We have been in big need of some DIY 2×4 shelving. We got into the bad habit of the old “dump and forget”. You know the drill… “Where should we put this? I don’t know, put it in the basement.”.

Get the plans

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“Putting stuff in the basement” is especially bad when it comes to my tools, parts, nails, screws, accessories, and all that. Mostly because they’re getting splayed out all over the floor. That means each trip to the basement is like walking through an obstacle course trying to find supplies to do a project. Which REALLY sucks when you’re trying to navigate the obstacle course carrying a pancake compressor, nail gun, and shop vac. Trip to the ER, anyone?

DIY 2×4 shelving to the rescue.

My first step in organizing is always getting everything up off the floor and onto shelves. The shelves might get cluttered, at least it’s all up off the floor and things can begin to find their place, and get categorized.

Can’t you just BUY shelves? YES, and I already did, I wrote a post about heavy duty shelving units in another organizing post. It’s way more cost-effective to make your own. A 48”x24”x72” unit could run about $80 whereas the lumber to build something TWICE that big is about the same (and takes about the same amount of time to assemble).

What you need:

• 13 8-foot 2x4s (I get 14 or 15 in case something goes awry)
• 2 4×8 sheets of 23/32 OSB subfloor (because it’s cheap, but you can use plywood, or any scrap stuff you might have around)
• Big box of 3-inch long screws (preferably NOT drywall screws, but they’ll prob be ok and cost a bit less)
• Saw (something that will cut 2x4s and OSB)

Instructions

Step 1: Measure and cut

OSB: Cut your 2 sheets of OSB in half lengthwise so you end up with 4- 2×8 shelves. Even though I felt like a wuss I had the store guy cut the OSB underlayment for several reasons.

1. I can slide it right into the back of my jeep instead of strapping full sheets onto the roof.
2. It’s easier to manage carrying half sheets into the basement.
3. Less sawdust mess in the basement.

2x4s: Corner posts: Cut four 2x4s down to 6-feet.
End Pieces: Cut one 2×4 into four 21-inch pieces. Use the four 2-foot pieces from the corner post cuts to make the other 4 21-inch end pieces.

Now you’ll have 8 full 2x4s, 4 6-foot 2x4s, and 8 21-inch 2x4s.

Step 2: Pre-drill and pre-screw

I made a drilling template to idiot-proof my drilling. I made one for the end pieces and one for attaching the long 2x4s to the end pieces to make the skeleton. Now I can drill and screw without thinking. As for pre-screwing, I got all my screws ready to go on the workbench so I could slap the boards into place and screw away.

Step 3: Assemble

Since I got everything ready to go ahead of time, assembly is easy. Lay your 4 corner posts on the ground together and mark where the bottom of your 2×4 shelf supports will fit across all 4. I used scrap 2x4s (see right) to layout my sample shelf heights and marked from those, but you can use tape measures and all that if you have exact heights in mind.

Attach your end brackets to the corner posts. Remember, they need to be 21-inches so when your side brackets go on the total width will be 24-inches to fit your shelves.

Tricky part. FIRST, decide whether your end brackets will be toward the inside of the shelves or toward the outside of the shelves. If they are INSIDE you’ll eventually have to cut a couple of inches off the OSB shelf pieces to slide in (makes it a LITTLE easier to assemble). If you put them on the OUTSIDE (like I did) you’ll have to notch the OSB shelves to fit in.

Stand your end pieces on their side about 8-feet apart and put what will be your top shelf support across the end pieces so you can get them the right distance apart. Now put your bottom shelf support across to get the bottom about the right distance apart. Attach the top and bottom side supports and then do the middle two. It’ll square itself up or be pretty close so don’t sweat it.

After measuring and notching your OSB you’ll need a partner, geometry, and blood, sweat, and tears to get the shelves in but THEY WILL GO. To make it a little easier make sure to cut your notches a little larger than needed to give you some leeway when putting the shelves in. To make it even easier cut the shelves in half and put them in left and right, you know? If you cut them in half you may want to add a support under the splice, but you’ll have to judge that if there’s a lot of sag.

Step 4: Marvel at your handiness

After picking out all the splinters you’ll get from handling OSB without gloves on you’ll be very pleased with yourself. Call your significant other to the basement and say, “Hon, look what I built”. You’ll expect it to be like a Lowe’s commercial where you stand back, cross your arms and admire your work together. Instead, they’ll say, “Yeah, I know, I was just down here 5 minutes ago helping you wrestle those stupid shelves into place that you notched out instead of just letting them slide in like they mentioned being the easier way under step 3.” It’s OK though, we’re proud of you.

