What Hand Tools are YOU Missing?

today I'm going to go over my top 10 favorite  favorite tools to use every day [Music]   all right this video is not sponsored these  are just the most gangster tools that I have   or they're just the tools that have gotten  me through the craziness of all these years   they're super reliable dependable flexible all  the stuff so these are more preferences I'm sure   a lot of you will disagree please actually leave  some comments below if there's stuff that you   use or if you completely hardcore disagree with  everything I'm saying which many of you probably   will because electricians we love our tools right  like we have very specific things so to start out   my favorite little hand tool this thing everybody  needs a stubby screwdriver right A lot of times   like fans will come like actual fan kits will come  with a stubby that you can use but it's usually   just Phillips a lot of like older School cats  like me would just keep like a stubby flat head   around too just to have like when you're putting  the canopy of a ceiling fan up and you can't get   underneath the actual canopy and the motor housing  and you're trying to take the little screws off   this is so cool what's awesome about it is it's  a multi-stubby so it gives you two different flat   heads two different Phillips you know number one  number two so you have two different sizes as well   and it gives you the 5 16 and the quarter inch  that most of these multis have so I love this   tool this thing has come in so handy you're just  inside of some piece of equipment or something you   just need to get into something really small or  you don't have clearance and you're like fingers   up under something and you're trying to like  get in there this thing has saved me so many   times so you should definitely definitely go get  one of these at Bike Line next up on the list is   essentially the exact same thing it's just the  extended version so I like using Maltese just   because it's less tools I have to carry I don't  want 12 handles sticking up at me when I can just   have one I can stick this thing in my back pocket  and like a meter and most of the stuff that I need   to do well I probably need to keep like a pair  of alignments like a multi-alignments um but that   gets me through like 80 of my work you know what I  mean so I don't even have to carry all these crazy   crazy tools with it but same thing you get two  different styles of Phillips number one number   two same thing with Flathead number one number  two you get the quarter inch and you get the 5   16. so it's a six and one this is the extended  six in one um love this thing one caution I have   is don't beat on the end of it don't use this to  beat on stuff because also you're gonna screw up   the ball and you're gonna screw up everything on  how this thing holds itself together one of the   things about multi screwdrivers that I hate is a  lot of times they don't seat in there very well   and they just kind of like fall out when you're  using them just because they're not constructed   that well but this brand and this model this Klein  is the best thing it everything holds in really   solid I never have these things sliding out or  falling out but I'm also not banging on them and   being stupid with them like I take care of this  thing but this is the number one only thing that I   use to screw anything with they do make a version  of this that has like a Phillips and a number one   Robbie or a square and then they make it where the  other side is like a number two Robbie and and the   Flathead or whatever the opposite yeah Phillips  flat and two Robbies I don't like that one as much   because I'm going to use the Robbie more often  like in a less consistent environment you know   what I mean like that's something I pull out when  I need it when I have a piece of equipment that   has a square but most of the rest of the time I'm  just dealing in Phillips and Flathead so and then   the next one is the exact exact same three thing  these three tools I'm going to use in three very   different environments but the exact same reasons  why I love them this is a new thing so this is   a 27 in one Tech Tool It's all minis so it's a  whole bunch of different Phillips flat like you   got itty bitty small terminating screwdrivers  so if you're doing stuff in like I don't know   you got like a vfd or something it's got like  these itty bitty little screws on them or you   just I don't know so the the actual shaft stays  in place but the tips all change out so if you   pull this out this reminds me of Jurassic Park  right where the guy's like the dino DNA and he's   like sticking it all in there and shutting it um  anyways I like that just because it's really cool   it's like just a nerd thing but it has so many  tips every kind of Phillips every kind of flat   whole bunch of torques whole bunch of squares the  one complaint that I do have with this setup and   it doesn't matter which model these little pieces  of plastic break off all the time all the time   this thing gets flown around in your truck banging  around the plastic that holds these things on the   