Top 15 Tools I Would Buy Again: Professional Essentials Worth the Investment
I’ve bought a lot of tools over the years. Some of them being cheap throwaways, others probably way too expensive for what I got. You get what you pay for isn’t always true when it comes to tools. But for this 15, it is. All of these are significantly more expensive than other versions of the same tool. But if I lost all my tools today, this is what I’d actually buy again.
The Ultimate Multi-Driver System: Wera and Veto Pro Pack
Now, the first one I’m super excited to show you guys because it’s not only more expensive, but it’s a lot different than what most people use. So, I’m really excited to show you guys this system. And in this, we have probably three or four different tools on this list. So, if we go ahead and pull this front pouch off, we can get into our first one here, which is the SC45. But what’s inside of it is really what kind of makes it so much better.
So, if we go ahead and open this up, this is a Veto Pro pack. And inside is my multi-driver kit. Now, I have this actual multi-driver or bit driver in here, which is number one on the list. Then, we’ll get into what makes this case and this setup so special. Basically, all of this goes into this bit driver, which I personally don’t love multi-drivers. I like tools that fit a little bit better, and I feel like the fit on most multi-drivers isn’t as good.
With this one, not only do I love everything about the handle, but with this setup here, all of this stuff goes in my impact and it goes in my multi-driver. Basically letting me do every single thing that I could want to do for any type of fastener, whether that’s a bolt or a screw. So, I’ll cover this Wera Multi-driver, then go over this little pouch system and how I have it set up, then some of the things I carry in here and why I like this version of it so much better, cuz I’ve been rocking another version of this pouch from Wera, and I’ll show you guys the differences, but this is it’s been a pretty much a game changer. This thing is an absolute beast.
Why the Wera Multi-Driver Wins
Couple features that make this super special. Number one, it does take quarter-inch bits, which is huge. When it comes to versatility, one of the things I hate the most about most multi-drivers is proprietary bits because if you break it, if you lose it, you’re done. You got to order one. And personally, I just don’t do well with ordering stuff like that. Like, I’ll forget about it or I’m really good at losing stuff. So, when that happens, I mean, the tools pretty much done for me. Yes, I understand you can buy them in bulk, but proprietary bits aren’t my favorite.
Especially when I can lose one of these quarter-inch bits or break one and the day of I can just go pick one out of a bit case that I have because everybody’s got a million bit cases. And then from there I have a replacement and it works just as well as it did before I lost or broke the bit. Now the bit holder in here is a little bit heavier which can restrict your reach. But most of the time that’s not really that important. Uh most of the time this doesn’t actually get in the way and I don’t have to worry about my bits coming out.
The magnet on it is super strong. So, we can see this just a little little screw here, a little device screw. So, nothing crazy, but it’s got a great amount of magnetism. That’s not a real word. The magnet’s strong. Okay, that’s all you need to know. It works well. Uh, and you don’t have to worry about your bits popping out or losing them. It also spins so you can grab it. That part is cool. It’s kind of whatever.
But then we get into this portion here, this little green piece. And this actually goes down. That way you can change the size of the driver. You can shorten it. You can extend it. It also takes all these quarter-inch bits. So if you want a longer driver that’s like 10 in or whatever, you can put one of your longer bits in there and have a much longer multi-driver. It also kind of gets rid of the issue with it being so fat with having some of these thinner bits that are longer. Uh most of them aren’t going to need any more than a 2-in bit that goes into whatever slot that you’re going into.
Customizing the Bit Carousel
Um, and then my favorite part of the whole thing is the bit carousel. So, if we pop this open, you can see it. It carries six bits and these are all customized bits. So, the bits that you get in this originally aren’t impact rated. Wera makes great bits. They do make impact rated bits. U, but truthfully, I’ve just never bought them or tried them. They’re not as easy to get. You I just I mean, most of the time pick up a set of Milwaukee and like I have like five bit cases from Milwaukee somewhere that I just change in and out when I need to.