Finish off your shelves with some glitter, hot glue, and jewels. Now stencil an inspirational saying like “LOVE LIKE YOU’VE NEVER BEEN HURT” somewhere and you’ll be done. Just kidding, please don’t do any of that.

Downloadable Plans

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Here’s the final shelf with MY measurements. Remember, you can do what you want.

Well, not really a secret, but more like a discovery.

I found this room in my house.

It was kinda like stumbling upon the lost city of Atlantis.

A dirty, smelly Atlantis where there is an abundance of lonely unmatched socks.

Yes, under piles of clothes, empty detergent jugs, mop buckets and plastic grocery bags, I found my laundry room.

After being home for five weeks now, I realized the only thing I can count on every day is laundry.

It NEVER ends.

And I dramatized the intro of this post to hopefully suck you into something very simple that helped me out. But first I’ll complain some more.

We have six laundry baskets. But one hamper. How does that work?

I have to do, at least, one load per day. One in the wash. One in the dryer. Miss one load and you are screwed.

Clothes in the dryer stay there until the next day. Period. The humidity here in Florida will take out the wrinkles by the time you get to your car in the driveway.

I don’t mind washing them. Don’t mind folding them. Even the clothes for the little one that are really too small to really fold.

And those bottom sheets with the elastic on them. Nah, those don’t get folded. You can’t physically fold them. They just get rolled around like a maiden rolls up spun yarn until the sheet is about the right size to stack in with properly-folded linens.

Oh, anyway. I hate putting the clothes away.

There’s the answer to why we have some many laundry baskets. Cause there are five baskets sitting around with folded clothes in them that you start pilfering from on a daily basis until you are no better off than having the pile of dirty clothes in Atlan…uhhh, my laundry room.

So here’s the simple thing that I mentioned earlier.

I put the kids to work. They put THEIR clothes away from now on.

“Marty, that’s nothing new…” or “You should have been doing that all along…” you say?

Yeah, you’re right, but they always screwed up the drawers and stuff would go missing. Like the socks in Atlantis.

So I made some clothes drawer labels for their dressers and even closet doors. That’s all.

If you want to try it yourself, rip off some clip art from the web, or have your kids color up some awesome labels. Laminate them and use some removable double-sided tape to attach them.

And if you are lazy enough to leave clothes sitting around in five laundry baskets, then you could just download the printable clothes drawer labels I made by clicking that giant graphic below.

The labels are free but if you wouldn’t mind making a donation to the site we’d really appreciate it:

Help support the site by choosing an amount below.

I’ll buy both of you a beer (no tip) $10.00 USD I’ll buy one of you a beer $5.00 USD You guys can split a coffee $3.00 USD I’m very cheap $1.00 USD

Or just download without donating. Our kids love eating crumbs when we work for free.

PS. We realize that people around the world call clothes by different names so we welcome requests and input from our friends across the sea. If someone wants to give us all the names for your neck of the woods we can get these things made by country.

You know what a boot jack is, right?

It’s a thing that you step on with one foot and pull your other boot off. Boot jacks are awesome and it will change your life. You think you don’t need one but you do.

A boot jack in the simplest form would be a piece of wood that you could just cut a V into the end.

Because I have a scroll saw I opted to be a little more fancy and do a heel-shaped cut instead of a straight V cut. I put a boot on the wood and traced it, I cut a little inside the line to accommodate for a little smaller boots for the rest of the family.

Usually there’s a smaller piece of wood under it so they angle upward and let you get your boot heel into the notch. SO I found some other scrap wide enough to screw into without cracking for the bottom piece. I cleaned it up, pre-drilled, countersunk, glued it, and screwed it.

That’s it. Nothing fancy. Nothing too hard. Just a quick project to save some cash and relieve some soggy sock frustration.

No one in the house has used it except for me. So I guess I was the only person who saw the need for it, but trust me, when then use it they’ll see the light.

The myQ® Smart Garage Hub is an awesome addition to my technology arsenal, and I was able to check off one more item in my house that I can control with my phone.

Also, now I don’t have to get out of my warm snuggly bed to see if I remembered to close the garage when I locked up for the night.

