My old man's pipe wrench still works better than my fancy new one
I was helping my buddy fix a frozen valve under his sink last weekend, and he handed me this brand new plumber's wrench with a rubber grip and some kind of coating on the jaws. It kept slipping on the nut, no matter how tight I cranked it. So I went out to my truck and grabbed my dad's old 14 inch pipe wrench from the 70s, the one with the chipped paint and the worn down handle. That thing bit into the nut like it was butter and I had the valve off in two minutes. It got me thinking about how newer tools sometimes try to be too fancy, all that extra grip and cushioning just makes them worse for actual work. I still use a hand me down hammer my grandpa had, and it drives nails better than any of the new ones with anti-vibration handles my coworkers swear by. Has anyone else noticed that older tools just seem to grab better, or is it just me?