This morning, I decided to check out the Denham "giant" car boot sale:
http://giantcarboot.co.uk/denham/
(Denham is about 10 miles north of Heathrow Airport for those unfamiliar with the geography).
The site is easily accessible, just off a main junction, and it was indeed big - it took me about 1.5 hours to quickly look round all the vendors. Parking is in an adjacent field and was well-stewarded. It cost me GBP 2 to get in as a buyer (this does depend on the time).
There was very little of note in terms of used hand tools. There was a number of people with the usual boxes of used junk-quality tools, or old rusty tools, neither of which are worth bothering with. The only decent thing I saw was a used Bluepoint socket / spanner set.
A couple of vendors were selling new low-quality tools, and I think one seller had a some better new items (Bahco adjustables and Knipex pliers). The amusing thing was that a few sellers had three piece level sets (2', 4' and 6') that they claimed were Stabila, but were clearly knock-offs - they simply had a Stabila sticker on them, sometimes crooked, and the printing on this sticker was low-resolution. This was against the organiser's policy of not allowing counterfeit merchandise.
Power tools was a different story. I reckon about 20 vendors had quantities of power tools available, both corded and cordless. Mostly they were used, to various extents, but some were new. The main professional makes - Bosch, Dewalt, Makita, were very well represented, and I also saw more premium brands - Festool and Hilti - than I expected. Even more specialist items like large drills and concrete breakers, and 36V cordless, were available. A few sellers had new budget power tools as well. I was surprised by the sheer amount available, but did wonder if this is where stolen tools end up.
And that's about it. I spotted three unusual electrical things that interested me (I have an electrical background), but overall, from a hand tool perspective, it wasn't anything to get excited about.
I didn't take any photos, but might go back again in future. If people would like to see some pictures, please say so in a comment.
http://giantcarboot.co.uk/denham/
(Denham is about 10 miles north of Heathrow Airport for those unfamiliar with the geography).
The site is easily accessible, just off a main junction, and it was indeed big - it took me about 1.5 hours to quickly look round all the vendors. Parking is in an adjacent field and was well-stewarded. It cost me GBP 2 to get in as a buyer (this does depend on the time).
There was very little of note in terms of used hand tools. There was a number of people with the usual boxes of used junk-quality tools, or old rusty tools, neither of which are worth bothering with. The only decent thing I saw was a used Bluepoint socket / spanner set.
A couple of vendors were selling new low-quality tools, and I think one seller had a some better new items (Bahco adjustables and Knipex pliers). The amusing thing was that a few sellers had three piece level sets (2', 4' and 6') that they claimed were Stabila, but were clearly knock-offs - they simply had a Stabila sticker on them, sometimes crooked, and the printing on this sticker was low-resolution. This was against the organiser's policy of not allowing counterfeit merchandise.
Power tools was a different story. I reckon about 20 vendors had quantities of power tools available, both corded and cordless. Mostly they were used, to various extents, but some were new. The main professional makes - Bosch, Dewalt, Makita, were very well represented, and I also saw more premium brands - Festool and Hilti - than I expected. Even more specialist items like large drills and concrete breakers, and 36V cordless, were available. A few sellers had new budget power tools as well. I was surprised by the sheer amount available, but did wonder if this is where stolen tools end up.
And that's about it. I spotted three unusual electrical things that interested me (I have an electrical background), but overall, from a hand tool perspective, it wasn't anything to get excited about.
I didn't take any photos, but might go back again in future. If people would like to see some pictures, please say so in a comment.
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