How do you know it is a high quality "Cool Tool" if you are only thinking about buying it? Shouldn't you at least LOOK at one before it is included here?

This confirms my suspicion that Cool Tools is no longer what it purports to be and is now just a shopping directory.

Ditto. C'mon, now.

Big bummer! I've been a big fan, and have had a number of reviews accepted over the years, but this posting is a total turn-off. Don't blame the submitter, blame Kevin. While he's no longer the editor it is still his site. One more post like this and I'm no longer a reviewer or even a reader.

It is a shame. I love Cool Tools and have bought several things because of it over the years. But several posts over the last few weeks have been along the lines of "I've used this item and it works OK, but I haven't tried any alternatives." And this latest "review" takes the biscuit. I'd much, much prefer fewer but more high-quality, authoritative posts -- if there's nothing worth posting, then don't post.

Let's all take a deep breath: Gift ideas all week. I failed to post the note earlier for today's item, but it's up now. Happy Holidays.--es

Who needs a kit? Just buy a pickling recipe book. Quick pickles are super easy and you dont have to can them, just refridgerate and enjoy. I have 'The Joy of Pickling' by Linda Ziedrich. Lots of great recipes.

If you want to get into fermented pickles then you just need a crock or plastic container and a recipe. Alton Brown of foodtv.com did a great show on fermented pickles. Go search their website.

If you do some research the ohio crocks are no longer available because the company that made them went under. A cool tool you could actually buy would be nice.

Um, why would I pay $35 for a pickling kit that I could duplicate the exact functionality with $3 of ingredients and a $2 5 gallon food grade bucket from the hardware store? Heck, I can even go to a deli and get a 5 gallon pickle bucket for free!

Now, pickling *itself* is a cool tool, but this product is way overpriced for what you get, which isn't much.

A number of readers have made comments similar to Phil's, but Phil is a friend so I will respond to him. We are trying an experiment. We asked readers what gifts they are giving, and then we took those and without our usual criteria or vetting, we featured them on the front page. Yes, these items are less selective, and lower our usual standards. But some of them are things we ordinarily would not encounter, so we felt it was fun. But we hear you all. I think we did not adequately post the caveat, but perhaps even with that, we may have gone too far. Nonetheless, in the spirit of Christmas sharing we'll finish out this series.

As always, if you have better stuff to suggest, please do!

Many thanks for the clarifications, Kevin and Elon. There had been a few items recently that didn't seem to match up to the expected Cool Tools rigour and so this one seemed like a further (big) step away from what I hope to read here. I'm glad the confusion was just a misunderstanding and I look forward to reading the forthcoming present ideas!

I think this is a fine idea, and I understood it for what it was. I look at this site all the time because I am married to Mr. Impossible when it comes to gifts.

And so, following the actual instructions, here's what I'm giving him. He's a furniture builder, and his designs are his own (and very beautiful). However, he's no good at drawing what he has in his head. So I'm going to get him 5 weeks of drawing lessons.

Experiential presents can often be much more interesting than things.

Mary: You should look into getting him some type of Computer-Aided Design software.