ChrisR

It will be interesting to see how the XR Flexvolt 54v (as it is known this side of the pond) will compete with the new Milwaukee OPE. I suspect that Milwaukee will come out on top. Why? 9ah battery Vs 2ah. Even when you factor in the higher voltage I suspect that the DeWalt will lag on run time.

C'Mon guys. This is the most innuendo I've seen in a thread. "How do you clean your tools?" "I like mine to be blown clean." "I like mine to be gently towelled." "I like to dip mine in peanut butter and let the dog lick it clean." LOL

I'm a big AvE fan. I don't do Patreon but I've subscribed to his pay per views. Because of what he does to the tools he is never going to get freebies from the tool companies and some of the industrial stuff he is buying to strip down is mega bucks. I also find the techy geeky side interesting too. Plus you won't find a more honest tool review on the internet. Who else has taken a $gazillion Festool saw, stripped it down and proven it to be pretty much junk? I also don't agree that he speaks the way he does to attract audiences. I have spent my career working with guys that speak like that. Canada has a more British outlook than the US and here in Britain we generally take the piss out of everything and everyone. In fact if a British guy isn't taking the piss out of you, your car, your job, your wife, your house then he probably doesn't like you very much. :-)

Copper theft is now a major issue in the UK. We even have people sneaking on to railways at night and stealing the signalling cables! Empty houses are often raided for the copper pipes and wiring. All metal theft is on the rise now sice we saw an influx of Roma Gypsies from Eastern Europe. These buggers are literally removing street furniture such as trash bins and benches to sell for scrap. Metal theft is now the number one crime that the British Transport Police (who deal with railways infrastructure) deal with. And it is very high on most other police priorities.

I ersonally think Wera are the best screwdrivers around. They come in insulated variety and are very reasonable price. For pliers and cutters Knipex are great as are NWS and CK. Btw Knipex do make for other brands and are often cheaper with the other name, ie Draper here in the UK. I can't speak for Klein as here in the UK they are ridiculously expensive. Due to a single importer who clearly consume a lot of narcotics before their pricing meetings at their office. I note your list does not include a meter but if you did need one I would recomend Fluke and also would consider a clamp version. I use a Fluke 325 as a marine engineer as I need the ability to measure volts, continuity and resistance but also the need to measure current without breaking the circuit. For crimpers I always go for ratchet type as these give a far superior crimp. Get a version with interchangeable jaws if you need to do insulated and non insulated. Or just a cheap pair of each. Cheap ratchet crimpers will all give a better crimp than expensive non ratchet crimpers. Strippers are a personal item. Some guys like auto, some traditional, some old boys just like using a knife. Find a version that feel comfortable in your hand and that you can use over and over with good results. For a bag, yes Veto pro pack are awseome but so is their price point. Many manufacturers offer good bags. Get one with a hard plastic base and comfortable carrying system.

I've just bought a Snap-On badged flashlight in Costco for £11 +Tax. For that price I don't care if its waterproof as if I drop it in the harbour I'm not going in after it.

They have been using it in Sweden for a while apparently so it's good for ice. The water is not trapped under the road it soaks away naturally as if there was no road there. Obviously it is for rain and snow not rivers of water. The idea is to prevent floods forming due to water being trapped on the surface.

Gardening. It's not that I can't do it but I hate it so much that I leave it until it's a jungle and then when I have to spend an entire weekend hacking it all back I promise myself that I'll keep on top of it, but I don't.

You can already get cordless pop rivet guns and cordless pipe benders. I put the links to a couple I found on the youtube comments section.

Yes. I use a £30 set for insulated crimps. That's about $45 in American money but here that is about the price for the wife and I to get lunch at the local pub so not expensive. The Knipex version here is about £100.

I'm not sure what brand my current boots are? I like to wear slip on dealer boot style. Here everything has to be British and Euro standard before you're allowed to wear them on industrial sites. I wore Jallatte rigger boots for a while offshore( issued to me) but I soon went back to dealer boot style.

£1.14 for Diesel and £1.10 for petrol (gasoline) here in Fife, UK. That would work out around £4.32 per US gallon or US$6.56/gallin for diesel and £4.17 or $6.33 /gallon for petrol( gasoline).

Nothing wrong with a lot of the Chinese ones. They're very often the same as the brand ones, made in the same factory by the same guy. The difference in crimp quality between ratchet and non ratchet is night and day. Ratchet are also more comfortable as you can stop half way if your hand hurts. Although that would likely be because you had the tension wheel adjusted wrong. Once you use a ratchet crimper, even a cheap one, you'll never go back as you just wont trust manual crimps.

No no no! I have spent my career both at sea in the UK Merchant Navy and offshore oil and gas industry before coming ashore and working for myself as a marine engineer servicing commercial vessels so a career pretty demanding of good tools. One employer I had in oil and gas used to supply us with entire tool sets from Snap On. Honestly I thought they were no better than any other and infact worse than many. We had a higher breakage rate on hand tools with Snap On than any other brand and offshore you can't just call the Snap On van to come and warranty them. Their spanners are very spindly and thin which I'm assured by auto mechanics (who owe Snap On more than their home mortgage company) that this is a beneficial trait in the auto world but honestly when working with big boy toys it's not. Are they decent tools? Yes, some of them are. Are they worth the cost? No, not inder any stretch of imagination! I tend to find that the only guys who really think they are that good are really just trying to convince themselves they haven't been robbed, but they have. Also: Snap On's biggest tool boxes are like £20,000?? I could literally employ someone to store my tools in a van and bring them to me on request for that money!

Wera are awesome screwdrivers. I'm ashamed to say I don't own any myself but before I was self employed my employers always supplied all tools and I always used to order Wera. As far as I'm concerned there are none better. I really must buy myself a set as they are quite reasonably priced here in the UK. BTW: Bosch Ribbed Tipped, lol sounds like a condom variety! lol. Ribbed for your extra pleasure!