Tools

A good tool saves time and makes money. The right tool for you will save you more time than the tool costs and will make money by helping you impress customers with fast neat reliable work. A tool recommended by someone else might be perfect for them but not the best tool for you.

Hand Size

Many modern tools are so small that they become too small. I use digital cameras and the smallest cameras have tiny buttons too small for my average size adult hands. Some brands have models where the buttons are large and well spaced despite the overall small size of the device.

The same is true for mobile phones (cell phones) with most of the tiny models having buttons that are too small and too close. The phones are also too short to have both the ear part next to our ears and the microphone next to our mouths with the bizarre result that people have to shout to be heard on their phones. Some flip phones extend the reach from ear to mouth but not enough for everyone. If just one manufacturer made just one model to fit larger size adult heads then they would corner the market the way some clothing manufacturers make extra sales providing larger sizes.

Batteries

Battery powered devices are fun to use and many manufacturers have worked out how to add a battery to a product even when the product does not need a battery. Keeping batteries charged is a real pain but fortunately some standard battery sizes are available as cheap NiMH sets with fast automatic chargers which means you can have heaps of batteries available all the time. Unfortunately greedy manufacturers rush to use proprietary battery designs that force you to buy their battery for $99 instead of $20 or less.

Digital cameras provide good comparisons. My wife has an Olympus camera provided by one of her customers and travels the country with a special charger for the Olympus camera because the Olympus camera has a special proprietary Olympus battery. My camera uses standard AA batteries which means I can travel without a special charger for the camera.

When I purchased my first camera, there were only two models with the same features, one from Olympus and one from Nikon. The Olympus used a standard set of four AA size rechargeable batteries costing only $19.95 while the Nikon required a Nikon design battery that cost between $99 and $125 depending on the shop.

I worked out I would need about five of the Nikon batteries to keep the camera running while away from the mains power on an average trip. The Nikon batteries need a special expensive Nikon battery charger that works only from mains power, not from a car battery. The lot would have cost around $600, including charger, on top of the already expensive camera, and I would be stuck with driving into a town every few days and sitting there for hours while the batteries change.

The equivalent battery power for the Olympus cost about $150 for several sets of batteries, a mains charger and a charger that works in a car. The batteries are standard sizes that I use on lots of other devices which means I can share one charger for all batteries.

Using one charger for many devices reduces the weight of my luggage. I already have to carry a special charger for the phone and a special charger for the Bluetooth microphone. Why would I want to also carry a special Nikon charger?

Your usage is probably different. Many of my friends have cameras that are not used enough to drain the power from a single charge even over several weeks of travelling. Some of my friends use so much electricity when travelling that they carry portable generators which means they can charge anything.

Your usage will vary. Based on experience, you initially need at least twice the battery power you think you need when you buy the device. While a rechargeable battery may last 12 months with regular use, it will degrade over the last few months and need recharging more often. Batteries can fail at any time and, being chemical based, they lose power at lower temperatures.

Attachments

You see a range of tools that have similar attachments but then find your tool does not work with any other brand of attachment. Check before you buy.

My wife purchased a gas powered fire lighter for lighting the barbeque. She did not buy a gas tank with the lighter. When we first tried to use the lighter, we had to buy a tank of gas. The shop that sold the lighter sold only an incompatible brand of gas tank. We had to visit many shops to find a compatible tank to fill the lighter.

When you buy the tool, look at all the accessories on display and make the shop assistant show you how the attachments fit to your tool. Ask the sales person for the company policy on how long the accessories will be available.

Look for standard fittings. The screw on filters for cameras have a standard screw that was invented way back before the invention of the espresso machine. The only difference between lenses is the diameter of the screw. If your lens has a 55mm diameter screw fitting then you can fit screw on filters and attachments from any manufacturer who makes their product in 55mm diameter.

Socket spanners have a small number of standard size fittings, 1/4", 3/8"", 1/2", and 3/4". You choose a handle from one of the four sizes then you buy any number of sockets from any brand for that size handle. The ancient imperial measurements are used even in metric countries. The idea of imperial feet and inches dates back to the Egyptian Pharaohs, over 5000 years ago, which was way back before the invention of the espresso machine, before they discovered the coffee bean. Despite the imperial measurements being more out of date than a floppy disk, we still use sockets designed for an imperial finger.

Conclusion

Try before you buy. If you cannot try the tool yourself, look for reviews of tools that mention how the tools where used, for how long, and with what fittings or options. Look for reports by people who use the tools for the same type of work you perform and who work in the same style. If you are left handed, ignore reviews by the right handed imperialist pigs who never have to think what it is like to use their left hand.

If you have arthritis or long fingernails or any other medical condition that limits the movement of your hands then go for the battery powered devices.

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