New handtool from Black & Decker

[techwriter]

Today at Home Depot was Customer Appreciation Day - lots of vendors setup out side with giveaways and demos. The first Saturday of every month, btw, is a free DIY project for kids (not sure if they do this at every HD, but many in Atlanta do it). Today they built a trivvet for hot pots/drinks to sit on.

Anyway, at one of the booths, the Black & Decker, they had the most awesome handtool I'd seen all day - a very heavy, rock solid handle, about the size of a standard hammer's handle... on both ends, set on click-rotary wheels were various metric and standard sizes of sockets.

Doesn't sound like much, but I played with it and used it on some sample items they had. No price - coming out soon, they said - but I'd buy two. Not sure if anyone else has seen it, but it was outstanding.

It's called the Ready Wrench and this is all I've found so far:

http://www.blackanddecker.com/sneakpeek/default.aspx

What do you think? It feels very solid and the rotary sockets are heavy duty...

Jim

[IamVince]

Saw one of those at a bike forum I go to......they claim 16 size's.Guess they count metric and standard,but a handy tool just the same.

[reConx]

Craftsman has a similar new "Dog Bone" hand tool

Looks handy but could be bulky to use in some situations

[techwriter]

The B&D didn't feel bulky at all... and I sure would love to find a replacement to carrying around a case of sockets.

Thanks for the news about Craftsman's version - will have to take a look.

Hey, RIDGID - anything similar in the works?

Jim

[SpiffPeters]

Just came back from Lowes. They have them on display and in stock. $29.95.

[erngum]

I was visiting my parents and Dad and I saw one in Walmart. It looks to be garbage. Dad liked it so I will get him one for Christmas since he hardly uses his tools.

I went to use the B&D power adjustable wrench I bought him two years ago and it wouldn't work. I took it apart and discovered the little hard rubber band which turns the gears had snapped. It is near useless as a manual adjusting wrench.

Like I said, he almost never uses his tools anymore, I just get him whatever he thinks is "neat". Last year I bought "him" a Makita lithium set to use for the small projects I do for them when I visit. The other stuff I just get by with.

Ern

[techwriter]

Originally Posted by erngum

I was visiting my parents and Dad and I saw one in Walmart. It looks to be garbage. Dad liked it so I will get him one for Christmas since he hardly uses his tools.

I went to use the B&D power adjustable wrench I bought him two years ago and it wouldn't work. I took it apart and discovered the little hard rubber band which turns the gears had snapped. It is near useless as a manual adjusting wrench.

Like I said, he almost never uses his tools anymore, I just get him whatever he thinks is "neat". Last year I bought "him" a Makita lithium set to use for the small projects I do for them when I visit. The other stuff I just get by with.

Ern

Sorry to argue with you, but the black&decker wrench I held didn't look or feel like garbage... it was very solid feeling and when I used it on test pieces they had sitting around, I felt no give or looseness in any of the moving parts.

[BadgerDave]

I see this tool as more of an alternative to a combination wrench than a socket set. With no ratcheting action, a socket wrench certainly would be faster to use than this tool. Quite honestly to me it's just another gimmick tool that seems like it might be useful but probably wouldn't be in the long run.

[Bob D.]

These tools are older than dirt and have been around for a long while, so long ago was the last incarnation introduced that almost no one remembers it.

It's a compromise tool like any other multi-purpose tool.