[mdlug] OT: DIY Geek Tools

[Joseph Vartanian]

On 6/26/07, Dan Pritts <danno at umich.edu> wrote:
> Nobody's mentioned a leatherman.  Your basic pocket toolbox.
>
> I have a real leatherman brand, which i like, but i would recommend
> shopping around.  Gerber definitely has a good line.
>
> I also/alternately recommend a good swiss army knife.  I like the
> victorinox "deluxe tinker" which has scissors and pliers.  Wenger
> has an equivalent model with the same tools.  Wenger knives have
> slip-joint pliers, which is incredibly cool, but they are noticeably
> wider profile than the victorinox pliers so it's hard to use them
> to reach into really tight little spots.  For instance, I couldn't
> pull a jumper off a hard disk with the wengers.
>
> Victorinox has a "cybertool" too which i've not looked at very hard,
> but the one i see on the web site looks awfully big for a "pocket" knife.
>
> Also, get a good flashlight.  Maglites are well-made but they were very
> slow to the LED party.  I like my arc flashlight arc-ls but it's not
> made any more.  candlepower forums is the place to research flashlights.
>
> Thinkgeek has an interesting tool section.  milestek is a good source
> for wiring tools & supplies.
>
> Finally, you need one of these:
>  http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/8ace/
>

Leatherman tools are great.  They have to be the best, but I recently
notice a rather nice multitool from another company that I now
want...the Paladin PowerPlay PT-540.  Normally I wouldn't trust
something like this from a company that doesn't specialize in knives,
but Paladin Tools tends to make good stuff.  This is a true geek
multitool.  Other companies take a standard multitool, and stick a
cheap USB flash drive on it.  Paladin actually gave this tool things
like punchdown blades, a wire hook and a terminal lug crimper.
http://www.paladin-tools.com/view_tool.php?id=490

As for the titanium spork, that's already on my wish list...really.
That thing is just too damn cool.

-Joseph