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That being said, the onboard storage for this and how easy it is to change out of if I know I need a T-25 bit. I just pull this out, boom, put it in here, and I can grab the T-25 right here. And not only that, but all of this goes in my impact as well. I can pretty much take this kit right here, go to anything I want to. So, when I go to do something for my parents or go to do something for a friend, I can just pick this kit up and know that I have every fastener that I’m going to need, every style of driver. uh that’s possible and it’s going to work and it’s going to work way better than most multi-drivers and they all go in my impact which is just phenomenal.
So with this little setup though the bits the change out’s just a lot easier. You don’t have to again worry about any type of bits that are specialty. That way if I do want like a T25 security bit I can get one from my security bit set, put it in here and now I have a T-25 security bit screwdriver. I feel like I run into this more with the metric Allens because I don’t keep metric Allen screwdrivers. Uh, but if I want one, I can put one of the bits in here. Boom, I’m done.
Ergonomics and Durability
Some people hate on this handle. I actually love this. It does look a lot different. I kind of like the look of it to be fair, but more than just liking the look of it. It fits in my hand a lot better than other multi-drivers. You can see it’s actually like shaped to fit your hand. It’s got these little grooves in here and it does stick out quite a bit in the middle and then it gets thinner towards the top. This is one of my favorite fitting screwdrivers.
I use the Weras all day every day. Their dedicated drivers are my favorite. That’s what I use on the daily and they’re not on this list cuz they’re really inexpensive, but I love the quality of them. Wera makes some great tools. You’ll see plenty of that on this list. And this is very durable. Uh I’ve had this one for 5 years and I’ve had no issues with it. The other brands that make these uh honestly they tend to break. I’ve seen just so much wear and tear, especially from like the Kleins and different places like that.
The Milwaukee especially, I had one break on a website one time, which is absolutely in like a new screwdriver and the bit carousel broke on it. But you don’t have to worry about that with these. These are a lot more durable. The green is a softer rubber and the black is a hard plastic, so it gives you a lot of texture. Um, and then I don’t think I showed the button here, but you just press this to release the bit carousel and then it snaps shut. And the mechanism on that has been fantastic. Like I said, I’ve had this one for like five years and it has been amazing.
And if I press this green part down, this comes out. And now this can go in my impact as a bit holder or this can just take regular 1/4-inch bits. So that’s especially useful when you have this case. This is the SC45. I did change out the back panel here. It does not come with this back panel. Uh I changed it out so that it could have house-like bits. Uh and it’s been really fantastic for holding all of these. The back side here doesn’t have a ton of storage. But you can see I put my longer bits in this side and then I actually kind of organized them in the middle with this.
Tool Organization and the Veto SC45
And the thing that I like about the SC45 that I didn’t love about my Wera is the carrying methods. Now, we’ll go over the bits in this in just a second here so I can kind of show you guys how I rock it cuz like I said, this is obviously a very extensive like multi-driver set, but it it works for my multi-driver. It works for my impact really well. And it doesn’t just do okay. Like it is the best performing of any. Um, and you can choose which bits you like. So, if you like the Milwaukee or if you like the Klein, you can do that.

With the carrying methods, you saw at the beginning this little pouch in the front, which isn’t great for storing anything other than a notebook, unless you have Veto’s magnetic pouches, which I’m a huge fan of. Uh, also I’ve always kind of laughed at and made fun of people who use an impact or a drill holster, but this one right here is fantastic because it’s got this magnetic pouch on the back. So, I can put this in my belt and I can move it around.
So, if I’m in a lift and I don’t want it on the front or I don’t want it on the side, I can move it to the back. If I’m leaning up against something, it’s really easy to take on and off. It stays very stable. And the thing that I that I really like about it more than anything is that it gives me a few more options. Not only to have my impact there, but I can have my utility knife on the side and then typically a tape measure on the front. It just holds more tools and it helps me separate without wearing a complete belt.
