Archive for the ‘Tools’ Category

Can You Figure Out All the Uses for the Piranha Multitool? [Tools]

When it comes to multitools, you can never have enough functions and the Pocket Tool X Piranha really takes that thought to heart. I can’t even figure out half the things it’s supposed to do. Can you?

I know that there’s at least a bottle opener, a nail puller, a scraper pry ends, a double-ended bit holder, a bunch of wrenches on this thing, but it somehow looks like you’re getting some sort of hidden functions for your $50. I just don’t know what they are. [PocketToolX via Wired via Engadget]

Hands-On: Surly Jethro Tule Bike Wrench and Beer Opener

If you bike a lot, and especially if you bike a lot away from home or city, you need to carry a tool-kit. Luckily, you can repair any fairly modern bike with a toolkit small enough to fit into a tool-roll, saddle bag or even a repurposed pencil-case.

I have put together the perfect kit (for me, at least) over the last few months as I spend more time out on the road, but the one thing I could not find was a 15mm box-wrench small enough to fit in the bag. Finally I caved and ordered a Surly Jethro Tule from the UK. It cost too much, but it has the great advantage of incorporating a beer-bottle opener Here’s the kit:

You see the Jethro Tule (a great name, by the way), a Topeak multi-tool, a tiny Wrench Force mini-pump (which works very well, considering the size), a patch-kit in a section of inner-tube and a spare section of chain (five half-links). It all lives inside a Brooks D-Shaped Tool Bag, which comes in two parts meaning you can quickly remove the inner, zippered section from the seat.

With this kit I can fix pretty much anything short of the headset or bottom-bracket, including chain repair. The Jethro Tule is one of many 15mm wrenches aimed at fixed-gear riders. They are all distinguished by a high price and a beer-opener. But does it work? The short answer is yes, but there is a problem.

The wrench is short. If you have tightened your wheel nuts with a longer spanner you’ll have some trouble getting enough leverage to remove them. It can be done though: The tapered box means the handle points out, away from the wheel, and the large flipper-like plate is big enough to kick with a heel, just like you do with a car wheel. It’s not pretty, but it gets the job done, and the box itself is deep enough that it holds on tight to the nut.

The Jethro Tule won’t replace a standard-sized box wrench at home, but on the road, it works great. And did I mention it opens beer? Around $30.

Product page [Surly]

USB Craziness: Bus-Powered Soldering Iron

Good Lord, is there anything you can’t plug into a USB port? Now it’s the turn of the soldering iron, something you’d think likely to need a lot more than the paltry five volts a USB bus can offer.

But Thanko’s latest novelty actually manages to muster a scalding 300ºC from two USB ports, enough to melt lead-based solder. If you prefer lead-free, you can opt to hook the iron up to a 9v battery via the included adapter cable to heat things up to 500ºC.

If portability is your thing, though, we’d advise a gas-powered soldering iron that refills from a bottle of cigarette-lighter butane. They’re instant-on, cable free and better, you don’t have to wave a hot metal stick around right next to your valuable and delicate laptop. $30.

Product page [Thanko via Everything USB]

Cassette Tape Measure Is Simple, Brilliant

By Chris Scott Barr

Cassette tapes have little to no useful purpose in today’s world. Sure, in their prime you would record sappy love songs to give to your girl/boyfriend, or just listen to your favorite album. With CDs (and more importantly) digital media, these ugly plastic rectangles are little more than a memory of better days. Of course if you’re feeling nostalgic, you can always get one that’s been re-purposed into something a little more useful. We’ve seen MP3 players and USB hubs tucked away inside one, but what about a low-tech device?

The Cassette Tape Measure is another one of those ideas that makes you wonder why you didn’t think of it. Okay, maybe it’s not the most practical of applications, but it is pretty cool. I’ve no idea how long the tape is, as the only numeric value is 120 minutes. Not sure how that translates into inches. We do know that it will only take $8 to get this strangely appealing tape measure.

[ Gama Go ] VIA [ Dvice ]

Pedro’s Tülio: A Multi-Tool In a Quick-Release Skewer

There are two kinds of bike in this world: The ones that you lock up, and the ones that you don’t. I’m not talking about some heavenly, hippy dream of a city where you never need worry about having your ride jacked. I’m talking about the difference between the everyday bike you use to get around, and the bikes that are never left alone — bikes you only use off-road, or at the velodrome. Or even at your low-geared, single-speed polo bike tournament.

And it is these bikes that may benefit from the Tülio, a replacement quick-release skewer and lever with some hidden surprises. That lever is in fact a multi-tool, containing 4, 5 and 6mm hex wrenches, and an emergency 8mm hex wrench, a number two flat head screwdriver, a chain tool and two spoke wrenches (3.23mm and 3.45mm). In short, most of what you need for a day out except a set of tire levers and a spare tube, at a weight of just 99 grams (3.5 ounces).

The set comes from Pedro’s, maker of bike tools, and will be available in 2010. Just don’t use this on your urban ride: not only is a quick release a bad idea on an unattended bike, but you’ll be giving the thief the tools to completely strip your bicycle. That would be like leaving a ladder and a toolbox in your back yard every time you go on vacation.

Product page [Pedro’s via Urban Velo]

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