inside will break frequently so you're oftentimes  like [ __ ] I don't want to use this tool anymore   because every time I open this everything just  falls out at me so do be really careful take   good care of these but it's awesome and I also  like that it has a spinning back so I can sit   here and hold the back of it and I can spin you  know it just makes it a little bit less work so   you're not sitting here doing this Jazz a lot of  the terminating screwdrivers out there have that   because you're just a little tiny environments  and you don't want to over tighten anything so   love that love love love that next up we've got  some actual hand tools so I love this thing this   is canipex canipex is actually how you say it from  the horse's mouth themselves I've worked with them   in the past and and there's lots of videos that  people say nipx some people say kunipex it's   canipex but nobody wants to say that so I mean  just keep saying nipx or canipex whatever you want   to do but cool thing about this is the cutting  surface is round like a conductor conductor's   round so it has a round cut and it has a much  better cut it has a lot a lot higher leverage that   you can go larger sizes and I find that cutting  with it is so much easier to cut like number   eights number sixes stuff like that whereas like  a normal flat surface like something like this   that's as far as the thing will open up and like  look how much this one will open up you know it's   so much more flexible but it's got a round cutting  surface so it's going to keep a more round cut   where this thing's trying to literally flatten the  wire into a flat thing and it's going to cut it   flat so I love this when I'm working on anything  that I don't need to like torque and twist and you   know a whole lot of like Leverage too the other  cool thing about it this is actually called their   electrician's multi-tool this one's specifically  thousand volt rated so it actually is rated to   be used on live circuit it's where even though  this has insulation on it if you read it says   not insulated will not protect against electrical  shock unless you got something that actually says   thousand volt on it thousand volt rated it's not  electrically insulated so you shouldn't be using   stuff like this on live circuits this is just  for like working out in the field on whatever   live circuit stuff though no I like these because  the live circuits the crazy Cutting Edge it also   has strippers it has 12 and 14. I kind of wish  that it had a 10 but like I can strip a 10. I can   use this and just kind of lightly score it and  pop it off so really none of that even matters   to me but it would be cool it has a crimper on it  as well it's a 12 to 20 crimper so it's basically   number 12 or smaller again kind of wish it would  do 10 because I'm doing a lot of number 10 and a   lot of number 12 stuff sometimes I'll get into  some 14 but like usually out in the field as an   electrician you're you're crimping things that  size I try not to crimp many things that are 30   amp loads like 30 amp loads number 10. I want that  to be a pretty solid connection and I'm not going   to crimp anything larger than that so it's kind  of fine you know it's just a prefer thing I wish   that maybe there was one size higher but it's  not absolutely necessary it also has this kind   of grip on here so if you want to grip something  it's got a round grip and it's got the flat grip   on the front like you can use as a needle nose  one thing it could have and I've seen that they   actually have a model like this is they have a  version where the tip is not just needle nose it   actually fans out and it's wider just like the  tip of a lineman so you could use it to twist   joints together this is baller it's just so well  designed there's so much functionality to it I   love it as an electrician's multi-tool that's what  the thing is called so love this thing dude I use   this all the time next up is an actual crimper  so if I am not if I don't have this thing on me   and if my main job is like crimping a whole bunch  of connections I'm going to get this just because   it has a longer handle on it so I get a little  bit more leverage out of my crimps where this   is smaller and only has one type of crimping this  one actually has two so if you have insulated or   non-insulated crimps there's two different types  in there it's got a Cutting Edge on the tip so   you can actually cut wire with it and it's got  a whole bunch of stripping options and this one   does go from number 10 all the way down to 18. so  really versatile this is what I use to crimp with   and I love it there's a few different styles of  this a few different handles and things like that   but this style of crimper is the crimper that  I use I don't use all these other like little   weird crazy Contraption things this is what I use  and I have a nice crimp set that's got every kind   of butt splice everything you could want of every  size and I just keep this in there with it because   this is my favorite crimper next up tape measures  I like this tape measure specifically I love it I   wish this was the stud but