I’m not a big belt guy. I’ve actually never worked with anybody who really wears a belt in my neck of the woods. BMathz. I do commercial and industrial service work. It’s a little bit different. It’s not always comfortable, especially when you’re climbing around machinery and different things like that to wear a big belt, especially when you’re working in environments that other people are working in, not just like construction, but it’s it’s like an office space still and it’s being occupied and used. And like I said, I I’ve always kind of laughed at the drill holsters and drill pouches and stuff, but I have started using this magnetic one, and I’m a I’m a fan.
Versatile Carry and Transport
All right, so the front of the SC45 is absolutely great for that. And then on the back, it’s got a wire belt clip, which is fantastic. not only for wearing on your belt, but also for wearing on a bag. So, when you’re when you’re going in, uh, this case and this multi-driver and my impact are expensive. I have different bags for different tasks. Okay? Sometimes I go in, it’s a small service call. I’m not bringing my big tech back in. If I’m going in to do a machine move, I’m bringing my tech back in with everything I have. That way, I don’t have to go find specific tools. It’s decked out. It’s loaded out.
But, I don’t want to carry that heavy bag in if I’m not going to be doing a bunch of heavy work. So, this is the best way that I’ve found to keep that separate and that way I don’t have to have like two end packs. That would be ridiculous in two of these bit sets and cases. It would just be so much more expensive. So, this one is very easy to sit on the outside of a bag with this belt clip or with the carabiner here. And it just makes it really easy to transport and to carry.
If I’m going to, like I said, if I’m going to do something for somebody else, it’s really easy to just grab this whole pack and to walk out the door. I don’t have to carry a massive bag, especially if I’m just like putting together some furniture or something. This is really easy to just grab and be like, I’ve got everything in an impact. I’ve got everything in a screwdriver. I don’t really need anything else. The carabiner system on this is also cool. It does come off if you don’t want it on there. There’s a little uh loop down here that that it will pop off. And then right here, this obviously just pops on. And it’s got a nice wide opening there, so you can pretty much put this on anything, which I like.
Essential Bits and Taps
And then on the inside here, as far as bits go, I’ve got a couple different double-sided bits from Klein up here that I like. I love the fit of Klein bits. I feel like their Prolex bits with the orange are some of the best. I’m not a bit expert. I’m not going to say everybody needs to switch over to the Klein Prolex bits. I just like the way they fit in screws a lot better than the other bits that I’ve used so far. That being said, the black bits that they have that are all black that are impact rated do typically tend to break under pressure, especially under heavy use. So, I do I do actually like their Prolex bits.
Now, on the lower side here, I keep some longer bits. I’ve got a bit holder here that is just for everything and anything. Uh, it’s magnetic. It’s the typical standard 1/4-inch bit holder. Then to the side of that, I keep a longer number two Phillips, longer number two square. And then these end two are going to be your 632 and 832 drill and taps. And that way if any of the threads get messed up on my devices, I can redo them and uh rethread through or if there’s any type of issue there, I have no problem just throwing those through there and they’re fine.
Especially when you do service work, uh you’re working on something that’s been a box that’s been, you know, redone five times. It just stuff happens. I It’s the worst thing in the world when you strip out a device screw or something like that. So, being able to retap those or if they get something in them, just being able to clear out the threads with the drill and tap, I’m a big fan of that. I like that a lot. And it keeps this wall really clean and closed. This does come out for those of you who have never seen this. They have a bunch of different options. So, if you’re looking to make this more less of a bit pouch and more of an everyday carry or or whatever it is, you’re able to do that. They have a bulk storage panel. They have everything.
Customizable Pouch Configuration
And then I’ve got these folded over right now. But if we pull these open, it does change the usage of this significantly. I’ve got it set so that when it opens, it opens all the way. But if you were just hanging this on your belt here and you wanted it not to open, when you open it like this, you can see that it pulls away and it it holds right there. Pretty easy to still open. It’s not difficult at all. But for me, when I’m opening this, I want to be able to get to all my bits. most of the time. Uh, and so for right now, at least it’s set right here, especially for showing you guys because that’s it’s kind of the only way.
