Yup, pink. TM has previously mentioned the LifeHammer and ResQMe. Now, if you buy the pink versions, the distributor, nov8, will make a donation to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  If someone you know has been affected by breast cancer — it took my Mom after a long struggle many years ago — then this might be a way to support or recognize them. So far, I’ve only been able to find the pink ResQMe available for $12 online at Ace.

ResQMe Pink [Ace]

Lex’s recent post on captive nuts reminded me of some other nuts I’ve been using a lot lately while doing some volunteer work on a search-and-rescue van: nylon-insert hex nuts. Depending on which big box you shop at, and whom you ask when there, they’re also called stop nuts, locknuts, or nyloks (although NYLOK® is a nylon material typically applied to bolts and screws), or nylocks. I like them because they resist vibration and loosening, they’re reusable, they don’t damage threads, and they’re readily available. McMaster-Carr has a large variety in their catalog, and many of the big boxes carry Hillman versions.

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Ever notice how you never have to sharpen your steak knives? The serrated edge keeps its ability to cut much longer than a straight edge, but some of the trade-offs are you don’t get as clean a cut and it’s not fun to sharpen. Neither of these disadvantages matter for many tasks you’d use a utility knife for, as you’d probably rather work longer without stopping to change blades.

Rapid Tools manufactures Rapid Edge blades for your utility knife. They claim the blades last longer because the serrated edge has three to five times the cutting surface of a straight blade. This reduces friction, keeping the blade sharper longer. While you might not want to use the Rapid edge for cutting drywall it supposedly works well on materials like carpet, wire, rope, and asphalt shingles.

Rapid Edge Blades fit all standard utility knives. They come in packs of 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 blades and start around $4 for a five-pack.

Rapid Edge Blades [Rapid Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

We’ve covered a way to turn your reciprocating saw into a power rasp, but that was just a single use tool.  With the Reciprotools adapter chucked into your Recip saw, you can power accessories like stainless steel or nylon brushes, a cleaning pad, rasps, and files.

The the double tang adapter works with most reciprocating saws. Once you’ve inserted the adapter into the saw’s chuck, the adapter provides a quick-change hex chuck for holding the accessories. The hex-shaped shank on the accessories allows you to position each tool in six different orientations.

Pricing for the adapter starts at $16 and accessories start at $6 a piece.

Reciprotools [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Rather than get down on your hands and knees to remove leaves around your plantings and trellis work, pick up a steel adjustable-tine rake like this one from Bond Manufacturing. I used to dread cleaning out the garden every spring until a few years ago when I picked up a similar rake. It’s not something you use to rake the entire lawn, but the variable-size head lets you clean out areas where your normal rake won’t fit.

The head of this particular model expands from 7″ to 25″ wide and can be locked at any width in between. By contracting the head back down to 7″, you can store the 69″ rake in much less space than you would need for a full-sized one.

Shipping on this rake runs about $15, or you could probably pick up a knock-off for under $10 at a local store like I did.

Bond Manufacturing [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

If you can’t see what you’re doing or where you’re going on the work site, you’re asking for an accident. Rather than cluttering up the site with a bunch of stand-mounted lights, shed some light on the situation with a temporary string of lights like this one from Woods.

This string of work lights features ten protected light enclosures with standard light bulb sockets connected by 100 feet of yellow 14/2 wire. The string is rated for 1,500W at 120V, which means theoretically you could use ten 150W bulbs, but to be on the safe side you probably don’t want to exceed 100W bulbs.

Pricing for this string of lights start in the mid $70s.

Woods [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

If you need a small portable cutting tool for carpet, clamshell, cardboard, fabric, and other lightweight materials, take a look at Skil’s Power Cutter. It sports a 10-sided 1-1/2″ blade, and it comes with a 3.6V lithium-ion rechargeable battery and charger.  Amazon is selling the Skil Power Cutter for $48 — or you can pick it up at Ace Hardware for $52 if you need it immediately.

Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Skil Power Cutter [Ace Hardware]
Street Pricing [Google]

Brush and roller cleaners like the one above have stood the test of time.  As a boy, I remember helping my dad clean his paint brushes by attaching them to the cleaner and pumping like mad inside of a bucket to spin them as fast as I could — I learned fast how big of a mess I could make without the bucket.

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When a storm is about to hit, the last thing you want to do is waste time screwing plywood over your windows.  PLYLOX window clips let you quickly cover windows with plywood without installing any hardware or modifying your window casings.

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These days, a lot of manufacturers and retailers are trying to appeal to the eco-conscious consumer by selling products that make a minimal impact on the environment — it also doesn’t hurt if they save you some money. The new propane-powered string trimmer from LEHR promises to do both.

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The Ames True Temper lawn and leaf cart holds up to a 30-gallon bag open so you can collect your leaves, grass clippings, or even recyclables.  If your bag’s only half full, the flip-down lid keeps the contents in the bag until you can fill it completely.

Mount the cart to the wall, or use the wheels and tubular handle to move the plastic-bodied cart where it’s needed.  The adjustable bag holder works with either paper or plastic bags.

You’ll pay somewhere north of $30 for this lawn and leaf cart.

Lawn and Leaf Cart [Ames True Temper]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Ace Hardware Outlet is selling JB Weld for $3.20.  JB Weld is to epoxy as duct tape is to, um, tape — just a wonderful product with multiple uses.  I’ve used it to build up broken castings and fasten parts.

JB Weld [Ace Hardware Outlet]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Anything that makes finishing drywall easier is worth a look, but the Pocket Hound looks more like an amorphous blob of rubber than a tool.  Diversified Tools claims that each one of the random-looking curves helps you clean, shape, or form drywall mud around bullnose metal.

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While the Gordon wrench will help you turn stuck shutoff valves, to reach the valve you still might have to bend like a contortionist.  Plus you probably don’t want to venture that close to the scummy area behind the toilet or under the sink.  Although the WaterShutOff wrench from Superior Tool may not let you apply as much torque on stuck valves, it can keep you 11″ farther away from all that unpleasantness that hasn’t seen the light of day in years.

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You probably won’t see a couple of plumbers in the back room with a bunch of these tools and a playground ball, trying to get twosies — but it’s fun to imagine.  These jack-lookalike tools are actually drum tap wrenches for removing cleanout plugs.

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If you subscribe to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), your service provider might tell you, “Regular old phones won’t work with VoIP,” and they’ll give you some hardware to make your computer a phone.  That setup could pass muster in a one-bedroom apartment — but not in a three-bedroom house, where a ringing phone could set the teenagers to stampeding, or where you might miss a call if the game’s on in the other room.

Of course, when you tell a tool guy, “It doesn’t work that way,” what he hears is, “It’s time to do some experimenting.”

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Fall’s here, and the leaves just keep dropping.  Too bad the trees don’t drop their leaves all at the same time — no, to keep your yard clean you’ll have to rake many times before fall’s over.  Plus, if you have trees like red oaks that hold onto their leaves over the winter, you’ll be out there raking in the spring several times, too.  All this raking takes away valuable shop time.  Would something like this $150 lawn sweeper from Agri-Fab make the work go faster?

This particular lawn sweeper cleans a 26″ swath and collects up to 7 cubic feet of dry leaves/debris in its replaceable vinyl hopper — unfortunately, it won’t work very well with soggy leaves.  With its zinc-plated steel frame and polypropylene housing, the 52-1/2″ x 31″ x 33″ sweeper weighs in at 25 pounds.

Is a lawn sweeper the answer for keeping your yard clean in the fall, or will it just sit in the garage gathering dust?  Let us know your experiences in comments.

Lawn Sweeper [Agri-Fab]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]