CMU School of Drama


Saturday, October 31, 2009

The Week in Tools: Toolmonger Top 5

Toolmonger: "It’s been a busy week here at Toolmonger. If you’ve been spending time in the shop — you should! — and you haven’t had a chance to keep up with Toolmonger this week, we suggest you start with these posts, which our readers helped to select"

7 comments:

Ethan Weil said...

I like the transition TM is making into covering more project-based stuff, not just articles about gear, but I'd really like to hear some more about things that aren't cars. There is a whole lot written about how cars work and how to work on them. If they could cover some of the fields that more folks are unfamiliar with, I think they'd be a lot more interesting.

arosenbu said...

I really like the pocket knife rationality of having a cheap one that works that you also don't care about. Some people buy really expensive knives, which they then are alomost afraid to use or rather to use in weird ways (which they really want to do...) in fear of damaging them. Working up the blade on a cheapo knife that works seems like an excellent idea :-)

MBerger said...

I like the looks of the first flashlight yet at the end of the day I feel like a flashlight is a flashlight is a flashlight. There are certain tools I have on calls (flashlight, knife, wrench) that I like to be "disposable" Too often am I loaning out those tools to people, or leaving them on the midrail, or just putting them down to look at something else and forgetting to pick them back up. A $6 Maglite is perfect for this, as opposed to a $25 Flaashlight. Same goes for wrenches, I can get a dozen 8" C wrenches for a bit under $10. I will admit to being on both sides of the fence on that issue as I carry both a cheap C wrench and an Ultimate Focus Tool that cost me an arm and a leg...

ewilkins09 said...

I agree with Berger. To me a flashlight is just a flashlight. Although, I do not like the ones that are so bright that they are blinding. I think that the one that is shown on the website is one of those because it looks just like the one that Sam has. The pocket knife idea is a great one but I just need to get some kind of pocket knife in the first place. The last two things seem to be not relevant to the top tools. Those things are great but they shouldn't be featured on the top tools. A top tool should be a tool.

dmxwidget said...

I have had my fiar share of flashlights that are never up to par on any specific occation. I recently got a pretty decent one, China branded that does the job pretty well. It is cheap, bright, and uses 3 AAA's. I also have a Mini-Mag with the LED makeover pack, which works well too. The Dorcy flashlight seems like a nice alternative with the battery indicator lights. I have also had my fair share of pocket knives. I must say that cheap is sometimes the best route.

Megan Spatz said...

160 lumens is pretty impressive for something that runs on 3AA, especially for a high end of $35. I'd be interested to know where its made and what kind of lamp its using. The majority of "pocket" flashlights that tout anything over 100 lumens are around a similar price point, about $100, especially when you get into the LED realm. I'm sure this is an incandescent source which is keeping the price down. Sounds like an interesting thing to put on the Christmas list, although it will undoubtedly get lost as they all seem to do.

aquacompass said...

** Accidentally left my computer logged in as Megan as she used it last. This comment made by Jeremy **

160 lumens is pretty impressive for something that runs on 3AA, especially for a high end of $35. I'd be interested to know where its made and what kind of lamp its using. The majority of "pocket" flashlights that tout anything over 100 lumens are around a similar price point, about $100, especially when you get into the LED realm. I'm sure this is an incandescent source which is keeping the price down. Sounds like an interesting thing to put on the Christmas list, although it will undoubtedly get lost as they all seem to do.