Installation

Before you can connect a MyQ Smart Garage Hub to your home network, you’ll need:

• A compatible garage door opener (List of compatible garage door openers for MyQ Garage and MyQ Smart Garage Hub)
• A smart phone or tablet
• 2.4 home Wi-Fi network
• A strong Wi-Fi signal in the garage
• Your Wi-Fi network name and the password

Install was simple and took about 15 minutes. No joke. There’s really not anything to show. What am I going to show? Me standing on a ladder with a screw gun? You know what mounting a bracket looks like. You know what plugging something into an electrical outlet looks like. That’s really it.

All you need to do is:

• Put a sensor on your garage door
• Mount the Wi-Fi hub on the ceiling near your garage door unit (make sure you have at least 2 bars of signal)
• Download/install the app on your mobile device
• Follow the instructions in the app to sync the hub to your unit
• Full instructions here

Compatability

The myQ® Smart Garage Hub works with most home integration products. Click for a full list.

Thoughts

Let me recap. It works well. I found the physical installation to be easy and straight-forward. If we’re being nit-picky I’d say that linking the app to the hub was only a tiny bit cumbersome. Instead of like 2 taps on my screen it was like 4 taps. Make sure you follow the instructions and don’t just go all “I don’t need instructions to connect the app” like I did.

BUY IT: myQ® Smart Garage Hub.

If you have any questions leave them in the comments and we’ll answer them or point you to a person who can.

Logan at Fuse Reels contacted us and asked if he could send us his Fuse Reel Side Winder to try out. He said if we liked it maybe we could post about it. I don’t like it. I LOVE IT!!! Yes, I got a free one but that’s not clouding my judgement. They’re only like $30 bucks and I would’ve bought one anyway because honestly I can’t imagine why I didn’t invent this. I’m actually a little jealous and mad at Logan for being smarter and more handsome than me.

I’m going to be blunt. If you have an Apple MacBook you need this product. Seriously, just skip reading the post and go buy one now.

What is the Fuse Reel Side Winder MacBook Charger Cable Holder?

You don’t know what you’re looking at? You snap that case around your MacBook charger and you wind your cord into it. I can’t tell you how many battles I’ve had with my charge cord. You know what I mean, you have to wrestle it into your laptop bag and it twists and turns and takes up all the space. With the Fuse Reel Side Winder you just wind it up and boom, it’s handled. Now I don’t hate my MacBook charger anymore. But I do hate that people are so dumb that you have to tell them “Charger Not Included”.

Check this out, this is mine inside my actual computer bag. I mean, COME ON! Look at that!

To unwind it you just grab each end of the cord and pull. You know what else? You can stop at ANY LENGTH. You don’t need all 8 feet of cord dangling all over the place. If you’re 2 feet from a plug you just pull each end until it’s long enough and that’s it. Insane.

It also protects from the dreaded rubber fraying thing that happens near the charging block.

I’ve gone through charging cords like crazy and you might too. You know how they get all frayed and the rubber coating peels off and you have to buy a new cable for like $80. That’s from all the twisting and pulling and wrapping up your cord. I’m pretty sure this will protect them from fraying because the Side Winder locks those things in place so they’re not gyrating all around.

Check it… this is how you insert the charging block and also you can see how it locks the ends in so they don’t get all frayed:

YO, APPLE! PAY ATTENTION!

I don’t know, man. Apple should buy up this company and include this with every laptop. Or just incorporate it into the cord. And then Logan should give me a little chunk of cash when Apple buys the company. I don’t need a billion dollars, just enough so that I don’t have to work and can afford healthcare for the family. Is that too much to ask?

I really don’t know what else to say about it. I could go on and on. My life is changed. I’m not sensationalizing at all. I freaking LOVE this thing.

Learn more and buy at fusereel.com

Now if they would just do something about this:

The TLDR version of the post is… The Nikko R/C Turbo Panther 60th Anniversary Edition is good for kids. It’s easy to drive, even for my 4-year-old.

The NVLSIDRTBP* version is that this is a pretty decent little car for kids to mess with.

All the way back when Marty and I were kids, we were obsessed with remote control cars. Hell, I still am, but I feel a little foolish standing around in the backyard driving a tiny car when I’m annoyed every time I have to go drive a REAL car somewhere.

In the box is a remote, the car and some batteries. The remote takes 3 AAA batteries, but the car itself is rechargeable with an integrated USB cable that is stored under the vehicle. (see below image). There are 3 little clasps you spin/flip and the usb cord unfurls for all of your charging glory (for 90 minutes).

The car itself is pretty cool looking. The suspension is springy but tight and the huge bumpers should keep the front protected when you kid drives it straight into the house at top speed. There’s a huge spoiler on the back which looks pretty cool. The kids wish we had a spoiler like that on our car but I told them I’m not a 16-year-old with a slammed Toyota Corolla.

