Sticks to a brick

Gorilla Tape is duct tape raised to a higher power. It is both stronger and stickier; you can use it on rough surfaces where duct tape won't stick. I have used a variety of similar tapes, from the Army's green 200 mph tape to the fabled Electric Boat tape that Submariners are familiar with. Gorilla Tape sticks better and holds longer than the best quality duct tape in everything I have used it for. It is also waterproof (once applied) and because of the thicker adhesive, less prone to peeling.

-- Stephen Young

Gorilla Tape
2" x 35 yards
$12
Available from Amazon

Manufactured by Gorilla Tape

Conventional car shades are unwieldy, prone to slipping off, and awkward to store.

The Shade requires careful installation, but thereafter takes only a second to put up or roll away. This makes one much more likely to use it regularly, resulting in fewer surprises when those clouds vanish midday. It is well built, sturdy, and reliable. The retraction mechanism on my original unit is as strong and smooth as on a new one; I know, because I've bought eight more of these shades over the years for friends and family. The glue for the mounting brackets is strong stuff, my right-hand brackets fell off this summer, but that was after six years of New Mexico sun. Replacement brackets were $5, and my Shade is now remounted and ready for another six years.

They are sized to fit different car models.

-- Ed Santiago

The Shade
$35
Available from Dash Designs

THE tool for the job if you're uprooting alien and invasive plants such as French broom and Scotch broom. Those plants, like other invasives, tend to form aggressive monoculture areas that drive out local biodiversity, and they often make dense undergrowth fire hazards. Ripping them out is a kind of joy -- a fine workout, more productive in every way than a couple hours at the gym.

Built like a cast-iron frying pan, the Weed Wrench is a seriously macho tool. Its fierce jaws grip the miscreant plant or small tree by the throat (base of stem), and big leverage yanks it bodily out of the ground. If you get the smallest (mini) and the largest Weed Wrenches, you've got everything covered up to 2 inch diameter (beyond that, use a saw).

-- Stewart Brand

Many of us who own land in coastal northern California have a constant problem eradicating (or even keeping under control) Scotch broom, that ubiquitous plant with the yellow flowers that covers more of the hills every year. After a rain it isn't too hard to pull out if you have a strong back and the right warrior spirit. But sometimes they are just too big or the ground is too dry. That's when you need the Weed Wrench. It's basically a big lever with a set of jaws at ground level to grip the trunk of the plant. You pull slowly until the jaws engage then yank it out of the ground, roots and all. If broom or other woody weeds are a problem for you, get one of these things. There's nothing else that even comes close for effective broom removal. It amazes me that they aren't in every hardware story in northern California, but so it is. Order it from the web site. They come in four sizes. The medium is probably best for most jobs.

-- John Coate

Weed Wrench
$155 (Medium)
Available from Weed Wrench Company

After trying a dozen pedometers, I discovered the rugged, well designed Timex 5E021.

The display is large enough to read easily, and the construction is sturdy. The belt clip never slips off. It clips securely to a belt or even the elastic band of a pair of athletic shorts.

Every other pedometer I tried had serious design flaws. Battery doors fell off, belt clips broke, and buttons were positioned so it was easy to accidently reset the units. Many of the other pedometers I tried were overly sensitive to belt position. If the pedometer was too far to the front or back of my waist, the step-count and distance would be off by as much as a third. By contrast, the Timex is easy to position (right over the hip bone) and is always accurate. The reset button is positioned so it will not reset accidently.

-- Tony Levelle

Timex 5E021 Digital Readout Pedometer
$20
Avialable from Amazon

I'm currently stripping the exterior of an 1885 vintage Victorian home. There are so many coats of paint to remove it was going to be a nasty job. I spoke to my neighbors who said they had an infrared paint remover (Silent Paint Remover) that worked great. I was hesitant to put out a lot of money for a new, unproven tool so I asked to borrow it for an evening.

