This sort of question comes around every once in a while; “what’s your must-buy under $100”, “what goods would you recommend for people just moving out on their own”, and so on. I love reading these because, despite my simply vast experience[1], I sometimes pick up new tricks.
This question is about second-level stuff; maybe not “must haves” that you’d recommend as a first purchase, but the stuff that makes life easier, that you might acquire after you’ve gotten settled. Things that you may have only discovered that you’d buy again if the house burned down.
For example, my wife bought a couple of these microwave tools years ago, and at the time I thought they were going to be gimmicky stuff we never used. Turns out, we use them all the time; whoever came up with the idea was brilliant.
I like them because, unlike a hot mitt, if they get food on them you just wash them. They’re way easier to use than mitts, and can be used more securely one-handed. I wouldn’t trust them on stuff from the oven because of their size, but for plates and bowls from a microwave, they’re surprisingly handy. It took me a dozen times using them before I realized the ring in the back actually works to clamp them to the bowl and turn them into a handle, rather than just using them as grabbers.
The thing I used today which prompted my post, and something I’d encourage people to buy if they don’t have one, is a battery-powered rotary tool. My current one is a Dremel 8250, but many companies make them. They’re handy and make short work of a lot of odd jobs, and IME if you have one you constantly find places to use them.
A kit like this one runs about $150, and I think it’s worth the price. I think it’s worth getting an accessories kit, but the bits that came with the kit are the ones I use most often and can take you a long way.
So, what are your tools, devices, or products that you’ve discovered which may not be a common, basic first-level “must have” household item, but which you’d not want to do without? Things which might be a little off-the-beaten-path but indispensable? Stuff you may have stumbled upon which turned out to be surprisingly useful?
Endoscope. $50. Uses phone as screen. 10’ wire with camera and light on the end. Saved my ass when wiring through the walls so many times.
Wiring, and fishing stuff out of hard-to-reach places. A telescoping magnet does the work, but being able to see what you’re trying to capture can make all the difference. Good suggestion!
I second this
My advice is: Avoid buying anything until you really need it.
Otherwise, you end up buying a ton of stuff that you never need and it just sits around collecting dust and you’re that much poorer for it.
Source: I have a bunch of stuff I bought over the years thinking I’d need it and much of it is rarely used. Save your money because money can be anything.
When you do need a tool, check out garage sales and estate sales first because you can get some top-notch stuff at huge discounts. Alternately, pick up a cheap version from harbor freight and use it until it breaks, then get a good one because you know you’ll use it enough that quality becomes worth the extra cost.
My parents’ garage is packed full of “tools” that are 50% cheap Chinese gimmick crap bought on a whim for a “maybe” problem they end up asking me to fix with real tools because by the time the problem happens, they forgot about the cheap gimmick thing bought to fix it.
While I agree with this sentiment, OP specifically mentioned buying a thing they thought was a novelty crap item that ended up being something they constantly use, and I kind of agree that sometimes you just don’t know how useful something is until you try it. My bidet, for example, is just insanely useful and I wasn’t sure if I’d even use it at first.
People say that a lot about harbor freight / cheap tools but what actually happens is you end up always having either the cheap one or then two of the same thing. It’s actually really hard to break a tool. I am always working on stuff and I’ve only actually broken a tool to the point of being unusable like a handful of times.
I’m not saying go out and get top notch stuff either. My tools collection is a random mish mash of stuff I’ve acquired over the years. I am absolutely terrible about losing drill bits so I tend to buy cheap ones for example lol. I agree second hand tools from flea markets, pawn shops, or yard sales is a great way to start a collection.
Also harbor freight has really stepped up their game in the past few years. They still have the reputation of being the budget brand, which they are, but there’s some great stuff there. I personally don’t like the feel of some of their hand tools, but I just got a carpenter’s vise that feels like top of the line despite being $70.
I have definitely broken stuff, however I do agree: Some HF stuff is actually pretty great for the price.
Neat, I wonder if there are other form factors for the microwave one. This particular one might not work well for some dishes.
For the second tool, what kind of stuff have you used it for?
For my submission: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seam_ripper
I got it to cut off itchy tags and frayed threads, etc, but you can also use it to slice open envelopes
What a great suggestion! We just had to deal with some itchy tags last week and this would have been a big help. I haven’t seen one of these since Home Ec in high school.
Edit: Fiskars’ seam ripper with a tape measure is $6!! I’m a huge fan of Fiskars products, and that’s absurdly cheap for something from a company which tends to make quality products.
