talenti brand ice cream containers for storage. They are a nice size for wire nuts and other small fasteners plus they are clear so the contents are easily viewed. The lids screw on securely and can be opened with gloves on. You do have to get over paying $5 for a pint of ice cream. I justify it as $3 ice cream and a $2 container.
Jim Felt
Talenti Gelato’s clear plastic containers are dent, scratch and shatter resistant. Though I’ve never tried them in a dishwasher.
And if you’re lucky you can find them in two sizes. “Normal” and large. Both slightly overpriced but as noted very dual purpose.
Kilroy
In my experience the containers will soften up in a dishwasher, to the point that they are no longer flat/straight, but still usable as containers. Would recommend hand washing them.
Jim Felt
Yes. That’s what I’ve always done.
I’m sure you’re correct about the unsuitability of “dish washering” any of them. They’re cold safe but not so much hot.
Steve
I like to use the red Folgers coffee containers….they have a nice grip on them and can be cut down to fit on a shelf.
Jon Miller
I use the Costco type Nesquick chocolate milk powder containers all over my shop. I keep a 1:1 dilution of Purple Power in one. I am a hobby machinist and backyard metal caster, so I collect swarf by alloy into others for melting and re-casting. My day job is at a car dealership and I can fill one of those with lead weights at least twice per year. When I feel they’re taking up too much shelf space I melt them down, skim off the gunk and steel brackets, and pour the molten lead into old muffin tins as ingots until I need to actually cast something (and then I have clean lead ready to go when I do).
John
Got sick of cigarette lighter burns when melting the ends of poly rope, to stop them freying, so about 4 years ago I tried using electrical heat shrink tube on the end and it works! use it on every new rope now.
And….I grind down broken/bent screwdrivers to use as punches or locating rods for lining up 2 round holes that maybe difficult to see. Plus I have a really fine tipped one for punching holes in aerosol cans as I don’t like the thought of a recycling worker getting hurt if one explodes. Recycling looks like a crappy job and I am glad someone else is doing the hard yards…..lets not hurt or kill them!
Dust
Get a small taping knife and heat it up, then sink the knife into the rope. It will give you two factory edges.
Jared
I don’t consider any of these revolutionary but I’ll mention some of my uses for non-shop gear merely for discussion purposes:
I have one paper file holder in my shop holding a series of skinny/small parts boxes and another holding my 10 and 12″ tablesaw/mitre saw blades. The file holders have very different shapes and both do an admirable job in their respective duties.
I recently used a turkey baster to remove power steering fluid from the reservoir before changing it out.
I have an Ikea utensil holder hanging form the side of one of my tool boxes (its a tall one made of stainless steel (i.e. not a tray) that I presume was intended for holding BBQ utensils, or mixing spoons etc). Holds tall skinny tools (like screwdrivers and wrenches) just fine.
I have metal Ikea cabinet in the shop too – I think it was supposed to be an industrial-looking TV stand, but fit perfectly below the shelf along that wall and holds some bulkier tools and fluids.
I also have a couple big filing cabinets in my garage – full of tools. Since the drawers were intended to support a full load of paper files, even loaded up with my heavy 3-ton jack, stands, chocks etc., they still slide out smoothly.
Jon Miller
Pretty sure the IKEA designers have home workshop guys in mind when they design half of their stuff. 🙂
PAntonvich
I once attached a cheep night vision wifi camera with ducktape to a shopvac hose so I could inspect my hvac ducts – was looking to see if there was a dead rat – there wasn’t as it turned out to be the electrical box breaker burning up – could only smell it when there was a high load on it – ie hvac system being on and thus the thinking there was a rat in the duct…. didn’t figure it out until we smelled it any only the dryer was running…
GabbyJohnson
An accordian file from an office supply place keeps all my sandpaper in one place with each section labeled for the different grit grades.
I have a paper towel and a TP holder mounted on the ceiling above my workbench so they’re handy when I need them.
JoeM
I don’t think I have many things being used for their NORMAL use, let alone a life hack.
I know of two major ones that never fail me. If you know someone who uses eye drops, keep their eye dropper bottles. You can fill them with nearly any fluid, and they then become fully loaded eye droppers for that fluid. I have purified water in one, in case one of my cats needs an eye flush, a Peroxide for if I’m injured and need to disinfect, a Rubbing Alcohol one for when my Printer is acting up and the print heads are clogged, and one with Olive Oil, which is the recommended lubricant for when you’re using a Diamond bit to drill through Glass or a Mirror.
Side note to this… If you have an inkjet printer, there’s this foam pad with wires in it, over to one side where the print heads are. If you start a head cleaning cycle, you can put several drops of Rubbing Alcohol to soak that pad, and it will literally wash the print heads as they land on that pad. That pad is the head cleaner, of sorts. The printer drops some ink through to that pad to clean, and there’s a little angle modifier for the print head, that forces the heads themselves to wipe back and forth on the pad. Since Printer Ink is Alcohol based, saturating that pad with Rubbing Alcohol is the easiest way to clean stubbornly clogged print heads. Though, the heat of a warm printer, plus open air, will still slowly evaporate the Alcohol, just as it does on the printed page.
