Holiday tools you need when the stores are closed

Everyone talks about gifts and the ‘important things’ and being thankful and we watch those tear-jerker shows about life along with lots of football at this time of year, but what no one talks about is Dad rooting around in boxes and buckets looking for the holiday tools that make the bike, new shelf or table, or dialed-in decor pop to life.

And while it’s wonderful to have a new miter saw or finish nailer or mechanics tool set to think about using, dad-life for lots of us over the holidays isn’t about wrenching or making or fixing as much as it is driving, carrying, and smiling from a little distance as our beloveds live and laugh. We do that another day.

But we still need our holiday tools  to do holiday stuff. You know what I’m talking about. Up with decor and together with the thing that comes NOT together. And the tools I think I look for the most: Allen wrenches (aka hex keys). I have 6,000 of them, but rarely the right one in the right place at the right time. If I were a person looking to give a holiday tools gift that would be appreciated by the turner of wrenches over the holiday season, I’d be thinking about the Craftsman 8-Piece Extreme Grip Diamond Tip Ball End Hex Key Set. What do I like about it? That it’s fold-out knife design pretty much precludes my ability to lose one of the keys I need. But I still have the reach I need to work on my bike or that knock-down furniture I need to turn into a table or book case.

The other thing it seems I always need at holiday time—and seem to search for more than, say, a miter saw—are the right screwdrivers. Whether it’s popping the canopy off the light fixture with the burned out light or replacing the switch plates I gobbed up with paint or some shop goop or toy battery placement, I need the right drivers to do the little things right. Craftsman’s 13-piece Extreme Grip Bit Driver Set or Craftsman 6-piece Diamond Tip Screwdriver Set fill my tool snob needs with good design. With a magnetic collar on the 13-piece to help position screws in those ‘why don’t I have three hands’ situations and the 6-piece’s great lock-on for slippery screws, I’m good to go with for the get-ready-rampage from lighting to lock sets. A good screwdriver set is a must-have in the holiday tools toolbox.

And both items are great for getting kids in the game. Teach them chicken wasn’t born wrapped in plastic at the grocery store and that the world is not operated by screens and bar codes. Somewhere, some time, some place, it’s people with skill and care and craft that put the things together that give us shelter and home and place for us to enjoy.

Theresa and I wish you the happiest of holidays.

Mark

A licensed contractor, tool expert, wood and outdoor enthusiast, and elite Spartan Race competitor, he writes about home improvement and tools for national magazines and websites, and teaches hands-on clinics for other remodeling professionals. Check out his book, The Carpenter's Notebook.

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