Gear Patrol

The ThumbSaver Magnetic Nail Setter ($13) is an ingeniously simple solution for a fairly common problem. It’s grooved magnetized tip is strong enough to hold even the thickest of nails firmly in place while hammering — sparing your most important evolutionary digit in the event your aim is slightly off the mark. The magnet is…

When it comes to chainsaws corded and battery-powered options have always left something to be desired — their lack of torque and power relegating them to oversized shrub duty. But come this September, there’s going to be a new player in town. The Oregon PowerNow Cordless Chainsaw ($TBA) will pack 40 volts of lithium ion…

Igloo’s Yukon series “cold locker” coolers ($330+) are a new breed of portable storage capable of keeping contents cool for up to fourteen days(!) on the road. Before your brain starts wandering to week long beer-a-thons on a deserted beach, be clear that these professional grade coolers were built with lengthy hunting & fishy trips…

Artillery Tool’s various pry bar systems are designed to help professionals and do-it-yourself-ers alike tear down construction like Stephon Marbury destroyed his career. While all of their kits feature a variety of interchangeable handles and specialized pry heads, the Disaster Restoration Set ($549)is their top of the line offering. The 22 specialized wrecking components packed…

Required ingredients to forge one badass hammer: 19 oz balanced head, 18 inches of Tennessee Hickory and monumental biceps. Okay, maybe not the last, but you’ll find the former two in this collaboration between our friends at Base Camp X and Hardcore Hammers who have somehow managed to take a ubiquitous tool and turn it…

It may look like a Klingon weapon, but the Hilti GX 120 ($799) is definitely of this world. With the ability to drive 750 fasteners on a single tank of gas, it makes mincemeat of normal-duty fastening jobs. The GX 120 is powerful enough to quickly drive fasteners into tough surfaces like concrete, plastered masonry,…

Want one of those organized tool walls you keeping spying in the fictional garages of guys in the hardware store commercials but can’t be bothered to hang pegboard? Well, Tool Dots ($12) were created for the lazy neat freak in all of us. Each dot measures 1/2 inches in diameter and can securely hold tools…

Everyday household disinfectant wipes may kill 99.9% of the germs and bacteria out there, but they’re about as flimsy as a wet gauze. Not so much with Tub O’Towels ($13), though. Made for Mike Rowe sized jobs, this tub of 90 wipes withstands even the most zealous cleaning tasks. Twice as durable, twice as large,…

Without skipping a cut, the Graham Stubby Folding Razel ($50) qualifies as one of the more unique pocket knives we’ve used. Based off the larger non-folding Razel, which was created as a utility knife of sorts featuring both a chisel point and a razor styled blade. This blade combination lends itself to a multitude of…

Designed for performance in a compact package, it isn’t a stretch to call the Festool CSX Drill ($275) the BMW of drills — hailing from the 80 year old German power tool company. The single, 2 lb driver functions as both a drill or driver and its versatile form factor means taking on cumbersome spaces…

Built with noise dampening materials and a uniquely designed exhaust tube, the Husqvarna 356QT Quiet Blower ($495) emits just 64 decibels making it a veritable Lexus amongst its peers. And in case you’re not savvy with decibel ranges, 60 dB’s is the equivalent of a dishwasher on rinse cycle and 70dB’s is roughly your average…

The Black & Decker Rapid Roller ($35) is designed to make your next paint job take half the time compared to using traditional roller brushes. Featuring an exclusive pivoting head, the brush can be used straight on or at 40 and 80 degree angles for easy edging and maneuvering in tight spaces. Thanks to its…

Garage storage solutions haven’t evolved much in the last 50 years, and that frustrated the Penner family, who has operated a manufacturing company since 1981. The tool boxes in their workshops just weren’t passing muster, so they decided to build their own. Instead of falling back to standard drawer design which they saw could be…

Just as Zeus produced Ares, Hercules, and Hermes, so hath the original Duct Tape spawned Scotch’s new Tough Duct Tape line. The new branding is about as redundant as it gets, but Scotch clearly wanted to reassure loyalists that the latest heirs in the Duct Tape family were every bit as useful as their take-on-all-projects…

Some tools are made for creating, others are destined for destruction. The Garret Wade Box Hatchet ($10) has breaking written all over it. Stare at the head, and you’ll see it’s part hatchet, part hammer, part nail remover and part crowbar, making it the mother of all frankentools. Why the name Box Hatchet you ask?…

Boasting saw speeds 3 times quicker than mere mortal saws, the Irwin Universal Handsaw ($22) is the Usain Bolt of cutters. Winner of a Red Dot Product Design Award, the handsaw features a unique, ergonomic placement of its comfort grip handle in relation to the triple-ground tooth blade design. The combination virtually eliminates binding and…

Some tasks call for delicate tools, others don’t. The PockeTweez ($25) was designed by construction industry veterans who worked around Oregon’s milling industry and admired the hand-crafted tweezers employees made from planer blade stock. Unlike your typical drug store variety, these tweezers were stout and sharp as hell, which made them great for removing splinters/silvers….