I used the Dremel today to finish the repair of some stripped cabinet door hinge holes. Flat toothpicks and wood glue do most of the work, but having a Dremel to cut off the toothpick excess and sand down the surface makes it a lot easier. When we first relocated, I had my Dremel kit but none of my other power tools, and I used the Dremel to pre-drill screw holes, e.g. for drywall screws. Speaking of drywall, the Dremel drywall bit is way easier than a box cutter for cutting out larger sections for new boxes; especially in the 1960’s house we moved into, which had so many coats of paint the drywall was half again as thick as usual!
iFixIt style kit. Drills and standard screwdrivers are a given in a household but when you need to fix your glasses or get the batteries out of something small it makes a world of difference, especially with little spudgels/tweezers to help the cause.
Oh yeah! That’s a great addition to a household toolkit.
I searched for
“microwave bowl grabber silicone”
and first result was a bunch of dicks!
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And yes the 8250 is excellent for many precision, polishing, or cutting jobs.
Sometimes you wonder if people think before making and selling something like this. On a practical note, I’d be afraid of incidental burns using these.
I have an older, corded Dremel too, but the cordless is so much more convenienr. I haven’t pulled out the corded since I got the 8250. If I used it so much I was running out the battery, I’d probably just buy a second battery before going back to the corded version.
I have no idea how those are supposed to be used, they do look quite dangerous.
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I got an extra aftermarket battery, which AFAIK, is higher capacity and seems more powerful.
My guess is it’s supposed to be thumb, index, and middle finger, and a pinching motion. But maybe they knew exactly what it’d look like.
I haven’t had good luck with 3rd party batteries in general. I have a couple for my camera which claim higher specs but they run down quickly. My 3rd party Dyson vacuum battery works fine on medium with a run time I’m used to, but I can’t run the vacuum on high because it drains the battery after a few seconds. A lot of these sorts of batteries simply lie on their specs; I think it’s a crap shoot to get one which really matches. Which aftermarket one did you get? Word-of-mouth reviews are gold.
Hand powered drain auger. This isn’t exactly a quality of life enhancer but it’s one that new homeowners probably won’t buy right away. It is one of those items where you pray you’ll never need it and thank whatever deity you want that you do when you do.
Other enhancers: automatic occupancy light switches if appropriate for your home setup. We have them on garage stairs for safety reasons so we dont have to reach for switches while carrying things.
Good task lighting. I have a second switch in the garage for high output lighting when I need it to be bright as daylight inside while working on the car etc. And bright under counter lighting in the kitchen for cooking or entertaining.
Second the powered auger. First time the house main septic drain got plugged cost me $350 to have a plumber fix it.
Second time cost me $300 to buy the auger and do it myself.
There hasn’t been a third time but it will cost me zero. It does take up a bunch of space in the garage though which is a pain in the ass.
General rule is if something in your house breaks and it’s cheaper to buy the tool to fix it than to call a repair person, then buy the tool and fix it yourself. So you do some work but get a tool out of the deal. After a while you have enough tools to fix typical problems.
My other big epiphany is avoid cordless tools except for a few that get used a lot, like a cordless drill/driver. I use a corded handheld vacuum instead of a cordless one and it’s cheaper, way more powerful, doesn’t need constant recharging, just better all around. Obviously this isn’t a hard rule but consider corded when you can. Remember you can use a portable inverter or similar for lots of this stuff. Like I bought a cordless glue gun early on, a popular tool, but it was a dumb purchase in retrospect. Corded would have been fine.
With any battery tools, you’re buying the battery system and the tools come along for the ride. I’m happy enough with my Ryobi vacuum.
I agree re the vacuum, and generally avoid cordless tools due to the weight, but omg I was at a friend’s house the other day and she showed me some battery-powered secateurs she’d borrowed from her sister. Next thing I’m out there pruning away - they cut through tough stems like butter! Now on my wish list.
I’m gonna disagree on the vacuum. A corded one has a cord, and cords are annoying as hell for vacuuming.
The right battery vacuum is great for grabbing and vacuuming in little bursts instead of making a big thing out of it.
Glue gun and vaccum - corded because I’d be doing these jobs inside where I know I have easy access to outlets. But generally, I’ve realized that cord/cordless are just two different tools. Chose which to buy based on the size of the job and the frequency you do it (which sort of translates to how many battery charges a job would take vs time/hassle to run an extension cord). But also consider having one of both if you actually have two use cases.
Definitely recommend choosing one brand of cordless tools to buy so that they can share batteries. Also have at least one more battery than tools and put chargers in an easy to access place so they can just stay plugged in all the time.