The paperwork says the Turbo Panther has the ability to reach top speeds of 15km/hr (about 9mph for you Americans) and allows you to race up to 10 friends (who has 10 friends? not me, that’s for sure).

I think the top speed means when you’re pushing the TURBO BUTTON!!! Which is the coolest feature on the remote. I wish it was always in “turbo mode” because I just push it the whole time I’m driving the thing because I want MORE SPEEEEEED.

Reading about a remote control car is all fine and dandy, but you want ACTION, you want PROOF, you want VIDEO!

The Nikko R/C Turbo Panther 60th Anniversary Edition isn’t available in stores yet so I’ll update the post when it is. Most of their cars go for around $60 but not sure of the price on this one yet.

Would you rock this car?

*Not very long so I did read the blog post

Here are our choices, all better than a tie, ranked from affordable and practical to “YOU WANT ME TO SPEND HOW MUCH ON WHAT?”

SCOSCHE MagicMount Universal Magnetic Phone/GPS Mount in Frustration Free Packaging

Call me late to the game. Call me Cramden. Call me, call me any, anytime. Call me.

Yes, call me a late-adopter that watched the Honeymooners with Blondie on in the background.

I use to rag on those people who needed their phone prominently displayed on those suction-cupped-thingies, clinging to the windshield, awaiting whatever status update they can’t live without. And you could see where they stuck it to the windshield like eight times cause they’d turn the corner and it would go flying off the glass like an $800 brick bouncing around the interior of their car.

But now I became one of them.

Well, not the status update thing. Or the bouncy-brick thing. But the mount-my-phone-in-the-car thing.

The MagicMount from Scosche (pronounced “sko-shh”) was the only mount that checked a bunch of boxes for me:

• The mount not flying off when I make a turn
• Actually holds the phone
• Ease of attaching phone to holder
• Holding up to the heat in Florida
• Outlasting one model of phone

And, at $13, you can get one for each car, or your desk or whatever.

About $13

Nixon Time Teller Watch

Dad will love this watch. And since you probably can’t buy him a car, this is a close second to a 1983 Porsche 911 Targa or a Delorean. I have the stainless steel band, but it’s also available in a variety of colorful leather or canvas bands. He might wear it every day, he might save it for special date nights with mom. It’s a hefty, shiny, great piece of dad-jewelry. And unless you’ve recently seen dad sitting on the couch with a bag of frozen peas in his lap that date night with mom might lead to another little brother or sister.

Around $99 and comes in a bunch of colors/configurations or even customizable.

Duluth Trading Company Fire Hose Work Pants

Does your Dad work out in the yard A LOT? He probably goes through pairs of jeans like crazy. He’s kneeling, stretching, lifting things, being manly. That’s why Fire Hose Work Pants are a great gift.

He’s not in the back yard for a fashion show, and if he is he’s probably hiring someone to come get that stump out instead of getting out his reciprocating saw and shovel and tacking care of business himself.

Trust us, they’re awesome, but here are some feature you probably don’t care about:

• Made of Fire Hose cotton canvas – the fabric that once wrapped fire hoses
• FendOff fabric treatment repels stains and water
• Comfortable Crouch Gusset® lets you bend and crouch
• Mid-leg and back pockets with exclusive tuckable capability
• Deep 8-oz. Fire Hose pocket bags resist punctures from tools

He’s sick of ties and if you don’t want to get him work pants, Duluth has a lot of ideas for you, even underpants, which is always a funny gift.

18-Volt ONE+ 18-Gauge Cordless Brad Nailer

There’s nothing like the right tool for the job. Or inspiration for the job. You know that baseboard in the hallway? It’s been that way for about a year, right? Maybe the honey-do list isn’t enough. Think of this as a $99-string-around-the-finger to simply end that year-and-five-minute-long project of reattaching the baseboard.

Hit Dad’s gift on the head this year. Perfect for Dads named Brad. A Pneu Tool. Cut the cord on crappy dad gifts.

Nail Dad Down.

Okay, enough punny-subheads. Here’s the facts: there might be a little gnome on board who is allergic to brads, so every time he sneezes, it shoots a nail. Or the Ryobi ONE+ system battery charges an integrated compressor that shoots the nail. I don’t know. It’ll fire 1,700 5/8”- to 2”-long 18 ga. brads on single battery charge and has plenty of adjustment for nail depth and air pressure. And once inspired to use this tool, I bet you’ll find all kinds of stuff getting “fixed,” whether needed or not.

