Game Changers - The successes and the flops?

[Lister1987]

"Game changer"; it's a terms that is seemingly thrown about with gay abandon (is there straight abandon?) but what products in you opinion (and lifetime for our 'seasoned' members cough @telectrix ) truly have changed the way you approach a given task, object, product, method of work and the like?

Be interesting to see how long the thread can go for; It could be a success or a flop but what the hell

 

[littlespark]

Battery powered multi tool instead of pad saw for cutting out plasterboard.
Finer teeth, neater cuts.

In fact. Battery powered anything.

 

[Vortigern]

Wago is a game changer. I started up in lofts doing JBs in half dark with those fiddly brass screws, when wago came I was unbound!

 

[James]

Led work lights and torches, especially battery powered ones,
being able to light a whole loft or room from battery power whilst the power is off. So much easier.

 

[Dustydazzler]

As mentioned above anything battery power certainly within last decade where battery power and battery life is much improved.
Wagos again have made life easier.
I also like my twin disc wall chaser. Think back to having to stitch drill and how long that would take compared to zipping up a wall with the wall chaser.

 

[brianmoooore]

LED head torch. After trying out a few cheap ones when they first appeared, I bought a 'high end' one, and this is the only work light I have ever used since, unless it's a big or long enough job to justify a temporary lighting system.
The other 'game changer' was the introduction of the SDS drill. I was doing a full rewire/replumb/full heating system on a property constructed with Marland brick - in the running for the hardest material known to mankind, and found it impossible to drill any holes at all. Went off and bought one of these new fangled things, which completely transformed the job.
The diamond disc must be in there somewhere, as well.

 

[SparkySy]

MEWPS. I remember having to build tower Scaffolding then try and move it around or dismantle it and build it again. Then lug materials and kit up and down it.

Automatic wire strippers that self adjust have made my life easier as I've got older and arthritis has started to rear its head!

Slot in knee protection, too late for me as mine are bu@@ered! But they are definitely a huge improvement!

 

[Rockingit]

Sad but true..... the mobile/smart phone. Everything else mentioned so far is simply a development or alternative product to what's always existed before - before the wago we had crimps, for example. Before knee pads we had crawler pads, before the electric drill we had the bit and brace..... etc. But we never had access to the answer to any issue we could ever possibly come across on site, in our pocket.

 

[littlespark]

But we never had access to the answer to any issue we could ever possibly come across on site, in our pocket.

although there was always some smart arse that thought he knew everything….

Oh.. they’re still there, and still knows more than your phone does.

 

[LukeD]

on line banking for prompt payment !

 

[happysteve]

In rough order...

• LED head torch
• Multi-tool for blind cuts in plasterboard and timber (including removing the tongue and cutting across floorboards neatly)
• Battery powered tools in general
• Mobile phone for taking photos, in areas you can't get your head in (under floorboards), and for taking photos of stuff on quotes to remind you what needs doing, rather than writing everything down
• Wagos
• Knipex installation pliers (the ones with the shears, 1.5+2.5mm strippers and pliers)
• Linian cable clips
• Battery powered floodlights
• DAB radio
• Jet Rack step ladder storage thingie for the van... I saw this at Elex and was instantly sold. Previously, I'd often been using my little ladders (which were easily accessible in the van) when I should really have been using my big ladders... but the big ladders were always buried under stuff. Now the big ladders just sit under the ceiling of the van on a spring-loaded hook jobbie, and are easy to get in and out.

 

[brianmoooore]

MEWPS. I remember having to build tower Scaffolding then try and move it around or dismantle it and build it again. Then lug materials and kit up and down it.

I'll add this one to my list as well. The agricultural sheds ,that were a staple of my work, were getting larger and higher, with the apex of some out of reach of my ladders, and certainly higher than I was happy working off of a ladder. My trailed cherry picker, the most expensive bit of kit I'd ever bought up until then, totally transformed this work. In most sheds, it will reach everywhere in two whole bays (30'long) without being moved.
Even though I've retired from that kind of work, it still often gets used. Most recently to completely re slate 150m2 of roof, along with associated soffits, barge boards, etc., and guttering.

 

[brianmoooore]

Battery powered floodlights

Don't posses any myself, or feel the need for them, but they're a big plus for the fire brigade.
About 10 months ago, a £100,000+ tractor decided to self combust late one night on my property. The closest the fire brigade could get was about 300m away, so they laid hoses all the way, with small, but incredibly bright battery powered floodlight tripods spaced out along the way. LED and lithium ion. Tungsten halogen and lead acid would have been a different ball game.

 

[telectrix]

"Game changer"; it's a terms that is seemingly thrown about with gay abandon (is there straight abandon?) but what products in you opinion (and lifetime for our 'seasoned' members cough @telectrix ) truly have changed the way you approach a given task, object, product, method of work and the like?

Be interesting to see how long the thread can go for; It could be a success or a flop but what the hell

electric drill. brace and bit now relegated to the bench cupboard of no longer used tools. oh. and that hammer and twist tool for plugging walls. but the analogue meters are still in use.

 

[nicebutdim]

I also like my twin disc wall chaser. Think back to having to stitch drill and how long that would take compared to zipping up a wall with the wall chaser.

The difference between twin blade and Metabo's triple blade is another huge step, with all but the tiniest amount of masonry going straight into the extractor.