I used the tool for 20 minutes and immediately went inside and placed an order! You apply the tool to the clapboard for about 20-30 seconds. Then scrape; the paint really does come off easily. I also purchased the wall attachment so I can slide the tool across the row of clapboards and have one section "cooking" while I'm scraping recently heated area. This allows me to cover twice as much area as I would without it.

Their scrapers are also superior. Unlike most pull type scrapers, their large triangular design provides a lot of open space so the scraper doesn't get clogged when scraping multiple coats of paint. They also have several different shapes of blades. I'm using the clapboard blade which is nice because it gets the underside of the clapboard, above, and the surface of the clapboard below. I also have the profile blade which is making easy work of scraping rounded corners on the house.

Their line isn't cheap, but it's well worth the money in the time you save. It also doesn't release any lead which was a concern when working with a house this old. The tool has apparently been around in Sweden for some time and there is an extensive set of accessories in addition to those I've purchased. When people walk down the sidewalk and see it they're amazed. Now if I could just stop people from wanting to borrow it before I finish the job!

-- Scott Sipiora

The Silent Paint Remover
$400
Available from Silent Paint Remover

Instructions for making your own DIY version from a quartz heater.

A seasoned traveler who ventured further into third world slums than I ever would told me about this nifty trick-of-the-trade. Make a good color copy of your passport, including the covers. Align the inside sheet of your passport data with the outside passport cover sheet. Glue together. Laminate. Score and fold. You now have a fairly official looking travel document.

I have found that for most purposes -- changing money at a bank, rentals, hotel front desks, and even police -- this passport clone is sufficient. You hide or store your real one and use this one for everything else except crossing borders. I don't know why, but most people seem happy to accept it. It may be because it seems like some new futuristic version 2.0 passport and who are they to question it?

(According to the US Passport Agency, it is perfectly legal for you to make a color copy of your passport -- although Kinko's can't -- and in fact they recommend you do so.)

-- KK

Okay, so you've read Maus. What's next? This book will turn you onto a hundred more great graphic novels (you know, comics for adults) that "will change your life." If you've been wondering what all the fuss is about, this guide is a great way to get into the only part of book publishing that is growing (the graphic novel section of large bookstores can be measured in yards). The author, fan-boy Paul Gravett, selects graphic novels that are contemporary (not classic super-heroes), easily found, in book form (rather than serial magazines), and are beyond mere colorful fantasy, and not just dark teenage angst. They are great stories, with very personal art, in a wonderful cross between cinema and text. This guide is smartly designed and a joy to use. You get sample pages from choice works, Gravett's insightful comments and analysis, related books, and plenty of context to tell what you can expect from each book. It's one of the best shopper guides I've seen.

-- KK

Graphic Novels: Everything You Need to Know
Paul Gravett
2005, 192 pages
$16
Available from Amazon

Sample excerpts:

Blankets

How does a boy raised to obey the Bible reconcile his deep faith and the stirrings of sexual attraction? Craig Thompson pieces together his answer, first by going back to the small cruelties inflicted on him by his parents, and to his guilt over failing to protect his younger brother. He blends these scenes with the slow unfolding of him falling in love with Raina, a girl he meets at church camp. Nothing is rushed, as here Thompson shows the first nearness of their bodies and frees them from confining panel borders. "Blankets" refers not only to the Wisconsin snow, but also to the bed that he an his brother once shared, and to the quilt that Raina makes him.

This is one of the lightest, and most comfortable sleeping "mats" I have ever found. When rolled up and compacted it is smaller than all the other mats out there, so it takes up less room in a pack or pannier. Only drawback is how to use it effectively in a winter climate. In the summer in a tent, cooler is good most times as you can sleep better since you are not sweltering in the heat. It takes no more time to take down and set up than inflating a thermorest or other compact mattress. Lastly, for larger guys like my self, it distributes my weight better. The stiff feeling I get after a sleep on most foamies, thermorests, and mattresses does not come about on this cot. For these reasons the Low Rise Cot is getting popular with the cycling crowd.