From $99 (tool only)

Check a Thread Bolt and Nut Gauges

Someone, somewhere said “buy the best tool you can afford.” Which is a line I tell my wife every time I buy a tool, right after I say “you need the right tool for the job.” Soon after, she adopted both sayings when it came to buying stuff for her hobbies.

Complete backfire. (And sewing machines are expensive.)

Anyway, if you want the very best nut and bolt gauge you can buy, here’s one for about $85.

“$85 to find out what size nut I need to buy…” you ask?

Yes, but choose from two scenarios here:

1. Dad has sooo many tools, I’m not sure what he really even needs anymore
2. Spend money to save money

If you answered A, skip to the end of this section and just buy the gauges using the link.

If you answered B, allow me to elaborate:

Here’s a typical Saturday morning for the average DIY Dad.

“I need a bolt.”

1. Notify significant other: “Hon, I’m running to (insert hardware store name here).”
2. Drive to store.
3. Get out of car.
4. Enter store.
5. Find the nut and bolt gauge in the fastener aisle.
6. Reach in pocket and realize you left the bolt at home.
7. Exit store.
8. Drive home.
9. Get the bolt.
10. Notify significant other: “Hon, I forgot the bolt, I’m going back.”
11. Drive back to store.
12. Find the nut and bolt gauge in the fastener aisle.
13. Test your bolt to find out what thread pitch you have. Aww crap:
    1. Proclaim “Dammit” aloud. I think it’s this one, but the threads are stripped in the store’s bolt gauge
    2. Proclaim “Dammit” aloud. I think it’s this one, but the insert is completely missing in the store’s bolt gauge
    3. Proclaim “Dammit” aloud. Oh, it’s SAE fine thread and this store doesn’t have it

Then you:

1. Try and thread your bolt into any nut that’s in one of those little plastic-bagged-individual-nut-where-they sell-them-in-odd-numbers-so-you-have-to-buy-two-bags ($)
2. Guess and buy a bunch of bolts hoping one will work ($$)
3. Go to another store (potentially $$$)

A 10-minute trip to the store turns Saturday morning into Saturday…day.

So just buy this thread gauge. The time and gas he’ll save in a year will pay for this thing two-fold. And Dad will look like a stud when he states he needs an “M5x35 slotted mushroom truss screw” instead of “something metric…I think.”

About $85

Gretsch G5420T Electromatic Hollowbody Guitar

In second grade I started taking guitar lessons. We moved after the school year and it was too far to drive to continue my lessons. Ever since, I dreamed of “pickin’ ‘n’ grinnin’” like Roy Clark.

Except banjo.

He played mostly banjo. But he did have a mail-order guitar method my Grandfather got me. It had little stickers you put on the frets that were color-coded in order to follow along with the book where Roy would undoubtedly teach an 8-year old how to play guitar flawlessly.

Well, it didn’t work. But not ol’ Roy’s fault. Well, kinda. The little stickers would come unstuck when you played and then, well…I did what any 8-year-old would do:

Lose interest.

UNTIL I SAW THIS SPARKLY FAIRLANE BLUE GRETSCH ELECTROMATIC ON THE WALL AT THE MUSIC STORE SOME 40 YEARS LATER.

And no, it’s not a $3500 Gretsch. It’s like $799. I’m not saying that $799 isn’t a lot of money, but if I lose interest again, I won’t feel bad cause just looking at it is worth $799 to me. Hang it on the wall of the…errr…man cave. Turn it up to 11. Lip sync to the Stray Cats. I don’t care. Just being in the presence of this thing negates anything uncool. Got a bad dad joke? Tell it while this is around your neck and you’ll still be the coolest, even if you can’t play like Cousin Harley. Oh and it comes in Orange or Aspen Green too.

$799

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, the dadand gift guide.

Lock Pick Beginners Box – ~$30

This gift says, “It’s time to teach yourself a new skill. A skill you’ll probably never need but that would be awesome to have, like learning French.” It also says, hey you look smart enough to figure out how to outsmart a lock.

This lock pick set is absolutely suitable for learners of all levels, and comes complete with:

• A full 15 piece lock pick set with lock picks, tension tools and extractor
• A Secret Agent / Spy Concealed Credit Card Pick Set
• A fully-working, easy practice padlock with a see-through mechanism with keys
• A double-sided, see-through practice training lock with keys
• Our 43-page eBook with colour photos for Single Pin Picking

We have this set, and we love it for practicing our lock pick skills, and my daughter loves it because of the transparent padlock.