it doesn't really need  to be for the purposes that I'm using it for the   stud has this extra coating along the tape I'm  not so worried about having The Ripping thing   um now that I do this I just take more care  of my tools and I kind of know how to finesse   my way through environments so I don't worry  about that too much but what I love about it   is it's super wide tape electricians need wide  capes because we're trying to get like 14 feet   across the ceiling when we're on a 16 foot ladder  and having that extra tape so it just doesn't like   break on me in the middle you know like a really  thin tape Uh Wood so I really like that also you   notice that there's numbers on the front and the  back that's super helpful because again if you're   working up over your head you can actually hold  the tape measure differently and you can go like   this and look at the numbers underneath you and  if you're down below you got numbers on top so   either way you're not having to like twist this  thing above your head just to see the numbers   on it love that about it some other things that  it does have there's an architectural scale on   the back of this so a lot of people like me I'll  have one of those architect Square so it's it's   got six different measurement scales on it it's  kind of like a triangle shape that's a foot long   and it's got a whole bunch of different scales  so if you're working on different sets of plans   you can use different scales instead of having to  constantly do math to figure out how far you know   a distance is so this has an architect scale  it's got a quarter inch an eighth inch which   most plans out there that you're gonna get most  like engineered plans and stuff like that they're   either eighth inch or quarter inch most not all  most of them are though so it's a very common   scale to use and it just makes sure that you've  got really good numbers to be able to get exact   footage between things and if it's really cool  it's got a big end so it's you know it's bigger   than most tape measures are so it's really easy  to grab onto stuff like I don't have to try at   all because there's just so much meat on there  to be able to grab onto things and then I also   like how it's uh it extends on both sides really  far because sometimes I will be instead of like   grabbing on the side like this sometimes I'll  have the tape measure upside down and I need   to grab and it still grabs on like that so it's  really nice and then last thing about the tip is   it's magnetic so I love this thing because I can  actually just hold it out and I have like a free   hand to write with so I like the magnetic thing  and especially working in a lot of commercial   environments really really helpful or if you're  like Building Services and stuff like that a lot   of times it's nice to just have a tape measure  that sticks onto something so I love this tape   measure I love how compact it is 25 feet it's  pretty much all I use I don't get the 30 foot   tapes just because it's a lot bigger in my hand  and it just kind of feels bulky and unnecessary   most of my work I can get within 25 feet and  if I'm going Beyond 25 feet I'll usually use a   larger tape measure like 100 foot tape measure  or a distance laser to try to actually figure   out like long distances but most of the stuff I'm  working on is like room layouts so 25 feet is is   all I really need so yeah that's it next thing  there's a bunch of different brands that make   these Milwaukee has one I have one from DeWalt but  this is a 90 degree drill attachment so sometimes   you have really crazy small places that you have  to get into or there's like a four inch hole in   the ceiling and the can housing is loose up there  and you're like damn it how do I get inside of   this thing to get this itty little bitty screw and  so you're sticking your hand up there and you're   trying to you know like you're inside of this hole  and you're like trying to figure out where things   are like this a lot of times this does the same  thing so you got a hole you stick this up inside   of the hole and you can change out Phillips flat  whatever you need but it just gets you into these   tiny little places and then you're down there  using a drill below so it's spinning so you can   actually get some screws like put into things and  have some leverage because you're able to use a   drill so plus you know if you're in a weird spot  like trying to do this with your fingers and just   getting like a little bit at a time sucks having  a drill it's just like it's really really handy so   you should definitely have one of these uh next up  I love this thing Klein golly there's just nothing   better than this torpedo level the magnets on  this thing are like crazy strong I mean like it's   it's really hard to pull that off and I like  strong magnets I don't want to bump something or   be hammering on something or like moving something  up and then the magnets you know Come Undone and   the thing just falls down this thing's so Stout  there's no plastic holding anything in the only   plastic is the actual level uh the little bubble  tubes but everything else is