-- Ben Eadie

LuxuryLite Low Rise Cot
$190
Available from LuxuryLite

When trying to move Very Large Objects don't forget the Hi-Lift Jack, still about 50 bucks and able to lift 7000 lbs 4 feet or more. After a flood moved a 60 ft. barn where I lived, I moved it right back where it belonged with that jack, and a few pulls on a come-along. The Hi-Lift is great for extracting fence posts, too. While living on a nature preserve, I jacked out several miles of steel fence posts and dozens of big gate posts complete with concrete wad still stuck on using a Hi-Lift Jack. Also levelled our house, which was 6 inches out of level, one click per day, without breaking any windows. No problems. It's a big bad beast, but a good-'un. It can also serve as a high labor, low frequency log splitter (good upper body exercise)! You can buy wheels for it (but they'll only work on smooth hard surfaces) and a neat "sheath" for stowing it theft-resistantly in or on your vehicle. However, as someone once told me: "Never let go of the handle while lowering the load or you'll EAT TEETH!" -- a worthwhile reminder for users of this pre-OSHA device.

The Hi-Lift comes in a number of lengths in either cast or steel. I like the cast model best, as it seems to be more durable in heavy use. The 60-incher is not rated to take a full load to 60 inches, and it is heavy enough to be damned awkward to carry around. The 48" is perfectly fine -- though no lightweight -- and the one I use.

-- J. Baldwin

Hi-Lift
48 inches
$60
Available from FatBoys Offroad

Manufactured by Hi-Lift

Northern Tool and Harbor Freight both carry a Chinese-made version, called a Farm Jack for $40 -- KK
Available from Northern Tool & Equipment

The number is 1-800-Free 411, and it's pretty self-explanatory. It's free directory information. Works on cells and land lines. The other day I was about to call a store, and my sister shouted 1-800 Free411 at me as I pulled down her driveway. I dialed it on my cell phone, and gave the name, town, and city. Somewhere in there they air a 12 second commercial, but then they give you your requested number, and even repeat it twice. I haven't experimented yet, but you MAY even be able to circumvent the commercial by pressing "2" on your keypad.

Cell phone companies in MOST parts of the world only charge you for calls you place; incoming calls are free (as they SHOULD be), so I'm annoyed enough when I return to the USA. If I can find a way to keep large corporations from taking more $$ outta my hide, I do it. When cell phone companies charge you up to $2.50 for a directory information request, I'll listen to 12 seconds of blather instead.

-- Duffy Franco

1-800-Free 411
1-800-373-3411
Free411

I know that the paragraph about Flyaway Indoor Skydiving in last week's Cool Tools was just an excerpt from the book Eccentric America, but I'd like to add a bit to that information. First, as you may have noticed, Flyaway Indoor Skydiving also has a location in Pigeon Forge, TN (near Dollywood -- doesn't everyone know where that is?). Second, this type of wind tunnel is not the best. I would like to recommend SkyVenture instead. Their most convenient location is in Orlando, FL. The difference between the two is that Flyaway's technology results in a sort of "hill of air" with a dead ring around the inside of the tunnel--thus you can "fall off" the air stream, which is especially easy when you are not used to flying your body. SkyVenture's, on the other hand, offers a flat surface of wind, so to speak, that reaches horizontally all the way to the edges of the tunnel. I'm not sure exactly how SkyVenture's works so well, except I know they have multiple fans which "suck" from the ceiling rather than blowing from the bottom. SkyVenture's is so much like real skydiving that skydivers train there and become very competitive while making relatively few actual skydives. I've been in both wind tunnels and I would have a hard time recommending Flyaway after having experienced SkyVenture. Besides the fact that Flyaway is not "authentic" in terms of skydiving experience, it's also a bit unnerving to be able to fall off the air stream, I think.

