EDC Trifecta: Hidden Tips and Tricks

Milwaukee Fastback, Kenip X-Pliers, the Mini Icon Ratchet. Going over some of those hidden features I bet you didn't know, and when combined together will allow you to disassemble an Abrams tank, or maybe just a go-kart. Now there's a couple different options to the actual Fastback, just like your very simple one, but I would highly suggest at least having one of the six-in-one on hand, or the one ending in 1505, lots of people just call it the 1505. Now you might be thinking, hey, just by adding the little screwdriver head, is it worth it? Yes, yes it is, including that it's a blade itself. It has a driver, a bottle opener, a stripper of wire, and more importantly, it just feels freaking awesome just whipping this thing open and closed. You actually use your finger. I don't think it really matters. Milwaukee doesn't have an owner's manual on how to open and close it, so however that is, it's awesome. The five-inch Knipex pump pliers, five-inch. It's not the length that matters, it's how you use it. Now I would highly suggest getting the pump pliers first over the wrench. Now yes, this is an Icon, but it's kind of a knockoff Knipex, just for a lot cheaper. Wrench, it's got the straight jaws or the flat jaws, whereas the pliers actually has all the little grooves. I would suggest, unless you're doing a lot of bolts and nuts to get the pump pliers because of the variety of items and materials you can get or take off with these, versus just a wrench. And now to complete the trifecta, I've got the Icon, the quarter-inch extendable flex head ratchet. And just because I don't like carrying around the whole case, I typically have set up the quarter-inch Pex 2 quarter-inch socket, and that goes in right in there, with, of course, a 10-millimeter socket, just waiting to be locked. Oh, freak. Now on to some hidden features. The 1505 literally has a hidden feature in that there is a nice little storage compartment for a spare blade. I usually keep a serrated and a straight just to have the best of both worlds. The bar that the bit holder is connected to is so sturdy that I actually use this with the straight blade in combination more as a pry part than I actually do the screwdriver itself. Also, I bet most of you have not noticed that there is a little groove right in here next to the blade. That is, by design, perfect little groove for the end of a tape measure to be able to score some drywall. Okay, one more little feature. Now, typically, I don't ever use this for the wire cutter. Just, I don't, but let's say you are in that situation where you cut your wire and then you need to actually make a little shepherd's hook to put it on an outlet. Well, you can actually use the belt hook to make that perfect hook. Back to the Cobra pliers. As mentioned before, you got the V grooves and then those directional teeth. They were engineered and well thought of. They allow you to grip so many different types of materials and different shapes, but it also means that the harder you push, the stronger that grip holds, and when you pull back, it loosens. It's like having another ratchet. I do wanna point out that the end of the pliers is not only ground flush, but there is almost like a zero tolerance gap, so much so that you can easily get a piece of paper, and I mean, I'm just right here at the very end, and pull in that piece of paper, or you can even pull the hairs off your arm, which I don't know why you do that. And with that grip and our extra little storage razor blade, this makes a perfect scraper. Hold it upside down, and you'll really be able to scrape anything you want without having to use your fingers, which I know everybody has, and then you start getting little cuts on your fingertips. Yeah, save the fingers, use the pliers. With the ratchet, the extension not only goes on at the end and makes it a good old extension to get more leverage, you can actually, it's got these little grooves in here, well-designed, kind of a little clipped edge, so you can stick this, the extension, all the way through, and then you've got a nice T-handle, or you've got an extension to your socket. The most used combo would definitely be the pliers and the wrench. As mentioned earlier, you can make a T-handle and get some nice grip. There are definitely situations where you need even more grip or force, and so you use the extension with your bit holder, and then these are both quarter-inch, with the Milwaukee Fastback, both quarter-inch hex adapters, and you can get a lot of leverage holding the handle on the Milwaukee. Hands down, best three-pocket tools to have. I'm DIY Pro, see you next time.