Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
JUDY STARKGift ideas abound for the tool lovers on your list, from combination sets to laser levels and clever little flashlights.
Christmas shopping with my husband doesn't mean a visit to the mall. When he thinks of Santa's workshop, the emphasis is on workshop, so we head to the big home centers to see what's new in the world of tools and gadgets. Tim's idea of holiday cheer is a hearty ho-ho-Home Depot or a fa-la-la-la-Lowe's.
Tim treated himself to an early Christmas present the other day: a Ryobi combination kit offering a 12-volt cordless vac and a drill/driver ($59.97 at Home Depot). Our hand vac had inhaled its last, and his cordless screwdriver was stolen from our garage a while back (more on that in a moment).
Combination kits such as this are the hot item this season. Everybody's got 'em: Milwaukee, Skil, Black & Decker. Skil, for example, has a combo pack with a 3/8-inch drill/driver, 53/8-inch skillsaw, an orbital jigsaw and a 2.4-volt screwdriver ($149 at Lowe's). DeWalt offers an 18-volt drill/driver, trim/reciprocating saw and flashlight ($399). Black & Decker has a cordless drill, stud sensor and flashlight ($79.77). Stanley combines a cordless screwdriver and stud finder ($39.88).
The trick here is finding a combination set that doesn't repeat what the recipient already has and includes components he or she will actually use. In the category of Fun Gadgets That Really Work, we liked the Strait-Line laser tape measure ($36.33 at Lowe's) and the combination laser levels and stud finders from several manufacturers. When you're hanging pictures or shelves or wallpaper or molding or wainscoting, these devices are terrific. The Black & Decker Bullseye ($49 at Lowe's) combines a laser level and stud finder. There's a whole range of these, progressively more sophisticated and complex; you may not need the industrial-strength version.
Bob Vila revealed the other day in a phone interview that he's giving the Craftsman laser level ($39.99 at Sears) to his television production crew this Christmas. "They're such a fun tool," the celebrity remodeler said.
A toolbox is always a good choice for the handyperson on your list, and there are lots of options in many price ranges. So is the 91-piece Rotary Tool Organizer from Maxtech ($39.98 at Lowe's), at last a storage place for all those Dremel parts and pieces and attachments and accessories. It comes with some accessories and room to store what you already have.
By far Tim's favorite item, which I suspect will be making an appearance under our 2-foot fiber-optic tree, is the Ridgid flip-top portable work support ($29.97 at Home Depot). When you're ripping a long piece of lumber, you need something to support it once it passes through the blade. This device, which looks like a stool, has a pivoting top, or seat, that tilts gently to receive the wood.
Tim has been collecting Leatherman tools for a couple of years now. These are fabulously functional, tiny multipurpose gadgets. The Leatherman Squirt P4 combines needlenose pliers, a straight knife, wire cutters, several screwdrivers, single-cut and cross-cut files, bottle opener and awl. The Squirt S4 has scissors, a straight knife, tweezers, several screwdrivers, nail file/cleaner, bottle opener and ruler. The Squirt folds to just 21/4 inches. Target has them for $29.95.
Hanging on the next rack was the Eddie Bauer 7-Function Carabiner: LED flashlight, digital clock, ballpoint pen tip, tweezers, whistle, compass (and the carabiner, for hooking your mountain-climbing ropes through, no doubt). I'd stick this in a glove compartment now or in a hurricane kit next summer. All this for $7.99.
We love flashlights, and you'll never go wrong with a Mini Mag Lite $8.98; find them everywhere. At Lowe's we spotted the Bend Lite from Nite Ize, a flexible fiber-optic wand ($6.99). The same company also has a headband light ($5.99) and a Flashlite Friend ($6.99), a four-legged holder that allows a flashlight to be positioned at any angle. (This is pretty cool. It makes the flashlight look like a cartoon person or animal; see it at www.niteize.com.
We also like the Microlight, 1-1/2 inches long, which can clip onto a jacket zipper or key ring. It comes with a white, red, blue or green bulb visible a mile away that lasts 15 hours and is said to be the smallest and brightest LED of its kind. Good for sailing, fishing, illuminating a dark keyhole. From Inova, it's $9.99. The company says it's available at CompUSA and Tru Value Hardware stores.
Now, about that theft from our garage. Last December, writing a tool-and-gadget wrapup, I noted that we'd foolishly left our garage door open overnight a time or two or three, and someone had helped himself to a lot of Tim's hand tools. I described a couple of garage alarm devices that alert you when the door is left open and suggested they would be good stocking stuffers.
We had a couple more instances last summer of "Whoops, the door was open all night." Fortunately no one stole the bicycles or the new hand tools or (more frighteningly) opened the door into our house while we slept. But an alarm moved from stocking-stuffer to must-have, so on the day after Thanksgiving, Tim braved the malls and bought one.
Ours is the Craftsman Wireless Open Door Monitor. You mount a sensor on the garage door and place a monitor on a table or countertop or hang it on the wall. The monitor has a flashing red light when the door is open, a steady green when it's closed. It's $49 at Sears. (It has a dangly cord, which I don't like, but we hid that behind a table.) Now I fall asleep with the soothing green glow of the sentry at my bedside.
Another brand, the Wireless Garage Sentry from Design Tech, notifies you with a beep as well as colored lights. This device is $49.95 at www.smarthomeusa.com
A couple of items previously featured in this section earn a place on the shopping list:
* The Reading Pram from Levenger is a rattan basket on wheels in which you can stack up papers and magazines. The pram measures 191/2 inches wide by 15 inches deep by 173/4 inches high. It's $59. Reach Levenger at www.levenger.com or toll-free at 1-800-667-8034.
* The 50-gallon Endurance Cooler from Rubbermaid is wheeled with a luggagelike handle that lets you roll it smoothly out to the pool or barbecue. The manufacturer says it keeps ice frozen for up to five days in 90-degree weather. There are four can holders in the lid. It's $27.99 at Wal-Mart. There's also a nonwheeled 40-gallon cooler for $21.99.
* Stocking stuffers: Duck Tape in maroon, gold or steel blue from Henkel Consumer Adhesives. Scotch offers transparent duct tape. It never hurts to fill up the homeland security kit even as we pray for peace on Earth.