So who else got a "gimmick" tool for Christmas?

[L.Cheapo]

I got those for Christmas years ago. I never use them; Guess I should have thrown them away. I also have one of those sockets full of needles that fits anything.

I've had those items for several years, though.

Send them to me! I love my RoboGrips. Bought them new when they came out eons ago, and with the bag of soft jaws I bought way back then for them, they get used for various tasks that I don't want to mar what I'm grabbing.

Stop laughing; I'm not kidding.

 

[PeedoPie]

I actually really like these for my hobbyist knifemaking shop. They are great for grabbing hold of a little nub of a mosaic pin during glue up so I can orient the patterns the same. I used them on both of these for example to make the half moon lanyard tubes turned properly as well as to make the squares in the other knife handles both turned to the same angles. Little touches like that can make a big difference in the overall appearance of my blades and are things that a LOT of "custom" knifemakers just don't take time to do.

Wow those are beautiful. Brilliant work. Ever sell any?

 

[yamaha0343]

I've found the dog bones to be ok if you're climbing to tighten something and have no clue what size fastener you're dealing with. I have a Craftsman ratcheting one that I used occasionally when I was doing SCADA work. Especially if the antenna was 50-60 ft up a tower and needed to be adjusted. I'd just bring up the dog bone and an adjustable wrench. It's been a few years though and I don't think I've used the dog bone since.

 

[MatBirch]

My birthday is in mid December. One year from the former in-laws, I received a Leatherman Wave. Nice! Come Christmas, I get a set of the cheapest of cheap, Chinese “leather man” knock off tools. When I say SET, I mean that there were like 12 of them...
who does that??? There is a reason that I refer to them as “The Idiot and The A Hole!”

 

[kctyphoon]

Lol.. I dunno if this would also be considered a "gimmick" - but I got a Mossberg Shockwave for Christmas too.. for those not familiar - that's the shotgun that's "not a shotgun" cause it dances around the laws concerning stock type and barrel length so it's officially a "firearm" and not a "shotgun". So now it's legal to own what looks like a short barrel sawed off shotgun cause it's actually "not a shotgun" anymore.. lol

Guess that's a better type of gimmick..

 

[Oldsmobile]

You know what? I actually LIKE the dog bone wrenches. I change oil on nine different cars, and they're perfect for drain plugs. Especially when I can't remember what size the plug is, and I want to get under the vehicle exactly once.

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[In The Doghouse]

Lol.. I dunno if this would also be considered a "gimmick" - but I got a Mossberg Shockwave for Christmas too.. for those not familiar - that's the shotgun that's "not a shotgun" cause it dances around the laws concerning stock type and barrel length so it's officially a "firearm" and not a "shotgun". So now it's legal to own what looks like a short barrel sawed off shotgun cause it's actually "not a shotgun" anymore.. lol

Guess that's a better type of gimmick..

I'm wanting one of those. Shot it yet?

 

[mowkep]

Lol...I got slippers and a Fitbit, which will be returned hopefully for another GPS watch. I'm a runner and the Fitbit is non GPS.

My MIL got me the Black and Decker crescent wrench that had the battery powered adjuster on it one year. Immediately returned it.

My dad got me that credit card multi tool last year. It's neat. I have the 2 piece Robogrips and Craftsman Pro Robogrips. I'll sell all 3 for $20. Never really used them.

 

[supersaiyan93]

Not for Christmas, but my son got me one of these about a year ago as a thank you present for helping him fix his computer. It's janky as all get-out, but it sits pristine in my toolbox next to my other ratchets all the same.

 

[kctyphoon]

I'm wanting one of those. Shot it yet?

I don't even know how many guns I have now.. 10 or more.. I think I've shot two.. lol.. I also have the Mossberg 500 SPX.. thing kicks like a mule.. no idea how these guys shoot this one handed.. I also got a few boxes of those mini shells, forgot the brand, but with the adapter I think you can fit like 10 of them in this thing. I think I would technically qualify as a potential terrorist to homeland security at this point, but I'm SURE a lot of you guys in the Midwest have me beat.. I can't exactly walk out my back door and start shooting..

 

[PECVD2]

I know you're out there - hiding in the shadows..