Zebra F-301 Compact Ballpoint Stainless Steel Pen – ~$8

This is an awesome daily carry pen, especially if you’re buying for someone like us who always wants everything right on their person at all times. Pen, knife, and probably a Sharpie. It’s a great gift for a gift exchange or a stocking stuffer. It writes great with a smooth fine line and steady ink flow (.7mm, black). It takes refiller cartridges so it’s not disposable. It looks cool. We don’t know how else to tell you it’s great.

Red Stag by Jim Beam – $20 for 750ml

I came across this a few weeks ago in the liquor store while looking for a gift for someone very special… ME. It’s wintery out and sometimes beer or wine just ain’t cutting it. So I was wandering around looking for something to sip. YUCK, bourbon. Wait, what? Black Cherry Infused Bourbon? I figured I’d give it a shot. After all, I like manhattans with a little extra cherry juice spilled in them, so why not cut out all the mixing and measuring and sip something that already tastes like cherry? No-brainer, right? It’s a LITTLE sweet so it needs to be watered down with a little ice, but it’s definitely better than sipping straight bourbon (for me). It’s a good, cheap gift to give at a party or for that someone who already has everything.

Ugly Sports Sweater – ~$40 (prices vary)

We all know a big time sports ball guy, right. This may not be an everyday sweater, but it’s a crowd pleaser. They can wear it to the ugly holiday sweater party, wear it to their bro’s house to watch the big game, wear it alone in their living room because they are superstitious and have a mental problem that makes them think they’re actually helping those huge strong athletes win the game by pumping their fist and yelling at their TV.

Nikko Air – Air Elite 115 Race Set – ~$50

Heck yeah, who doesn’t want a drone, especially a racing drone? Your friend, or dad, or whomever is going to LOVE a durable (yes, you can crash it a jillion times like us), fast, easy to fly drone. It has tons of features including 16 one-touch stunts, variable flight modes (so you can set it to beginner for when grandpa wants to try to fly), access to a simulator that you download to mac or PC and control with the same remote, and a protective plastic ring to protect it during your learning flights. This is a ton of fun and we love ours.

Zerust VC2-2 NoRust Vapor Capsule – Pack of 4 – ~$20

Nothing funny about these babies. A clean and corrosion-free firearm is the only safe firearm. These are a great alternative to WD-40 or gun oil for protecting the stored firearms of your gun-owning loved ones from rust and corrosion. Not only great for guns but any metal, which means they are also useful inside tool boxes, utility drawers, tackle boxes, knife drawers, etc. These protect anything enclosed within 2 feet for up to 2 years. NICE!

Irwin Self-Adjusting Wire Stripper, 8″ – ~$20

Your eyes are getting a little old, it’s getting a little harder every year to find the right size hole for your wire guage in your old-fashioned wire stripper. It’s time to modernize and put some new wire strippers on your wish list. Yeah, SELF-ADJUSTING wire strippers! What? You didn’t know there was such a thing? Well, I guess that makes sense, you haven’t stripped a wire in a while. Probably because last time you did it you chose the wrong guage, snipped the wire off too short by accident and screwed up the whole job. Get these and save yourself time and embarassment.

Digital Electronic Clock DIY Solder Practice Learning Kits – ~$8

Have a budding tinkerer on your hands? Maybe your 11-year old has started taking things apart like we used to do when we were kids (we ALMOST always got them back together good as new). This kit is awesome for anyone looking to learn more about circuitry and soldering. When done you have a cool-looking functional clock.The closest we ever got to having something this cool is when we dismantled Pete’s Mickey Mouse telephone so it looked like a robotic Mickey with no skin. Probably while staying up all night in Pete’s room watching Saturday Night Live VHS tapes.

Insulated Coveralls – $50-100+

The dadand.com spies have revealed that this is exactly what Pete wears when he’s working outside or snow-blowing his driveway in the wintertime. And guess what? They are so warm that he usually is just wearing a t-shirt and his little thong or whatever he wears. And he never gets cold, he freaking SWEATS. Mmmm, cozy. Pro-tip, don’t get “long” unless you’re really tall, you’ll be happier with the flood-water shorter version. Doesn’t really matter what brand. They are all probably about the same, but Pete has “Zero Zone”.