Now, on this side, I’ve got my multi-driver. Obviously, this back here is a material that is like anti-scratch. So, if you want to keep your phone or something in there, it’s totally possible. Um, I’ve got the Klein impact rated multi-driver piece here. The only reason that I I really like to use this is because of the Phillips and the flathead being on the same side. So, if I’m doing something constantly that requires that, I’ll use this. Uh, the front, the bit in the front is just a quarter-inch bit holder, and it’s got one of their number TWs in there. This is one of those all black bits from Klein that I was talking about, but I don’t typically use this in my impact, especially not when I have this kit. It doesn’t make sense to, so that’s not been an issue, and I haven’t changed it out yet.
But on the flip side of this, you have the a flathead and a Phillips. And I just like that it’s a double-sided flip bit. And then this also has a smaller flathead on it too. Uh which is just nice to have that versatility. And then on top of that, if I have this in my driver, which this is one of my favorite parts about this driver is that if I want to change this number two Phillips out, pull this out and then from there change it into one of these bits. Uh and so I actually have storage in this so that it’s not just floating around. So, if I need, let’s just say, uh, number one Phillips, I can put this bit in here, put this bit back away. It hides away and there’s no issues whatsoever. And now I’ve got this in a setup where I’ve got a number one Phillips and a flathead on the other side.
The other side’s proprietary, so you’re not going to be able to change out the portion uh, that is a flathead to anything else. I wish you could. That would be awesome, but they haven’t quite done that yet. This is one of my favorite setups. Uh, it’s just it makes it super easy. I could change out this number two, but honestly, I just don’t love to use this configuration in my impact anyway. So, it makes it a little bit easier. And if I want to extend this, I can. Or if I want to have it down, I can. Or if I wanted to just take this out completely, put this in here. It does fit in here just this way as well. If you don’t want the extra bulk on there or the as many connections, you can do that.
Klein Flip Sockets and Nut Drivers
Then I have this multi-driver here. I don’t actually have the larger set with they have one more. Um, but you can see I have the longer shaft on here. These are Klein’s flip sockets. This gives me quarter inch, 5/16, 3/8, 7/16, 1/2 inch, and 9/16. They’re all color-coded. They all come off the back and flip around. They are magnetic, so all of these are going to be magnetized, so you’ll be able to hold your nut or your bolt in place with this, which is something that I’m a big fan of. And I like the longer version. It just gives you a little bit more space. Um, and they sell them in packs, so you can get the smallest, medium, I think it’s a pack of four. Uh, but they do sell these individually.
And then I have two individual nut drivers as well. This is a 7/16. And then I have the 9/16 as well. This double stripe here from Klein means that it’s hollow shafted. The 7/16 is for your 1/4-inch all thread. It’s going to be a 7/16 nut. And then the uh 9/16 is going to be for your 3/8. I keep those sizes specifically cuz it’s what we use a lot. Um, I have the whole set, but it doesn’t make sense to fill this whole thing up when I could have the flip sockets that don’t take up as much space. They work pretty well, and it would just be doubling up at that point. So, all of the rest of those I don’t really use on any type of thing where I need a pass-through nut driver.
Testing Racketeer Bits
Um, and then this one here is a newer one. I’ve been trying out these Racketeer bits, and I like this one a lot so far. There is color coding on this, which is going to wear off a little bit over time. Uh, but the bits fit really well. And the thing I like about this is that it’s a number two Phillips and a number two square on this side, which is something that is like you use those bits together a lot. Those are two frequently used bits. It’s not like your number two Phillips and your number one Phillips, which is what a lot of people do.