Now the second hack is basically the same. Spritz or Pump bottles can be used as empty containers for things like hand sanitizer and shampoo/conditioner. They will always dole out exactly the amount you need for a specific application.
I usually take a sub-lingual Vitamin D spray. Those spritz bottles, when empty and washed, can be refilled with 1/2 Aloe Hand Sanitizer, and 1/2 Hydrogen Peroxide. The result? Painless wound cleaner. Great for First Aid, as it flushes wounds fast, and without the pain or sting.
Pump Bottle for skin moisturizer? Clean it out afterward, it dispenses the perfect amount of shampoo or conditioner/2-in-1 every time.
I reuse old CD cases to make shelves, Dowling and Chop Sticks for supports of those shelves, Old pieces of computer cases to customize other cases, set up multiple external on-board ports where the case only supported one… Old fans installed in places to direct airflow… C-Clamps as anchors for other tools…
Jon Miller
Hydrogen peroxide is very good at disinfecting. It kills germs. But it also kills good cells. Hasn’t been recommended by any medical authorities for disinfecting wounds for a long time.
Gordon Brown
The Talenti website states that the containers aren’t dishwasher or microwave safe.
Sam
– PVC pipe + cinder blocks for bottle rockets
– chain link fence wire ties for…. everything. Basically heavy duty zip ties. Fence wire also works, but the wire ties are already a pre-cut length
– paracord. Keep it in known lengths (I use different colors for different lengths) organized on a large carabiner.
– get a large baggie and fill it with: 50 ft of paracord or similar style rope, a large handful of zip ties in a variety of sizes, a package of peel-and-stick velcro, rubber bands, a small roll of duct tape, mini can of WD-40, BIC lighter, small bottle super glue, the cheapest amazon-generic pocket knife you can find, small screw driver with a reversible flathead/phillips bit…. Now make about 5 baggies like this, and store one everywhere you think you may need to make a redneck repair in a hurry — office, kitchen, work shop, center console of truck. It will save your behind in hurry, and you’ll use it more often than you realize for things you never expected.
Jimmie
Here are a few:
1) My laundry/mud room is adjacent to the attached garage. Before I got a dedicated garage heater, I would re-route the dryer vent into the garage and run an empty load to heat the garage.
2) I use my pressure washer on my lawn to “rake” leaves to the street where the city will vacuum them. It’s a lot faster than using a rake or non-backpack leaf blower.
3) I also use my pressure washer, in soap mode, to spray fungicide into my crabapple trees. The soap mode is “low pressure” but still higher pressure than my municipal water pressure so I can spray farther than my hose-end sprayers. Its soap mode has a 7:1 mixing ratio so it’s easy to calculate how much chemical to use for X gallons of output.
4) I’ve used a nurse’s stethoscope to locate a loose wire nut in a hidden junction box that was causing a bathroom light fixture to flicker ever so slightly every 20-30 seconds.
5) I use a console whole-house humidifier in the winter. And I have hard water which means that those expensive filter wicks clog within a week or two. But if you drape wet paper towel segments over the top of the wick so that they hang over a few inches on either side (in essence, the paper towel becomes the topmost part of the wick), the dissolved minerals will wick into the paper towels. Simply replace the paper towels daily and the filter wicks themselves will last indefinitely (or until they start to get mildewy…4-5 weeks usually).
Finally,
6) Nylon zipties make great indestructible cat toys. I’ve spent I don’t know how much money on cat toys when all he really wants to play with is a ziptie. Especially if you sit on one side of a door and stick the ziptie under the door and wiggle it back and forth. He never tires of this game.
CountyCork
Every morning in spring and fall I’ll go around with my Bosch 18v vacuum and suck up dandelion seeds before they get dropped. This year there’s been noticeably less popping up. Sure beats trying to pull them up. I’ve probably collected millions of seeds by now. Hmmm should I spread them on my neighbors perfect lawn? haha
bobad
*Save vinyl trim, lattice, siding scraps. Saw through a piece of it 3-5 times real quick, and you will see spots of the vinyl appear on your saw blade. It makes circular saw blade cut like a new coated one.
*Get yourself a Xuron cutter for nipping music wire, guitar strings, bike brake cable, emergency fish hook removal, and other hard, thin wire that can dull your good diagonal pliers. Cuts like butter, https://www.amazon.com/Xuron-2193-Wire-Shear/dp/B000IBQECE/
Paul K
When I put in or replace a small section of trim and don’t feel like hauling out the compressor and air nailer to sink four nails, I hand hammer trim nails. To set them I use a 2″ 10 or 15 Torx bit. I have a handful from various bit sets which I’ve never actually needed for their true purpose, but they are the perfect size for setting trim nails.
Jimmy
Here’s mine 3400 GM motors used in Pontiac Oldsmobile and Buick models have an EYE passageway in the intake that likes to clog with carbon build up. After spraying it with cleaner an old guitar string works great as it bends through the curves and once it’s worked all the way through can be pulled out the opposite end taking all the gunk with it.
Grade 8 nuts and bolts used as jack bolts to remove brake rotors that have fused to the hubs. I borrowed a few of every size from my employers parts bin and keep them in the box for this situation. Works everytime