The Home Depot “Prospective” Tool Round Up

As you all know, I have a deal with The Home Depot. They send me some tools each quarter, I check them out and review the ones that make sense for our community. Last quarter I gave away a bunch of the tools from the Prospective program. This quarter I will be giving away a few more tools. Due to timing of SEMA, and the end of the quarter the giveaway will be delayed. Listed below are all the tools included in Q3 Prospective, and some quick thoughts on each.

Disclaimer ~ This post is a paid partnership with The Home Depot. The tools were provided to Humble Mechanic at no charge. Links to products included in this post are affiliate links to The Home Depot. The information listed in product description is either my personal experience, or information provided by tool manufatorer or The Home Depot

The Tools:

Husky LED Lights
First up we have a selection of Husky LED lights. If you have been around the community a while, you know I love lighting solutions. These three Husky lights are a great value. The puck light and the clip light retail for $9.97. The headlamp comes in at $14.97. Now I am not the biggest fan of headlamps for automotive use, but I do use them around the house. I also didn’t like working next to the guy that used the headlamp. Every time he’d look my way I got a face full of light. For the price point, and the fact they come with batteries makes these a good buy.

~ Husky Headlamp
~ Husky Puck Light 
~ Husky Clip Light

Makita 18v SubCompact 3/8″ Impact (giveaway soon)
This is a tool I was excited to test out. One of the first tools I ever reviewed for Humble Mechanic was my Makita drill and impact set. This impact retails for $159.00 for the bare tool. The compact design is very appealing. I will say with a max output of 130 lb. ft. of torque, I really expected more. If you already own tools on this battery platform, it may be a good addition to the toolbox. To me, I think buying a tool with the 1/4″ hex is a better buy. It is more universal that being locked into a 3/8″ drive.

~ Makita 18v SubCompact Impact 
~ Makita 4.0ah Battery and Charger 

Milwaukee M18 Fuel 18v Drill/Impact Set (Giveaway soon)
I truly believe that Milwaukee is the one power tool brand that focuses the most on automotive. Between the electric ratchets, hood lights, 1/2″ mid-torque impacts and more, they are crushing it. This drill and impact driver doesn’t disappoint. I have also said several times, the impact driver was my most used tool in the toolbox. I did a full in-depth review on this set ~ Milwaukee M18 Drill and Impact Driver Combo

~ Milwaukee M18 Drill and Impact Driver Combo

Ridgid MEGAmax Brushless 18v Power System
The MEGAmax system is pretty cool. It’s is a power base with interchangeable accessories. My kit came with a really awesome reciprocating saw, a 1/2″ right angle drill, and a 6ah batter with charger. Now I don’t really feel like I am properly qualified to do a review on this product. I can tell you I used the reciprocating saw a lot and it is awesome! The right angle drill worked properly, but didn’t have a tight fit on the base. Also the key for the chuck didn’t stay in the holder. If you are doing rough in work, this may not be an issue. The battery charger has USB ports on it. I really love that feature. One less thing to plug in, I like that

~ Power Base
~ Reciprocating Saw
~ Right Angle Drill
~ Battery

Ryobi ONE+ 18v Bolt Cutters
As an automotive technician, this is not the tool you really want to have to use. As a homeowner, it’s great. Also as someone how like to test out tools that do cool things, I love it. I used it to redo the closet in my office with adjustable wire shelving. That sure beat digging out my old reciprocating saw and dull blades. I also used it to make some guide pins for holding the core support when putting a VW in service position. I am also proud that I haven’t cut thousands of things in half with it.

~ Ryobi ONE+ 18v Bolt Cutters
~ Ryobi ONE+ Battery 

BLAZE 165 ft. Laser Distance Measurer with Bluetooth and Full Color Display
This laser measuring tool is one of those things that I will use a lot, but never use all the really awesome features it has. Not only does it measure, and function as a level, but you can pair it to your phone and use it to calculate area and volume. This type of tool does have an automotive application. We used one to make measurements on cars when doing driver assist alignments. I really gave this little guy a workout when rearranging my office, and the shop.

~ BLAZE 165 ft. Laser Distance Measurer with Bluetooth and Full Color Display

Daredevil High Carbon Steel Standard Spade Bit Set (12-Piece)
With each of these tools, I actively look for ways that they can be adapted to the automotive field. Wood drill bits are one that I couldn’t come up with one. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun testing them out. These bits did a great job biting into the wood, and drilling a nice clean hole. Bits like this are typically used during construction to run wiring or conduit. They also make for really neat slow-motion videos.

~ Daredevil High Carbon Steel Standard Spade Bit Set (12-Piece)

10-Compartment Deep Pro Small/Deep Parts Organizer
Parts organizers are not new technology. But staying organized as a mechanic is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle. These organizers level up a little because they lock together. This allows to you stack multiple cases together. This type of portable storage is not used a ton in the shop setting. This is more of a mobile thing. Think about plumbers, electricians, mobile techs as the main users of this storage.

I like these organizers from Dewalt. The one thing I would like to change is the ability to latch them together and still be able to have them stand up. The small organizer latches to the larger one in the middle. This prevents the assembly from standing up.

~ 10-Compartment Deep Pro Deep Parts Organizer
~ 10-Compartment Deep Pro Small Parts Organizer

Dewalt 20-Volt MAX Lithium-Ion 21-Degree Cordless Framing Nailer
Like the wood drill bits, a framing nail gun is not the first thing that comes to mind when talking about fixing cars. And this is the first time I have ever used a framing nail gun. I do have a good amount of experience with doing trim work, and using a trim nail gun. I can’t really say if this is a great nail gun or not. But I do think is points to something the automotive industry is seeing. An extreme reduction in pneumatic tools. With battery technology being so good, and getting better all the time, battery tools are quickly replacing pneumatic. Yes the price point of this tool is more than a pneumatic tool. But think about not having to lug an air compressor around to use it. In a shop environment this is not as big of a concern. Other than a few small situations and a couple of tools, battery has become my go to.

~ Dewalt 20-Volt MAX Lithium-Ion 21-Degree Cordless Framing Nailer

Diablo Reciprocating Saw Blades
These saw blades paired up with the Ridgid reciprocating saw. The steel and the demo blades were used for taking a few stock type photos. And the delivered on what they promised. I did put the pruning blade to work for real. In spring we lost a tree due to late frost. My wife was nice enough not to give me a hard time about leaving it up. AKA, I just didn’t get around to it. But that allowed me to test drive this blade for actual pruning. As you might imagine it cut through the tree like a knife though butter

~ Demo Demon Blade
~ Pruning Blade
~ Steel Demon

Multi-Max 5 Amp Variable Speed Corded Oscillating Multi-Tool Kit with 28 Accessories
I have owned a good amount of Dremel brand tools over the years. I have also owned one of this type of tool before. It was when the first really hit the consumer market. I forget the brand, but I do remember that old tool being JUNK! You couldn’t use it for more than a minute before the body got so hot, you couldn’t hold it. This little guy on the other hand was great. Super easy to change the heads, plenty of options for accessories, and adjustable speed.

~ Multi-Max 5 Amp Variable Speed Corded Oscillating Multi-Tool Kit with 28 Accessories
~ Dremel Universal Wood, Metal, and Drywall kit 
~ Dremel Cutting Accessory kit for Wood, Metal, and Drywall kit 

Well that is a wrap. Lots of great tools this quarter. If you noticed I have (giveaway soon) next to a few tools. Once we are on the other side of SEMA, I will do a giveaway similar to the last round. Be sure to sign up for email updates for the tool giveaway. If you don’t already follow me on social, not is your chance. 🙂

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