And that doesn’t make any sense cuz if I’m using my number one Phillips, it’s not going to be super frequently. It’s just on small devices or small uh pieces of equipment that I’m going to use every now and then. And then for the most part, everything’s going to be a number two Phillips, number two square. They come in pretty cool sets, too. Uh, like I said, I’m I’m testing these out right now. Um, but so far, these bits from Racketeer have been fantastic and it’s nice and long as well. It’s like a 6-inch bit, I think. Uh, so it’s a pretty good size bit, and it’s perfect for a kit like this where I don’t want to carry 500 bits, but I want to have different lengths. I want to be able to use them uh with my impact and with my driver. So, that’s a big portion of this as well.
Power Tools: Why I Choose Milwaukee M12 Fuel
So, number two is going to be the SC45. I know there was a lot in that, but this is the way that I prefer to carry my multi-drivers decked out so that I can make pretty much any bit or any driver I want to in the in the in a screwdriver form or in my impact, which this is going to be number three. And we’re not going to overkill this one, but for your impacts, for your power tools, fuel is the way to go. I love Milwaukee. Use whatever your company uses. If it’s DeWalt, use DeWalt. If it’s Makita, use Makita. So on so forth.
Milwaukee is the goat in my opinion. I’ve started with their stuff. I’ve loved it. It’s been fantastic. The M12 Fuel impact is just it’s my baby. All right. I had the old version. I still have it. I still use it. This one here, uh, has a lot less wear on it, but this thing is is too powerful. Uh, especially for an M12. I cannot tell you the last time I got my M18 out. I just don’t need that much power for I mean like anything I do uh with the old version I would get out for like longer lag bolts, different things like that. If it were going into some deep wood, but honestly pretty much everything I do, this is going to do it. It’s going to do it well. Uh and I can use it as a screwdriver. I can use it in whatever form.
So it’s got these four settings on it. Uh so it’s got the self-drilling setting for uh selftappers and then one, two, and three. Three is like honestly I don’t use three most of the time because of how powerful it is. A lot of the time this sits on two because I don’t want to strip stuff out. I’m just using this as a as a screwdriver basically uh when I don’t want to waste a bunch of time screwing in threads.
The Wera Tool-Check PLUS
At number four, we have the Wera bit check or the tool check. This is where I started. I started at with the uh bit check here, which basically this props open. You have all these different bits and it gives you just a bunch of different options. And then there’s a bit holder here just like the Wera in my other multi-driver. I’ve recently updated it to the tool check. Uh this is the imperial. And there’s a couple things that I love about this and a couple things that I don’t love about this. It’s worth it.
This sits in my bag mostly for the simple fact of all of these bits that I just don’t run into super often, but especially working on machines, you run into just weird stuff that’s not typical for what we run into here in America. This basically gives me all of my security torques, torques, allens, uh, Phillips, everything that you need, squares. I like to have this. It’s just very useful. And then it also comes with these quarter-inch drive sockets, which I really like. They’re all labeled here, which is fantastic. They’re all color-coded. They fit really well.
This one here is like a gem. Everybody who has this loves it. It’s very compact kit. It’s very small, very thin. It does come with a driver, which is this here. So, if we pull this up, this pops out and it holds bits. Not a fan of this, though. Uh, it just doesn’t give you enough torque. And the only time that I ever do use this is if I’m trying to limit myself. If I’m worried about stripping something out, it’s the only time that I’ll actually use this. But for the most part with this kit though, you really, in my opinion, to use it and to use it well, you you really need a bit holder for this, like some sort of uh actual like full-sized bit holder.
The Ultimate Stubby Ratchet
The other thing it comes with on top, you can see this little thing slides over. This is one of my favorites. I actually use this all the time. However, the same thing though, like if I’m using these sockets, I want a larger ratchet. This ratchet here is great for one thing and one thing only, and that is for basically using it as a stubby. First of all, it takes quarter-inch bits. I don’t have to worry about having a stubby for every style of driver that I could ever imagine. I’ve got them all right here, and it’s one handle.
