Tools
DT8 Flashlight
I’ve found flashlights to be one of the most versatile and important tools to carry. It is nearly impossible to do quality work in bad lighting. I’ve been through a few flashlights, but I’ve recently started carrying a DT8 by Noctigon-Emisar. This, and the D4V2 that I carried before it, is referred to as a “hotrod flashlight”. It has the ability to prioritize pure lumens over all else- particularly temperature. In turbo, this light gets to hot to hold at the front in under a minute, but puts out nearly 8000 lumens in the process.
One of the most important features of the light is that is uses Anduril 2. Anduril is a type of operating system for flashlights. It allows incredible tunability and customization of the light and its output. It also means you don’t have to cycle through strobe every time you turn the light off.
The light is surprisingly cheap for what it is capable of, but can be a bit hard to learn Anduril at the beginning.
Knipex Cobras
On the surface, these aren’t that special. They are just a 5” pair of channel locks with an improved adjustment mechanism over the classic tongue-and-groove design. Once you actually get your hands on a pair, however, you will notice the teeth are sharper, harder and have better geometry than other pairs. It’s very impressive how big of a difference this makes. It’s not uncommon for this tiny set to have success on rounded fasteners that significantly larger pliers have failed on.
The jaws on mine are a bit misaligned, but I think that happened when I side-loaded them one day.
Mitutoyo Calipers
A lot of people buying these expect to be more accurate than cheaper models, but that is usually not true. Most cheap calipers will hold +-0.001” just as well as these can. However, these do to tend to hold their zero better (i.e. after a full day of use without re-zeroing, they will still read zero when fully closed). You should always check your zero before measuring anything important though, so this makes minimal difference in my experience. The one massive advantage these have is their power draw. It is roughly an order of magnitude better than any other calipers on the market.
As a final note, the steel is known to be better on these, so they should hold up a bit longer.
ICON Flush Cutters
I bought these for cutting zip ties completely flush, and they do an incredible job of that. They are for “plastic and soft wire only” and the edge geometry reflects that. Standard side cutters will have cutting knives that are slightly misaligned to increase longevity; these have matched cutting knives, so every time you cut something, especially if you use a lot of force, the knives slam against one-another. The grind angle is also much sharper, which contributes to the massive durability concerns with cutters like these. If you know this going in, they hold up really well. These aren’t that notable from other zip tie cutters, but the lifetime warranty is nice. They are showing a bit of corrosion, so maybe some Ballistol or similar wouldn’t be a bad idea if you invest in a pair.
Knipex Side Cutters
These are the necessary pair to the above flush cutters. Without a pair of more durable, duller cutters you will inevitably push your luck too far with the flush cutters and notch the knives. I don’t have much to say about these, they are pretty standard for a higher end pair of cutters. My only complaint is the joint is a bit stiff at points throughout travel, even after some pretty heavy usage.
Snap-On recently came out with a product called the ComboCut. They have standard cutting knives close to the joint and transition to flush cutters near the tip. They seem like a great option for a small tool-kit, as long as you are careful to not damage the delicate flush cutters.
Knipex Pliers Wrench
When I bought these, Knipex was the only name in the game. Since then, many “knock-offs” have come to market at varying levels of quality. Knipex still tends to stand near the top, but the price reflects that. Its worth looking into other brands, but I have no personal experience with them.
More generally, the concept of these is excellent and, in my opinion, makes the crescent wrench obsolete. They exert force upon your fastener instead of relying on fitment alone. This also makes them practical for flattening/bending thin sheet.
The reason you usually see these chrome plated when most hand tools are black oxide is due to the affect of the coating on the tool. Chrome is harder and more corrosion resistant than black oxide, so it seems like an obvious choice for all tools. However, chrome is so hard that it is difficult to grind off of tools. As such, chrome plating is the final step in tool manufacturing. Contrast this to black oxide coating, which is done before final grinding/sharpening (see the cobras above for an example).
When a tool is chrome plated, a thickness is built upon on the metal’s surface. This makes teeth and cutting knives dull, hence why most side cutters, standard pliers, etc. are only ever available in black oxide. Chrome is also brittle, which makes it sub-optimal for cutting knives and teeth. On smooth-jaw tools, chrome is ideal as this thickening is irrelevant.
M12 3/8 Stubby (2562)
Overall, this is a really great product. If you have read other reviews, or have the gen 1, you probably already know that. What is less documented, however, are the downsides to this tool.
The mode-switching on this tool (put it in neutral, double click the trigger) is a downgrade from the button. I find myself accidently changing modes occasionally. I wish there was some feedback besides the dim LED when modes were switched.
The selector switch is not only a bit mushy, but positioned too far down. Sometimes when gripping the tool, I bump it into neutral (this is especially bad given the above)
Battery selection has a very dramatic performance impact on this tool. This one isn’t as much of a downside, just something to be aware of. I’d rather have a tool that takes full advantage of better cells than downgrade itself for power similarity.
Once again, I believe this to be the best stubby on the market, but it isn’t perfect.