AccuMASTER 2-in 1 Magnetic Digital Level and Angle Finder – ~$30

We swear by this doohickey. It’s a level, it’s an angle finder, it’s magnetic, it has a carrying pouch, it has a large LED easy-to-read screen, it instantly tells you what you need to know. We use it on every job whether we need to or not because technically our eyes are perfectly calibrated to determine if a picture on a wall is level and if a 2×4 is plumb, but we double-check with this.

COCODE Detail Brush Set – ~$18

Know someone who obsesses over their car? This is a great gift for them. It’s an auto detailing brush set perfect for car, motorcycle, cleaning wheels, dashboard nooks and crannies, interior, exterior, air vents, emblems, hmmm, any other keywords I can cram in here? Nah, I guess not.

Chemical Guys IAI503 Grit Guard Bucket Insert

Sticking with the car-washing theme, this simple little bucket insert sits at the bottom of the wash bucket and all the grit you just washed off your car settles to the bottom. This saves your ride from all the grit being slapped right back onto your delicate paint surfaces and swirled around like sandpaper. This is a utility gift that will really be appreciated.

Have any items you can’t live without? Let us know about them, we’ll try them out and if we love them, maybe they’ll be in our next guide.

I was a scout at one time. Not the “talent” kind-of-scout, but the uniform-wearing-help-old-ladies-across-the-street kind of scout. I took away three things.

1. The best places to collect aluminum cans to recycle.
2. How to build some really fast pinewood derby cars.
3. How to be prepared.

No, excessive use of hyphens did not make the list.

But that third one goes way beyond the practical application of the motto during my time as a scout.

Back then, “being prepared” was having your trusty pocketknife at your side in the event you had to defend your honor, pry free from a bear trap or simply whittle a stick to a point—because every ten-year-old knows some sticks just need to be pointy.

Preparation is a whole industry now. 25-year-shelf-life-food. Canned water. Bug-out bags. I know there are plenty of you who wake up in the morning and say, “C’mon, nature. Whatcha got? Let’s go.”

But this scout-turned-homeowner isn’t really up to challenging nature on a daily basis. I don’t want to bug-out. Man, I just want to maintain.

And I know who wins when you challenge nature.

Pro tip: it’s not you.

So in a world of wind and ice storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes—and quite often in my case—an errant car versus a telephone pole, one might want to be prepared for loss of power.

Yup, that first-world problem of “how am I going to charge my phone when the power is out?”

I can deal with that.

It’s the loss of food in the fridge that is troubling. And A/C or heat would be nice.

Briggs & Stratton Generator Review

I was prepared in ’04 with a Briggs & Stratton-powered generator which allowed me to keep that food in the fridge, run some lights, a fan and even a window air-conditioner.

It was glorious.

And 13 years later, it’s still going strong.

But Pete and I recently had the opportunity to check out the brand-new Briggs & Stratton Q6500 QuietPower Series Inverter Generator.

I know you saw it. The little .

Say it. [quietly.]

“QuietPower.”

That’s what intrigued us. And anytime someone puts the little it means they got something there.

Briggs & Stratton wanted to change the game in the generator market. They didn’t just make some slick-looking product with a fancy pitch line. They started with data. They asked customers who have experience with traditional generators.

Here’s what people said:

1. I want it to be quieter.
2. I want it to be lighter.
3. I want it to use less fuel.

Here’s what Briggs & Stratton Did:

1. They made it more than 60% quieter than a standard generator.
2. They made it 30% lighter than a standard generator.
3. They made the engine deliver power according to load—saving fuel.

Here’s what Dadand said:

1. My ears and neighbors thank you.
2. My back thanks you.
3. My wallet thanks you.

With the primary purpose for the generator being a residential backup power source, they packed a bunch of features into a small package.

For those of you that just want the facts, read on. For the TL;DR crowd, check out the video a little further down:

Home Generator Features

The Q6500 Inverter Generator has:

• A steel frame enclosed with an impact-resistant protective shell
• A 306cc Integrated Engine/Alternator that can run up to 14 hours (at 25% load)
• 6500 starting watts, 5000 running watts
• 4 120V-20A outlets, 2 USB outlets for charging your electronics, and a 120V-240V locking outlet if you want to hook up to a power transfer switch on your home’s electrical system
• A compact size that is easily moved by a telescoping handle and never-flat tires

A Quieter Generator for the Home

The 306cc integrated engine/alternator delivers enough power to keep your essentials running. And it does it about 60% quieter than standard generators. It happens a couple of ways.

First, that slick-looking impact-resistant housing is not just form, but functions to help protect and quiet the unit’s operation. Also, they have a muffler and engine balancer combined with some soundproofing inside the housing to ease those eardrums.