Among a lot of great stuff - I got a baseball cap with lights in the brim.. lol

I had a couple of those given to me several years ago. They came in very handy while putting up the metal roofing panels on my addition after work and after the sun went down. I received another one last year, haven’t used it but it is there waiting for the next night job

 

[Jimithing616]

I actually really like these for my hobbyist knifemaking shop. They are great for grabbing hold of a little nub of a mosaic pin during glue up so I can orient the patterns the same. I used them on both of these for example to make the half moon lanyard tubes turned properly as well as to make the squares in the other knife handles both turned to the same angles. Little touches like that can make a big difference in the overall appearance of my blades and are things that a LOT of "custom" knifemakers just don't take time to do.

Very nice knives... do you sell them? If so do you have a site or do you sell them on any of the knife making/collecting forums like a lot of guys do?

 

[Jimithing616]

Lol.. I dunno if this would also be considered a "gimmick" - but I got a Mossberg Shockwave for Christmas too.. for those not familiar - that's the shotgun that's "not a shotgun" cause it dances around the laws concerning stock type and barrel length so it's officially a "firearm" and not a "shotgun". So now it's legal to own what looks like a short barrel sawed off shotgun cause it's actually "not a shotgun" anymore.. lol

Guess that's a better type of gimmick..

Very nice...

The shockwave or handgun shot guns aren't a new concept tho or a gimmick... they've been around, they also do it with rifles, ar-15's, etc... basically if there is no **** stock you can call it a pistol and then the barrel can be as short as you want .... but, cut the barrel down past 16" on something with a shoulder stock and your breaking like 13 federal laws... unless you have a "tax stamp" from the ATF, then it's ok to have a "short barreled rifle"... weird world we live in.

 

[kctyphoon]

Very nice...

The shockwave or handgun shot guns aren't a new concept tho or a gimmick... they've been around, they also do it with rifles, ar-15's, etc... basically if there is no **** stock you can call it a pistol and then the barrel can be as short as you want .... but, cut the barrel down past 16" on something with a shoulder stock and your breaking like 13 federal laws... unless you have a "tax stamp" from the ATF, then it's ok to have a "short barreled rifle"... weird world we live in.

These are new.. or new-er.. it's the fact that it comes from the FACTORY without ever having a shoulder stock installed, and it's NOT a pistol grip, but still makes the minimum overall length BECAUSE of that style grip being factory original, that makes the short barrel legal. That's why it's classified as a "firearm" and not a "shotgun". It does not meet the written definition of a shotgun, or of anything else - therefore being legally defined as a firearm instead.

I have a Taurus judge revolver too that fires 410 shells and 45 too. You could buy pistol grip shotguns from the factory for years, but none with a barrel this short. It's the specific grip that makes this legal. Swap it out for anything else and laws get broken.

 

[maydaymike]

 

[Bessy]

Plierwrench is far from a gimmick! In fact I've been looking for an inexpensive source for the 5" wrench for keeping in a pocket from time to time while working out in the yard or around the house, etc.

As for gimmicky tools from Xmas this year, the girlfriend has some learning to do. I don't know about the rest of you folks, but I DO NOT NEED ANY MORE HEX KEYS. Period. Got a cheapo set of folding Mastercrap SAE hex keys and a mini 8in1 screwdriver in my stocking. I have more than enough hex keys so I slipped them into the toolbox I got her for Xmas, and stuck the screwdriver in my glove-box. She means well, and nobody can ever really have too many screwdrivers I guess, but i swear every tool set you buy in the big box stores has at minimum a set of metric and sae hex keys, just so they can up the piece count of the whole set.

 

[kctyphoon]

You should counter that gift with a dust buster..

 

[wiens80]

Lol.. I dunno if this would also be considered a "gimmick" - but I got a Mossberg Shockwave for Christmas too.. for those not familiar - that's the shotgun that's "not a shotgun" cause it dances around the laws concerning stock type and barrel length so it's officially a "firearm" and not a "shotgun". So now it's legal to own what looks like a short barrel sawed off shotgun cause it's actually "not a shotgun" anymore.. lol

Guess that's a better type of gimmick..

That's bad ***! [emoji481]


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[davethorik]

Plierwrench is far from a gimmick! In fact I've been looking for an inexpensive source for the 5" wrench for keeping in a pocket from time to time while working out in the yard or around the house.