metal all the seams   are metal everything it's just solid so if I drop  this thing not worried about it breaking at all   the other cool thing about it is that it has  the 30 degree 45 90 and zero so like no matter   what environment you're in if you're trying to  bend conduit and you've got a 30 degree kick so   like that's a 30 degree angle and it's even got  this Notch so when you're doing conduit you can   actually you're you don't have the flat end of  it getting in the way no matter how you use this   you're going to be able to find level and it's  just Stout magnets great and I can throw it at my   helper and I know it's not going to break so get  you a client torpedo level oh and also they make a   really small version of this as well there's like  a mini torque pedo level it's got like a little   threaded thing that you can actually thread onto  the end of a piece of conduit and then as you're   bending it you know it finds level I just don't  do that I usually put this rounded that's the   other thing it's got this rounded kind of like  divot Notch out so you can stick this on the   side of conduit or on the side of anything that's  like rounded and it'll it just gives you a better   reference point than on a rounded surface putting  something flat on a routed surface just a little   bit better I think so anyways that's my torpedo  level this thing is my favorite tester I know that   there's a T6 out there but the T5 is my favorite  so this is a t5-600 this is 600 volts really all   I need I'm not doing a lot of stuff 1000 Volt or  more so they do make a T6 that's just an upgraded   version of this very similar just looks different  I've used one I still just like this thing this   is Stout II same argument with this thing I've  dropped this I've thrown it I've had it like   stomped on doesn't matter I've like messed up  the leads one of these leads is really crooked   it doesn't matter man like this thing is so solid  what I like is that uh you don't take the leads   out leads are just in there you know like you're  not having to change leads around this is a tester   though this is not a multimeter you can consider  it a multimeter but like a digital multimeter DMM   this is a multimeter this is a specifically a  digital multimeter but it's multimeter right   lots of options this is a tester anything that  looks like this is a tester and it even says   t5-600 electrical tester so this is not a volt  meter people like grab your volt meter oh man   this is a tester you're testing stuff with it uh  it's voltage amperage resistance and continuity   and those are the only things that I use and I use  them all the time it's got a little hold feature   so if you do make a measurement on something you  can hit hold and it'll hold your measurement and   it won't go away when you pull the leads off and  it auto detects AC and DC so it doesn't matter   what environment you just put leads on stuff and  you get values that's why I like it it's super   simple it has amperage and you use this little  Notch inside of here there's a line so if you've   got a conductor and you're trying to figure out  how much current is on it you just stick it like   that and then all of a sudden it's going to read  the amperage value for that conductor that you're   on just super reliable resistance it doesn't have  insane resistance this is just pretty much whole   numbers it's not going to give you small little  like decimal places of stuff so if you're looking   for actual resistance in a circuit that's why I  keep a DMM around because I'm actually wanting   like really acute values for things so I usually  I don't use this for resistance values because   you might want to know that it's like 0.965 ohms  and this thing just says one and you're like is it   working is it not working right so I don't usually  use this for resistance the same setting gives you   continuity so if you're ever looking to test a  circuit to make sure that a wire is not broken or   that you've got the right circuit you can go wire  nut two wires at the end one end of the thing and   go back and try to test two different wires and  eventually when you find the right two it's going   to beep at you so that's the continuity that's  what I use it for anyways this is my favorite   tester this thing has lasted my entire career I've  had several of them I've given a lot of them to   people almost everybody that I know I have bought  one of these for just I give stuff to people like   giving stuff I like giving good stuff to people  but anyways like usually when an apprentice gets   their license or they're like testing for their  license or something I'll like buy them a code   book or I'll like buy them a multimeter it's like  here you go you're actually going somewhere I   believe in you here's a good tester you need one  of these so it's like 100 120 bucks well now with   the T6 it might actually be cheaper but still for  100 bucks ish this thing's baller like I would pay   400 it's that good you know what I mean and then  the last thing are my sticks everybody's got two   of sticks right you get five foot sticks six foot  sticks you can get some that are nylon