Anyway, I don't think a wind tunnel itself would really fall into the category of a "cool tool"--but I just don't want anyone to be misled into thinking that Flyaway is the best or only wind tunnel out there! (I have no affiliation with either wind tunnel; I just had one of the most fun experiences of my life at a skydiving skills camp at SkyVenture, whereas my experience with taking my family to Flyaway--before I was aware of the difference in wind tunnels--was just so-so.)

-- Maria Blees

SkyVenture
Technorati Profile

BTW, they seem to have quite a few locations, not just Orlando.

Portable wood stoves are for tents, tipis, huts or other temporary shelters. More efficient than a campfire, and more powerful than a backpacking stove, they are often used by ranchers, hunters, fisherman, and other trail groups who need to set up a moveable camp. These little guys will heat a large tent/small room, and cook meals. It's overkill for overnight use, but quickly becomes beloved in cold weather, large groups, or extended summer camps. Once upon a time you needed a pack horse or off-road vehicle to carry one -- and the stove pipe it requires. Now there are lightweight versions. The Kifaru, for instance, will fold into a backpack. However the heavier ones will last longer and warp less due to high heat and burn-out of the stove bottom.

The best single source for information, comparison evaluations and ordering various brands and models of these stoves is the Wall Tent Shop. (And yes, they also sell traditional wall tents.)

-- KK

Wall Tent Shop

Snowtrekker
7 lbs
9" x 10" x 12"
$180
Empire Canvas Works

Kifaru Foldable Tipi Stove
4.5 lbs.
8" x 9" x 12"
$270 (stove only)
Kifaru

KniCo Stove
12.5 lbs.
10" x 10" x 23"
$200
KniCo Stove

My favorite general-purpose pliers are parallel-jaw pliers. They excel at crimping and grasping near the tips since they apply uniform pressure across the whole face. Since the jaw faces stay parallel, these pliers may be used in a pinch to hold or turn a small fastener without deforming its face. A small groove running down the center length of one jaw lets you use these pliers to tension cable or wire, and many models come with an effective wire cutter on the side.

I had a pair, passed down from my father, that was stolen -- I despaired of replacing them until I found this robust spring-loaded pair of Shimano pliers made for fishermen. Parallel-jaw pliers are also apparently used by jewellers and tennis-racket stringers among others.

-- Philip Flip Kromer

Sea Striker Billfisher Deluxe Pliers
$49
Available from Tackle To Go

Jeweler's Parallel Action Pliers
$22
Availble from Shor International

Parallel Jaws Pliers
$25
Available from Tennis Warehouse

I have had my oil changed by the dealer, a local mechanic and even those jiffy people. They've all done a good job, but I like changing my own oil. It's a bit of a meditative exercise and gives me a chance to see what's going on with my car. While I enjoy doing the oil change, my least favorite part of changing my oil is getting underneath the car, removing the drain plug and draining the oil. Dealing with the jack, stripping the drain plug every now and again, and spilling the used oil were nearly enough to stop me from changing my oil.

A friend of mine recently had his car serviced at a local dealership and he told me about a new machine that they used to drain the oil without jacking the car or removing the drain plug. The oil change technician inserted a probe into the dipstick tube and used a vacuum to drain the oil. This sounded very interesting and encouraged me to research more about this system and see if it was small enough to be used at home.

My research revealed that there were a number of these systems available for the do-it-yourselfer. After I compared features of the different brands, I settled on the Topsider. Originally designed for the boating market, the Topsider is all-metal. This feature was the one that seemed most important to me. The majority of other vacuum oil changers were made of plastic and I was concerned that the plastic would become brittle over time.

Changing the oil is really simple:

1. Make sure the engine is warm to make the oil flow easily
2. Place tube in dipstick tube
3. Close pinch valve on hose
4. Pump the canister 50 times to build vacuum
5. Release the pinch valve

It takes about 8 minutes for the oil to leave your engine. I usually use this time to remove the oil filter, open oil bottles, etc. Most dipsticks reach all the way to the bottom of the oil pan. I push the hose til I feel the bottom of the pan. When I first got it, I would open my drain plug after vacuuming and very little came out (a few drops) so I suspect the vacuum gets most of the oil out. It will pull sludge out as well up through the tube. The can holds 2 gallons of oil. Once the oil is out of your car you can remove the vacuum pump and suction tube and seal the container for transport to your recycling center.