In my opinion, the 5" pliers wrench is a great tool, but Knipex has a strange pricing scale. The 5" and 6" are basically the same price, around $40 on Amazon. The 7" is $48, 10" is $50, 12" is $68 and 16" is $158.

I bought the 10" pair first. I use it quite a bit for all sorts of things, and thought a smaller version would be handy, but I thought paying almost as much as my 10" was silly for a smaller tool. I got lucky and got a screaming deal on a 5" pliers wrench and 8" end nippers as a package, and quickly got over the price hang-up.

I use the 5" more than my 10" now. I have retired my 4" adjustable wrenches to the collection department. One thing i didn't notice until i got them was that the jaws are very thin...like 1/8"...and that makes them even more handy. It's like having a set of those crappy Oxwall stamped steel wrenches, only made of much better steel, and with plier handles.

I think that at $158, the 16" version is more of a gimmick. I think in that size a large adjustable would be a more practical, less expensive solution.

 

[jcfields]

.

 

[jgromada]

I find it difficult to really hate on something you got as a gift. Someone thought enough of you and what you were interested in to pick out something they thought you might like. It's all about good intent.

Sometimes I feel i can be too snobbish too. My wife went into my toolbox and looked at all my pliers and found something that I didn't have in a long handle 13" pistol grip pliers. Maybe not the off-brand i would have bought but the fact they she went down and looked for something she though i might like is most appreciated. I will NOT return them. (may buy an addl pair sometime though)

The fact is there is some really cheesy stuff out there. Way to handle this is EDUCATION. We were in Sears and close to the register was this hinging hammer and all i did was subtly suggest she never buy these.

 

[dimichele]

Craftsman impact screwdriver set.

 

[ChrisLS8]

Those impact drivers are rebadged Vessels, if you don't want em I'll gladly take em off your hands

 

[impulse922]

Craftsman impact screwdriver set.

Check the reviews on amazon for the vessel megadora impacta. Not really a gimmick.

even then, worst case you end up with a real JIS philips and flathead with really nice feeling handles.

 

[garagelogician]

Check the reviews on amazon for the vessel megadora impacta. Not really a gimmick.

even then, worst case you end up with a real JIS philips and flathead with really nice feeling handles.

Yep, check out this video:

 

[shawndp]

Those impact drivers are rebadged Vessels, if you don't want em I'll gladly take em off your hands

I actually bought myself those Craftsman / Vessel screwdrivers. Couldn't find a source for them locally and $10 with a coupon at Sears made for a quick grab.

 

[nbruno]

Got a winter hat with 5 mini LED built in. My wife was so happy about it, she was actually more excited about it than the Nascar driving course she got me.
Nonetheless, I was going out to the shop one evening to work on a restoration and she suggested that I wear "the hat". I didn't want her to feel bad so I said "great idea". Well, I'm the idiot... As far as functionality goes, it couldn't be more useful. My head was warm, I could see exactly what I was doing, and no bulky light stuck to my forehead to get in the way.
I had to let her know that what she was so proud of was actually extremely useful and that it was a great idea.

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[garagelogician]

First Christmas I spent with my now wife, she bought me a 12-in-1 ratcheting screwdriver with a built-in flex extension. We were just living in an apartment at the time, and all of my real tools were in storage, so it did come in handy. It actually wasn't bad for how cheap it was, but I never would have chose it. I still keep it in the house now for odd jobs, and I think it makes her happy when I use it.

She knows better now, and she has a long wish list of tools to choose from, but she likes giving many gifts at a time so she doesn't like to get one big ticket item. Luckily my in-laws also choose from this list (they got me a 1/4" Milwaukee Fuel ratchet this year), and my Dad is a farmer...so he knows what is good to get.

 

[southalabama]

Last year father in law got me a set of craftsman pliers that had one handle several jaws.
I've never found a use for them. Think I put in wife's trunk just in case.

This year he improved. Dewalt 20v drill combo set.

Yeah.

 

[byoungblood]

I haven't gotten any gimmick tools in probably 9-10 years. My then new in-laws gave me a multi-tool of some sort (I think it was at least a Husky or Kobalt) that I just ended up exchanging for something I'd use. I don't think they knew the extent of tools that I had at the time, after that they figured it out and I've been gimmick tool free since.