What is a fun gadget you have purchased that has added value to your life?

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Two "gadgets" that I'm never without. My Leatherman multitool and my RovyVon Aurora flashlight. The multitool with locking blades is like carrying a toolbox on your hip. And that flashlight - it's 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide, but it can kick out a beam that lights up things 1000 feet away. Or provide enough light to read by for 40 hours. Yeah, I can use the smartphone's flash, but it isn't bright enough to show me if the two eyes reflecting back at me belong to a dog or a bear. That's important where I live.
- It's a common thing I read on here. All the swiss pocket knives, Leatherman and flashlights. What are you people doing with those? I cannot remember the last time one of these items has been relevant to me.
  
  I use mine on a daily basis just opening shit. Probably every week or so the pliers or screwdriver comes in handy. Last year it saved my ass when I had to fix the skid plate on my car in the middle of a parking lot after I slid into a curb and it got fucked up..
  
  I'm a network engineer, I always have a flashlight on me since I have to get into crawl ways to chase cables
  I personally have an Acebeam E70 Mini because it's high CRI and non-PWM.
  
  For work that's one thing, but from what I read here, there's a whole bunch of people running around with multitools on their belts in their private time.
  
  I use the knife a lot, mostly for opening the bag of pellets for the pellet stove and opening Amazon boxes. Yesterday I was using my chainsaw about 1/8 mile from the house. The chain slipped off the drive sprocket. Out came the Leatherman and the pliers pulled the chain back into place. Saved me at least 10 minutes not driving back to the house for the tools.
  Last week a little kid had a birthday party at the park. He got a remote control car, but nobody in his party had a screwdriver to open the battery compartment. I was at a nearby table and heard his predicament. Leatherman to the rescue!
  A few years ago I stepped on a nail while hiking. It went through the sole of my shoe and into my foot, pinning it inside. The Leatherman let me pull out the nail so I could remove the shoe and tend to the wound. It would have really sucked hobbling 4 miles with a nail in my foot!
  My buddy also wears a Leatherman. Before cell phones became common, he was walking alone on a steep hillside when he slipped and tumbled over a retaining wall that was under construction. He ended up suspended from the wall by a spike of rebar through his arm. He used the metal saw to cut the rebar. He credits the tool with saving his life, because who knows how long it would have been before someone else came along.
  
  I'm almost curious what kind of life you live? You never find yourself in a situation where having a knife, screwdriver, pliers, or a flashlight on you wouldn't be a huge convenience?
  
  I'm not who you replied to, but no. I don't generally need any of those things when I'm out and about. I find myself occasionally needing stuff like that at home, but then I will have a nearby tool in a drawer at that point.
  I never use knives to open boxes though. I just use my keys.
  
  Well, sure I do have to fix something around the house or something like that, but then I got my trusty toolbox with all the stuff I need, so I have no need for multitools on my belt.
  
  Fair enough, I guess I just end up needing to fix things for other people way more than the average person. And more often then not, a multi tool saves me a trip to my car tool box. Its mainly just the blade, and pliers that get a lot of use. But the scissors and file get used quite a bit, too.
- I second both of these. For the multitool, I have a Micra. I previously was carrying a larger multitool, but I found that I barely used most of the tools. When I did use them, they were compromised by being part of a multitool. The Micra has the tools I need while being barely there.
  My flashlight is one I bought partially with a disaster situation in mind. Its critical feature for me is that the battery is not just USB-C rechargeable, but also can use standard AA batteries as backup. In a disaster scenario with limited access to supplies, there is an ultra-low light setting rated at 58 hours of battery life. It has a clip that goes onto the brim of baseball cap or similar to go hands free. It's much nicer than trying to deal with a cell phone light, especially in situations where cell phone power is precious. The model is the ACEBEAM Rider RX.
- Leatherman Juice Pro here. I use it almost every day, mostly the knife & pliers, but the tweezers, screwdrivers, and scissors get used about once a week.
  I see the people saying why carry one - if they need tools they'll just go to their toolbox. I do that too, but having this saves me the trip, and on more than one occasion, lots of time. I've done roadside car repairs with just the Leatherman, and around the house it's nice to have immediate access to a capable set of tools without searching. I've even grabbed the wrong tool, got to the top of the ladder, and then just used the Leatherman because it was there.
  You might not realise how often you really would use these, and they barely take up any room.

470 comments