So, we’ll just say I need a T10 security bit. I pull it out, put this in here, and now I have this much clearance that I need for this bit. This is a lot thinner than a stubby. The clearance on this is significantly less. It ratchets, which is great. And I can get more torque on this. Uh, so if there’s limited space, I don’t have to worry about cramming my hand in here and trying to figure it all out. I actually can just pull on this. It just gives you a lot more leverage than what normal bits do. It is reversible. It’s super high quality. I actually have another one of these floating around somewhere uh just for the sake of having this.
I’ve been using this style of like stubby or driver for quite a while now. This one actually does get used a lot, especially for like strut straps, different things like that. It’s so thin and it fits in so well and you can actually get leverage on it. And it just slides into the handle here. Um, and then the same thing with the bit holder up top. This one here is going to be the same exact style. It’s just a little bit shorter than the one on your multi-driver, but same locking mechanism, magnets. You’re not going to lose your bit.
The alternative is the uh bit check here, which I actually might get another version of this and go with it. This one here is all my metric stuff uh that I really don’t run into super often that that works really well on the machinery. So like that way if I run into a posidriv, it keeps all the security torques. It’s got the metric allens which I like. Uh cuz again I don’t typically run into metric allens. But when I do, if I have this, I’m good. One of these stays in my bag at all times for little random screws that I don’t think of. Again, security torques. They come in a bunch of different styles and sizes, different bit configurations. They have crazy nice bits. You can get a very expensive version of this. You can get a very cheap version of this, but it will last you. Uh, it’s a cool little case and more than anything, it’s compact and it fits really well pretty much in anything. And you know, you’re going to have every style of bit that you need if you get the right one for you.
Klein Connect System: The Pass-Through King
And our last of the cases, I couldn’t talk about this without going into the Klein Connect system. This one here is going to be my favorite kit. The only thing with this one is that it does not fit in strut. However, it gives you so many different options. So, it’s got metric up top in this row here. All of these are metric. And then on this bottom row here, this is going to be your standard, your SAE. Goes all the way down to 1/4 in, which is a bit holder.
This one is not pass-through. But the rest of these are going to be pass-through, which is huge. That means that you can run these up onto threads any size, including metric. It also comes with a 3/8 square. So, you can put this in your ratchet, and you’re able to use regular 3/8 sockets on this. Now, the part that I like about this the most isn’t the pass-through ratchet. It’s that it gives you these pass-through sockets in the form of a ratchet or in the form of a nut driver. So, that means I have pass-through metric and standard sockets and nut drivers.
So, we’ll go ahead and throw the extension on here because honestly, it just looks so funny and uh this is typically how I use it. So, we’ll just say we want our pass-through 9/16 nut driver here. So, if we go ahead and smack this on here, it’s now a pass-through complete pass-through for a 9/16 or for any of these sizes that you need.
Impact-Rated Performance
And my favorite part, definitely my favorite part is that these are also impact-rated and they have an adapter. So now I have up to three inches of thread that I can take and this impact adapter for standard and metric, pretty much every size. This is the complete kit. They have a million of them. This is my favorite. Uh they have a bunch with flip sockets too, uh deep well, all kinds of different things. Personally, I prefer my flip sockets to not be in the same case and that way it just doesn’t make sense to have it’s it seems like overkill. It puts a lot of size in there and and honestly, it seems very repetitive.
This is my favorite. It’s small enough that you can still fit this in places. It’s not overly massive. Definitely not small, but you get quite a bit in this case. And the case is pretty fantastic. It’s pretty robust. I did a drop test with these and it it made it like 12 ft. Um, and I dropped it on this front end before everything shattered. And if you’re dropping stuff that far, then get better. Honestly, I don’t know. The locking mechanisms on them are great. Um, they do keep everything in here stable, so none of this stuff is going to be falling out. It’s going to fit really well. This kit, I believe, is somewhere around $100, um, or north of that.