Just like your own personal periscope, the Ryobi TEK4 Inspection Scope can go where your head and eyeballs can’t. Better than cramming your face through a wall or snaking your meaty forearms through a small space under the hood of your car, this scope has a 3 foot camera cable that’s waterproof, along with a…

You may not be planning to do any log grooving, boat building, or wood sculpting this weekend, but that doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate the rustic beauty of the Gränsfors Bruks Gutter Adze ($310). The Swedish company, famous for their luxurious roughhewn hand tools outdoes themselves with the small form-factor bowl shaped adze designed for…

Have you ever driven past a construction site and wondered just how much yard work you could do if you just had one of those Bobcats? With the new Boxer 320 Mini-Skid ($14,999), you can bring home the power of industrial-grade equipment in a domestic-friendly, workshed parkable machine. At just 34.5″ wide, the rideable skid…

Dyson’s most recent addition to their dirt destroying lineup, the DC35 ($300) cordless multi floor vacuum includes a digital motor that’s three times faster than conventional motors, a fade-free lithium ion battery, and a detachable long-reach wand (we guess size really does matter…). A fully charged vacuum will provide 15 minutes of constant high suction…

The KASTOmaxcut Bandsaw could very well be the king of cutting. It’s got a blade as thick as a man’s arm and the wheels that make even the baddest mudders look puny. In terms of oomph, it uses a 29 horsepower motor to power one-of-two blade options that can be hydraulically positioned for vertical or…

Handling and transporting sheet materials like drywall, plywood and particleboard have turned many a do-it-yourselfer into a “eh-maybe-laterer”. The problem that plagues most home projects isn’t the weight of materials, but the strain on the body from assuming awkward positions necessary in order carry them. That’s where the Gorilla Gripper ($40) really lends a hand…

The Fiskars, Cuts+More Scissors ($20) are far more than your average pair of hinged blades. Taking a cue from the multi-tool world, Cuts+More scissors not only provide top notch cutting performance but also integrate other cutting implements including: wire cutter, twine cutter, power notch for cutting light rope, pointed awl tip and bottle opener (pictured…

One of our favorite things about the holiday season is its tendency to remind us what is really important… important things like the sheer thrill of racing down a snow blanketed slope of precarious grade, red-faced with tears of joy streaming out the corners of our eyes, ignoring the warnings and caution of mothers as…

While it’s not as elegant as a Best Made Axe, in true Gear Patrol colors, Fiskars does deliver wood-splitting Armageddon with their 7854 Super Splitting Axe ($40). With its 28-Inch Handle and 4-1/4-Pound Head, it’s powerful enough to break up some serious logs to stoke your blazing winter fires in the hearth, the stove or…

The genius who put a lighter at the end of a long stick is hopefully up for canonization in some religion as a finger saving saint. Clearly Zippo’s Flexneck Utility Lighter ($23) is the neck err…next evolution. Thanks to its flexible extension and slim powerful nozzle, with this in your hand, there’s no need to…

Padlocks are a great way to keep things secure. The world’s supply of bolt cutters isn’t exactly dwindling though, so there’s always a risk that your bike, tool box, or other toys can get snagged when you aren’t around. The U.S. Patrol Siren Padlock Alarm ($13) adds another layer of protection by emitting a 110db…

We don’t imagine many of you earn your scratch as guitar playing street busker — but if you do that’s totally cool and please send us a demo. We also doubt you’re reading this while aboard your tour bus driving to your next 100,000+ seating stadium venue (again though if you are a global rock…

Ride your bike enough and you’re going to have to fix a flat tire. You’re lucky if it happens close to home but Murphy’s Law says you’ll most likely be 20 miles out, at dusk with a storm approaching. Oh, and it will be the rear tire, which necessitates fiddling with the chain to pop…