Large or long items can sometimes be hard to carry, but not so much because of their weight, but because of their size, shape, or even their packaging. The Strap-A-Handle is a product that was born to correct these awkward-carry items by giving them a handle. After all, everything that is easy to carry has a built in handle. Unfortunately for us, many of the items we have to carry on a daily basis do not have handles, things like boxes, bags of pet food, packs of water, or even bulk TP.

The Strap-A-Handle is as simple as it sounds; a strap that goes around the item you want to carry, with a built in handle. It comes is two different versions, a light duty (up to 50lbs) with plastic clips, and a heavy duty (up to 75lbs) with metal h-ring and a perpendicular handle. Both versions are priced under $15.

We can't let the wife have all of the fun; by teaming up with a second person and a second Strap-A-Handle, you can easily carry multiples of long items, such as a bundle of 2x4's or PVC pipe, making it a suitable tool for the jobsite. I can see myself using this to carry bundles of baseboard, or other moldings.

Strap-A-Handle

Wilton has introduced a new sledge hammer named BASH that they claim has a handle that is unbreakable. Now I have a hard time thinking that anything is truly unbreakable, and I believe the actual warranty for the BASH will state that the handle is unbreakable under normal conditions, but the fact that they back up their tool's handle with a $1000 guarantee for 2 years, thus putting their money where their mouth is, should add a bit of confidence to anyone purchasing the tool.

What makes the BASH handle so much better than the typical wood handle or fiberglass handle? From what I gather examining the photos, besides the handle of the BASH being made of steel, it is actually constructed out of six rods of steel that run the length of the handle. This steel core is then surrounded by a comfortable no-slip grip that is also said to reduce vibrations.

I haven't seen what the pricing is like on these hammers, but I think it would be safe to assume that they would be priced out of range for an average homeowner. Though I can't imagine many DIYers going through too many sledge hammer handles. The BASH Sledge Hammer can be purchased in sizes and weights from 12"-2-1/2lb up to 36"-14lb, and you can choose either a Soft Face or Hard Face Head.

Wilton BASH

Update: The Wilton BASH is expected to come out on October 1st, but CPO Outlets has the current version of the Wilton "Unbreakable Handle" sledge hammer now. Wilton Sledge Hammer - CPO Outlets

I have been referring to router cookies as router pucks for a while now; as a hockey fan it was easy for me to make the obvious connection. I called them this because they do really look like hockey pucks, and I also wanted to stay away from using any trademarked names. Lee Valley also made the hockey connection, but being from Canada, they took the connection more literally then I did, and are now using actual hockey pucks for their router Bench Pucks.

According to Lee Valley, they never wanted to get into the router standoff business, because they can easily be made at home. Instead Lee Valley took the route of selling the non-slip peel & stick materials needed to make your own router standoffs. But once they realized that hockey pucks were the perfect size at 1-inch thick and 3-inches wide, there was no turning back; the 6 ounces of added weight was also a nice bonus.

You can still get the raw materials to make your own router standoffs from scratch, but now you can also purchase the pre-cut peel & stick non-slip material to fit any hockey pucks you might have around the house. A set of eight pre-cut non-slip material disks costs less than $3. If you don't own any hockey pucks, you can purchase those as well for only $1 each, thus bringing the total to right around $7 for both.

Lee Valley via Popular Woodworking

One thing I really like about Makita is that they update their tools often; in many cases frequent updates could be perceived as a bad thing, suggesting that a product is being updated to fix an issue, but I have never found that to be the case with Makita. I have been using Makita impact drivers for over 10 years now, well before they were popular, and have used a few different models during that time.

This time around Makita has no huge changes to their new LXDT01 1/4-inch Impact Drivers, but even the minor changes are always good news for first times buyers and people looking ti upgrade. The LXDT01 carries over all of the big changes that were on the BTD144 that was announced a little over two years ago, things like the more efficient brush-less motor that is said to offer 20% more battery run-time, the 3-speed power selecting option, a separate LED light switch, and the much shorter 5-1/2-inch head length. In fact, the only change that I can see, though Makita likely made improvements to the internals, is an increase in torque to 1,460 in. lbs.

The LXDT01 is a direct replacement to the BTD144, so you will soon not be able to find it in stores, and should instead look for the updated model. Unfortunately for us, the LXDT01 is $15-25 more then its predecessor, but the price should come down over time. As always, Makita has the impact driver as a tool-only option (LXDT01Z).

Makita
Makita LXDT01 Impact Driver - TylerTool