Top Hand Tools Under 20 Dollars

Every contractor knows that the right tool is needed for the right job. What’s true on the job site is also true around the house. And while none of us would try to drive a screw with a hammer, having the right tool close at hand for those inevitable little home repairs, or those projects with “some assembly required” isn’t always so easy. You all know the “drill”, or should I say “Screwdriver”. You go digging through the drawers, the cabinets, you can’t find the right tool it seems just impossible. Then you finally find the screwdriver… and it’s a flat head and you needed the Phillips, you find the Phillips you need the flat head.

But I found a wonderful solution to this frustrating problem, for under twenty dollars. Its called the Autoloader from Franklin tools. It’s available at Home Depot, or on-line at Amazon and many other sites. I know what you’re saying; I’ve seen plenty of multi-bit screwdrivers before – but not like this one. Believe me this product simply and elegantly solves the problem of never having the right size screwdriver in the right place at the right time. Its’ patented design has the bits loaded right into the handle of the compact and easy to use tool. The bits can be changed literally with a snap. With the typical multi-bit screwdrivers that have appeared in the marketplace over the years you had to manually pull the bits out, interchange them, and I can tell you from experience with that – you never seem to have the right bit for the job, they get lost, they don’t get replaced back in the handle. Not with the Autoloader, all the bits are right there, its unique “revolver-like” action allows you to clearly see the bit you want, snap it place and even operate the driver with one hand. And the tips are also magnetized, and we all know how handy that can be.

I recently used it while hanging a ceiling fan, and if you have over tried to tackle this little home project you know that there are several different size screws required. Being up on ladder and able to multiple switch tips was great. This is also a real tool, unlike other multi-bit drivers you may have used this is and extremely rugged tool that is equally at home in a kitchen drawer as in professionals tools box. The Franklin tool company has been developing innovative hand tools for the automotive and the hardware sector for over 20 years and that experience is certainly reflected in the Autoloader.

It’s so small and at such a nice price point, I keep one in the kitchen drawer, in my toolbox, and one in the glove compartment. For the car, its great, you are never without the right size driver for just about any screw in a vehicle. Even with at a bit loaded it’s still a quarter inch nut driver, which I find very convenient. It comes loaded with the six most commonly used magnetized bits, but it can also be custom reloaded with any ¼ inch bits of your choice. The companies website offers a 31 piece multiple bit and driver set.

Even my wife likes to use this tool, and she really likes the idea that I’ve number one, cleaned up the “junk drawer” quite a bit with this one screwdriver, and two I don’t have to keep asking her “honey have you seen my Philips head?”

The Autoloader is definitely one of the best hand tools you can buy for under twenty dollars. In fact it probably is the only screwdriver you will ever have to buy. Look, we all know that home repairs and do-it-yourself projects can sometimes be a little maddening, but with the Franklin Autoloader, you’ll always have the right tool on hand for the right job. As long as you can remember where you put it. (But that’s why I bought three, and at this price you can!)