And then the button. The QPT (Quiet Power Technology) switch just above the engine pull-cord takes this beast from wide open to eyes shut. The inverter technology delivers consistent power for anything from a deep freezer to your sensitive electronic devices. This is where the fuel efficiency comes into play. I mashed that QPT switch on and the Q6500 dropped to a lower RPM—and as I applied more load to the system, it adjusted engine speed automatically to compensate. Check the video for some fairly unscientific, uncalibrated SPL measurements, if you don’t trust your ears.

A Smaller, Lighter Backup Generator

Briggs & Stratton claims the Q6500 QuietPower Series is about 45% smaller than a standard generator. I compared it to my older generator, which puts out about 3750 starting watts, which is much bigger. It’s not apples to apples, but without doing all the math in my head, it seems about right.

I can say my old generator is heavy. It’s a chore to have to move it around. And it has tube tires, which are flat every time I need to use it.

The Q6500 is 128 lbs., and has a telescoping handle that I was initially a little unsure of, but seemed to do the job nicely. Once you hit the balance point it’s fairly effortless to push/pull around. Check out my 9-year-old in the video. And the tires are a hard plastic/rubber mix, which is nice that I won’t need an air-compressor to fill up (particularly when I don’t have power to run an air-compressor)

Choosing a Home Backup Generator

I’m no pro on choosing a generator. But I can make lists. And do simple math.

I started with what I needed to run—tools, appliances, etc.—and wrote them down.

I looked through owner’s manuals (yes, I save them) and found out what the running wattage requirements were for the appliance, and then the additional starting wattage requirements. There might also be a label on your appliance that has this info, or just search online.

Here’s what your list might look like:

In this scenario, you need a generator that can provide at least 1775 running Watts, and handle a load of 3275 starting Watts.

Q6500 QuietPower Series Review

After unboxing, we had to take off the side panel to access the oil filler and added oil from two poly bags supplied and shipped inside the housing. Our take on the Q6500 is that it seemed to live up to the claims of being lighter/smaller as I lifted it up on my workbench to do the latter, and I’d never attempt that with my old one. And my 9-year-old easily carted it around our home.

Pete and I both experienced easy starting, about 3-4 pulls after putting some fuel in for the first time. And the starting procedure was like most small engines: turn on fuel, pull the choke (on the front of the panel), pull to start and turn off choke.

Four outlets seem just fine, I only have four on my older model and have never needed more. I don’t have a power transfer switch on my home, so I may not be using the larger service plug.

My old generator did come with a large extension cord, that plugs into its 30A outlet and splits four ways into standard plugs. The Q6500 did not ship with any types of cords. So if you want to use the larger service plug, you’ll have to source that yourself. Not a deal-breaker, but think about how many cords, and how long of a run it is to get outside to the generator.

Because…you must be running this outside.

We liked the fact that it had an LED display that showed the load on the generator, in the event you did some shifty math. And having a front-panel overload reset and main circuit breaker switch easily accessible makes for trouble-free troubleshooting.

The generator at full throttle did seem quieter than my old model. Pete confirmed his satisfaction with an emphatic “Yeah, it’s pretty quiet.” And when running in the Quiet Power mode, it toned down to a low drone idle. As we applied load during operation in this mode, the generator would surge and vibrate for a moment—but Briggs & Stratton assured me this is where the fuel efficiency comes into play, adjusting engine speed according to power draw.

We both tried various power tools, like a shop vacuum and a small air compressor, drills and the like, and never even got the LED display to indicate 25% load. And with the Q6500’s available power nearly double what I currently have, we’re fairly certain we won’t have any problems next time the power goes out at either of our homes.

I anticipate giving this a try next time we go camping as well. The 120V-240V locking outlet will hook right up to our little popup camper if we’re off-grid.

All-in-all, and hyphens aside, we had a really good experience in testing and reviewing this inverter generator, it performed well (in our unscientific analysis) and feel that if you are in the market for a lighter, quieter, more efficient generator, then look to the QuietPower Series from Briggs & Stratton.

The Briggs & Stratton Q6500 QuietPower Series has an MSRP of around $1,400.

Disclosure

Special thanks to Briggs & Stratton for sponsoring this post. Dadand has received product, compensation or both. Despite that, the opinions expressed by Dadand are our own and are for entertainment purposes. To provide as much transparency as possible, Dadand makes every reasonable effort to disclose the source of all products and services reviewed.