a lot of   them like peel more you stick them through things  they start to fray and peel off and most of them   are not glow in the dark so this actually comes  with different sizes it's just missing a few but   there's three of each size so there's three  of these skinny ones the skinny ones give you more flexibility like I can Flex the living hell  out of these um they're coated better I haven't   had any issues with these fraying the actual parts  that screw on together are really really Stout and   they hold firmly to each other so for those of  you that have no clue what these are or why you   would even use these if you're up in an attic or  something where you can't get to and you want to   try to fish something across like really far you  can put tons of these sticks together you can   throw them up into a ceiling and have somebody  up there that grabs onto them or you could fish   things like if I cut out some recessed cans in  here and I don't want to go up in the attic I can   just fish this through one hole pop it over and  leave it sitting there and I can go to the other   side and come up and grab the stick and pull down  and the other hand I'm going to have wire attached   to it right so I'll have like a roll of wire I'll  tape some um some Romex or something to this and   then I'll shove this up there and I'll go to the  other side and Pull and I'll pull the wire all the   way through so fish sticks are what we often call  them it's the last time you guys had a fish stick   like actually like the Nom Nom fish sticks okay  so the next thing you've got medium which these   are not as flexible they're a lot more Stout  you just can't get as much Bend out of them all   of them attached together though so if you just  need like 35 feet of stick for some weird reason   um you can use them but a lot of the problem too  is with these weaker ones when you're trying to   hit something that's really far away from you  they Bend and flex too much so they give you   the medium size and then these thick crazy ones  too so like this thing barely bends at all very   rigid so you can like hit something pretty  straight on you know what I mean like there's   not a whole lot of Bend in that I love these  things I love that there's different options   and that's not even the best part they got some  Fixins some extra free Excellence so I got this   little zipper pouch comes with it this thing has  a couple of different heads so like on the tip of   it I can put a round head if I want so I can hook  a conductor to this and that's how I'm mating up   things with this it also has a hook so if you're  trying to like hook something and you're sticking   it down into a wall and you got like a conductor  or something like that you could actually hook   onto things and pull with it it's a versatile  thing having sticks like there's a lot of times   we're reaching down in walls we're trying to get  up into things we're fishing things through a lot   of weird situations so just having a few different  head options this one's crazy too like I've never   actually used this thing but it's just a different  option that will uh through a piece of conduit you   know or or just anything it has a little bit of  width to it so it'll go evenly through something   um and you could probably hook a lot of different  things onto this and pull with that's not what   it's designed for but it is flexible you know  it's not like rigid and hard and the great thing   about these two is they all glow in the dark I  don't know if you're getting this on camera but   these things glow right so if you're in an attic  somewhere and you can't you have like insulation   and this thing gets dropped down inside of it  it's dark up there you can actually see where   these things are so all around very very useful  tool to have so that's my list of 10. so please   give me some comments below for your list of  10. my list is the best list screw your list   uh no but if there's anything that you all use  uh suggestion stuff that that you think should   have been on this list or things that you think  I probably don't know about um which I guarantee   there are things drop them below I'm happy to  check them out they might even do something if   I find like a collection of a bunch of stuff I've  never heard of that'd be kind of cool to do a   video to see what like new stuff and actually try  to use it and let you know why I hate it anyways   thank you guys so much for watching love you  crazy people and I will see you in the next one

Channel: Electrician U

Views: 61,010

Keywords: electrician, electrical, electricity, dustin stelzer, electrician vlog, construction, commercial, residential, electrical vlog, electrical courses, electrician courses, electrical class, electrician class, electrician school, favorite tools, electrician tools, electrician screwdriver set, electrician hand tools, hand tools safety, electrician tool belt, electrical contractor, electrician status, tradesman, #electricalcontractor, terms of trade, enjoy your job, cost of electrical

Id: JvsR5q2ak5k

Length: 21min 38sec (1298 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 17 2023