I do like cordless, but anything that needs to generate heat (like a glue gun, a clothes iron, a soldering iron) is not a good idea, for sure.
The glue gun is fairly low powered, unlike a heat gun, so it sounded like a good idea at first. I did want to use it portably like to fix something in my car. I realized afterwards that a corded one can easily be powered by an inverter. You can even get small inverters powered by tool batteries.
If you don’t have a wet-dry vac (shop vac being a popular brand) they tend to be a huge help in cleanup when it comes to really sucky jobs (pun absolutely intended).
Especially for water-messes such as flooding or sludge when you drop a glass jar of jelly or whatever. Turns a super bad time into a slightly less bad time.
Calipers. I bought a cheapo pair (this one) because it was convenient for measuring the parts on a mechanical watch that I was modding. Now I use them all the time around the house for finding the size of nuts, bolts, rope thickness, etc.
Also, if you buy a non digital one knowing how to properly read them will feel like you just unlocked some arcane magic
It feels really cool to use a purely mechanical one, haha. Like you’re a chemist in the 16th century figuring out pressure for the first time.
cheap verniers are one of the tools I have in every main space, alongside a machinist’s ruler, allen keys, and a ratcheting screwdriver
I got a metal pick set for under $10 and I use them all the time for cleaning out crevices.
Like… a dental pick set? That sounds like a great idea, especially for around the stovetop.
Basically, but they’re thicker and each one in the set has a different shaped hook. Very versatile.
Like for picking locks?
Stud finder and spirit level.
If you’re mounting something moderately weighty to a wall, you need a stud finder. Then to ensure it’s straight, you need a spirit level.
I picked up one of these a few years ago. Great stud finder that also sees pipes and wires.
If you ever have to deal with a bunch of writing, a €25 pair of good “automatic wire strippers” just make life that much easier.
Also just keeping 3 pencils and 2 permanent markers in every tool kit has saved me countless hours of searching.
A good box cutter and replacement Blades save similar amounts of headaches, and a good head lamp with a replaceable 18650 li-ion battery too.
I couldn’t count how much time I’ve spent trying to strip wires with a box cutter or how many times I’ve had to restrip because I cut some of the wires. A wire stripper is a great addition.
I bought those fancy knipex auto strippers and I Will Not Be Parted From Them™. Shit is so good.
Multi-meter
Good soldering iron
Oscillating multi-tool (power tool)
Infrared heat camera (great for assessing energy loss, engine, electrical diagnosis).
Good soldering iron
can you drop some names please?
My personal recommendation is the Pinecil. It’s powered by USB-C and is very small compared to the typical 120/240v iron, makes it a lot easier to do precision work.
Commenting to remind that the Pinecil won’t work plugged into a laptop or standard USB-C power bank. You need something like a laptop/steam deck charger that puts out the appropriate wattage.
But if you don’t do a massive amount of soldering (or want a portable or small footprint setup) the Pinecil is fantastic.
Fair point, I think it needs like 45 watts or something around that.
Personally, I hate how a standard soldering iron has to be held so far away from the tip, it makes it hard to do fine precision work.
System Memory: 132KB SRAM
i have the feeling we finally live in the future :-) i mean,… it’s a soldering iron, right?
still interesting. thanks for the tip!
I know it sounds dumb, but it runs a very small open source OS called IronOS which is made for soldering irons.
It does have a small display and two buttons for navigation, and lets you set the exact temperature you want to use, and has settings like auto shutoff, etc
I’m still an amateur overall but I went with a tried and true Weller 70W soldering station. Probably overkill for most but I needed every advantage I could get, repairing my amp. Dialing in your temperature removes one big variable from your equation. Already used to repair household appliances as well.
my weller station is currently doing strange things and i’m a bit disappointed that you can not open it because they used special screws,… so i’m not very fond of them… maybe i only have to buy a new soldering rot?!
A small, flexible plastic bottle, which was actually meant for drizzling lemon juice or oil over your food, but which I use to store isopropyl alcohol for various cleaning purposes. It’s so handy because you don’t end up spilling it everywhere; you can just apply a few drops exactly where it’s needed. And the smell isn’t as strong that way.
Good lithium jump starter, and keep it in your car. Better than cables. I must have used mine 20 times between kids leaving my lights on all night and helping strangers.
This is the only one I agree with in this thread. Everything else buy as you need.
*You can also use most as a phone charger, flashlight, some even air pump. Good for emergency use.