I think the clincher for me was discovering that this was the technique that Mercedes was using in its dealerships (albeit using a commercial machine).

-- Kurt Wendelken

Topside Oil Changer
$40
Available from Amazon

I have always had a penchant for large, heavy objects, and therefore long ago started to pay close attention to how to move things which had weights far past the threshold of "mere human" move-ability. Palette jacks are the first and foremost tool for moving such things, but there are serious limitations with palette jacks in close quarters, or just getting a heavy load raised to the point where you can put a palette under it.

The "Johnson bar" (also known as pry truck, pry bar, mule, or wheeled steel lever) is a tool that solves those problems, and it has a host of other uses which you will discover. The pry truck is a miracle of simplicity and unbelievable strength. Moving a 1500 pound (680kg) lathe is child's play with one of these levers, and I have moved multi-ton steel shipping containers (empty) with them. With two levers (and two people) almost any large object can be shifted and moved into position or onto more convenient conveyance (dollies, casters, or just onto steel pipe rollers.) Given two people, some time, and some shims, one can get large objects raised off the floor enough to slide a palette under with a palette jack or dollies. While it seems like this should remain in the realm of "industrial moving", I've found that I use it almost once a week for other odd jobs around the house, like levelling a shed, moving a palette of floor tiles in the basement, etc.

Unlike a floor jack that needs clearance, this can be put under things with only ~1/4" (~64mm) of gap between the floor and the object. It takes a few minutes of experimentation, but one can learn very quickly how to move objects by levering them off the floor and then rotating the handle around it's axis to make objects move 4-6 inches (10cm-15cm) at a time.

Every time I use this tool, I wonder how I would have ever been able to do any moving and transport task without it and I can't imagine not having one handy. Apologies to Archimedes: Give me a big enough lever on wheels and a place to stand, and I shall move the world.

There are several varieties and sources to purchase them. I have always used the wood-handled variety, however I can't imagine there's much of a difference between various models other than capacity. They're somewhat expensive, but I've never seen one on the "used" market -- I suspect once people have such a useful item, they only part with them during estate sales.

-- John Todd

Oak Lever Dollies
5,000 lbs.
$150-$200
Available from
Gilmore-Kramer Company
Steel PryLeverBar
6-foot
$175
Available from
US Cargo Tools

Changing the oil in your car is a bit of a pain, and usually involves fishing around in an oily mess for the drain plug you dropped. The Fumoto Valve makes the process a lot tidier and easier. It's simply a ball valve with a locking quarter-turn action. You install it in place of your oil drain plug, and after that, draining the oil is a matter of a quarter turn on a lever. The lever locks in place in the closed position, making it difficult for vibration to open it. It does project slightly below where the old drain plug would be, but this is not a problem unless you're rock crawling in the Camry.

-- Michael O'Connor

Fumoto Oil Drain Valve
$23
Available from Fumoto Valve

Think different. More than just a list of weird kitschy roadside attractions, this enjoyable guidebook points you to odd festivals, off-beat environments, outsider art, bizarre endeavors and eccentric people in all 50 states. You can have a real adventure in the US by seeking out any of the 900 wacky national treasures covered in this fantastic guide. I found a whole bunch of incredible "never forget" destinations this way. May your travels be as creative as you are. (Someone please make an Eccentric Europe, or Mexico, Japan, etc.)

Alternatively, you can go to the website Roadside America. It's not as complete, not as easy to browse, and not as eccentric (more of what you expect in roadside attractions), but it is free. Furthermore, it relies on tips from readers, so it is improving fast.

-- KK

Roadside America

Eccentric America, 2nd Edition
Jan Friedman
2004, 336 pages
$14
Available from Amazon

Sample excerpts:

Led by a group alarmed by the increasing presence of surveillance cameras, the Surveillance Camera Outdoor Walking Tours cover most Manhattan neighborhoods, meeting Sundays, rain or shine, for the one-and-a-half-hour tours. The leaders, known as the Surveillance Camera Players, share a great deal of history on the subject as well as pointing out the technological capacities of the various types of cameras.

Surveillance Camera Outdoor Walking Tours (SCOWT) meet on Sundays at 2.00pm sharp in various neighborhoods. Check the website for details. Free.

*

The Mega-sore-ass dinosaur machine crossing the Eel River and traveling to Ferndale in the Annual World Championship, Great Arcata to Ferndale Cross-Country Kinetic Sculpture Race

Ever have to fight with a thirty foot cord on a cold day? This tool has no cord. And no batteries. No worry about theft, obsolescence, charging. Imagine being able to remove #4 Phillips screws, long embedded with their heads effectively stripped before they were painted over. By hand. The same tool, with a "no moving parts" adapter, is a speed wrench for 3/8" drive sockets. And you can use 1/4" hex bits as well.

The traditional hand brace does all this, and weighs less than a commercial-duty battery pack. That's why I have two old braces in my on-site tool kit, where I do a vast array of kludge-like repairs to building systems -- everything from removing the third set of windows in a building's life, to re-hanging wood and steel doors (remember those stripped, self-tapping, Phillips screws?), boring holes to run a fish-tape through, and taking mechanical stuff apart.

I just bought my first-ever "new" brace from Lee Valley Tools. Made in France this version will accept traditional square-taper auger bits, and with its three jaw chuck, any round or hex shank tool up to about 15 mm (9/16") diameter. This new one together with two power tools -- a 25-year-old Black and Decker screw gun, and a Makita 7 1/4" circular saw -- makes my tool kit.

-- Lou Parsons

Three Jaw Brace
$67
Available from Lee Valley

The new Tilley Hat is beautifully made of nylon microfiber. It is much lighter (3 oz. total weight) than the original canvas hat and is extremely comfortable to wear, even on the hottest days. The crown is well ventilated and the brim holds its shape well. There is an effective chin strap. It is not suitable for heavy rain wear due to the crown ventilation; use the OR Seattle Sombrero for that. The new hat is guaranteed "forever", even against loss.

-- Carl Bradford

Tilley LTM6 Airflow Hat
$70
Available from Tilley

If you've ever traveled to Europe, you've taken or bought a plug converter. If you've traveled much at all, you've probably purchased a set of these things in a lovely (and huge) travel case. Equally likely is that you've either forgotten one or two or lost them somewhere along the road, forcing you to purchase spares that don't fit in the original case.

For this reason, I got tired of a bag of random adapters and went looking for a universal one. I found two or three of them and they all had one thing in common; they were the size of a baseball (I'm obsessive about size and weight when I travel). So when I stumbled across this adapter by APC, I fell in love. It's small (1x2x4 inches), it's packable, it has all the adapters I need, and it works. If you travel overseas and you're sick of a computer bag that weighs more than your luggage, you have to have this.

-- Keith Smith

APC Universal Plug Adapter
$16
Available from Amazon

Manufactured by APC

The problem: Nice road bikes that don't have kickstands. You have to lean them against something but sometimes they roll and fall over. Ouch!

Solution: Before your ride, take a wine cork and cut one end into a wedge with two simple cuts that make a nice tapered end. Then squeeze one of your break handles and insert the wedge end into the gap that appears between the handle and the hood. This keeps the brake deployed and your bike won't roll. Viola!

It's free, fast, and the cork stows away unnoticed in your jersey pocket or tool bag. Whatever your opinion of synthetic wine corks, they work wonderfully well when cut for a bike brake.

I learned the trick 25 years ago from a bike shop owner in Virginia, yet I have yet to find a cyclist who knows about it. My biking friends are converts.

-- Steve Leveen