Slightly Above Average Podcast

We Ranked Every Tool Brand Fanbase

John Malecki, Sam Poola, and Joe Meinert Episode 28

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0:00 | 1:27:31

Every tool brand has a fanbase, and every fanbase has a guy you can picture instantly — the Milwaukee guy who calls his batteries an "investment," the Ryobi homeowner who bought one weed whacker and woke up in a 47-tool ecosystem, the Snap-on guy making $85K and owing $120K on the truck. Today we're not ranking the tools — we're ranking the people who worship them. We draft the stereotypes, put each other on trial for our own brand sins, and then tier every fanbase from S to F. Somebody at this table is about to find out their whole personality is a marketing campaign.

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Tool Brand Loyalty Gets Weird

SPEAKER_05

A consummate professional is the one that's owning Festival.

SPEAKER_03

Are they bigger in Europe, do you guys think?

SPEAKER_05

I've never been to Europe. Just cut the segment there. Fan bases for tool brands have basically become the exact same as sports teams and cities throughout the internet and all of its outrageous opinions. If you like this brand, you're basically a piece of garbage. Or if you like this one, you're the best. Whatever that might be, today we're weighing in. Everything from Milwaukee to Walt, I think we got Festal, Ryobi, Harbor Freight. If it's a tool brand that myself, Sam, and Joe have thought about in the last 10 years, we're going to be talking about it and we're going to be ranking the fan bases for those tools based on our own experiences and our own opinions. Because we are self-proclaimed subject matter experts. And we're super excited to bring you along for the ride. So just getting straight into it, Joe, walk us through what you see happening on the internet today and why we are talking about this.

SPEAKER_03

I had some help research some videos of all these different stereotypes of what people think of different tool owners. We can pop this lovely list up on screen for our viewers at home. So you don't have to hear my dyslexic ass try to read through everything perfectly. But um you can kind of get the general gist of I think it's been a big thing in recent years of toll owners, they commit to a certain brand. And we've talked about Sam's mentioned don't commit to one brand. We've talked about certain brands. Regardless of how we feel about it, these people have personalities in owning these toll brands. Some of them are terrible, like actually awful. And some of them are great. Like we all love Ryobi toll owners. Maybe, maybe Sam doesn't, but I've met plenty of Ryobi tools.

SPEAKER_05

Sam's indifferent, he loves everything.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know. I've met a few like only fest toll people over the years. They're very interesting. I don't know. You you've you've like if some of your buddies have owned only Snap-on tools. Going through it, like Jason, only Milwaukee. Yeah, we've kind of got the general vibe of meeting these people who just have one toll brand and like the kind of corks that come to them. You're not wrong. Um so I thought we could go through them all today, um, diving into it, and then at the end we'll do our classic tier list and rank them if that sounds good.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, no, I dig it. I mean, I think it's interesting, definitely, because for the most part, loyalties always have that side of them that have absolutely zero logic. It doesn't matter tool brand, sports team, maybe it's a maybe it's a food, whatever it is.

SPEAKER_03

It feels like sports teams nowadays with these tools. I'm telling you, it's people commit.

SPEAKER_05

The internet just gave an outlet, I feel like, for people to just be super into stuff. Yeah. And and they're going hard. And I and I like it. I I'm for it. I I'm a fan. So Sam, pick a brand, and we'll dive into it first.

Milwaukee Superfans And The M18 Life

SPEAKER_05

Let's just start with Big Red, how about old Milwaukee?

SPEAKER_02

They're jumping out early at you. I think so. I mean, I feel like it it'll it's it's the easiest to uh to analyze.

SPEAKER_03

So the Milwaukee description for the owner of the internet has came to, or at least the AI has given me the conclusion of is acts like joining Team Red was a life decision. Owns 14 batteries, talks about torque constantly, and believes every problem can be solved with an M18 fuel. You see, I don't knock that. Because it's true.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. It's it's not that they're wrong. It's obviously like a phenomenal brand. It's just extremely expensive. And I think the only time people get peeved is whenever it's like, let me tell you how great this one tool is. It's like, yeah, that'd be awesome if I had like $600 to just like blow on this one specialty, like Milwaukee tool. But everything they make is solid.

SPEAKER_03

They need to add something about the financial aspect to buying Milwaukee as well.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and they're smart about what they do too. I feel like their marketing, they like want people to buy it strictly for the name. Like that's how they get away with like the $15 pencils or the $30 like insulated mugs. You know, even the fast.

SPEAKER_03

It's like Supreme. Remember back in the day, like Supreme, they would sell bricks for a thousand dollars. That's you guys.

SPEAKER_02

That's your I literally still don't know what the hell a Supreme is. He's got four Supreme bricks in his options.

SPEAKER_03

God's a big Supreme fan. Don't listen to him.

SPEAKER_05

I I never heard of that brand until you guys brought it up like three years ago. And I'm and I still don't really know what it means because I guess it's not a thing anymore.

SPEAKER_03

What, uh Supreme? I've never heard of them since like high school. I mean, I don't know.

SPEAKER_05

High school?

SPEAKER_03

So it's that old? Yeah, it was a big thing in high school, like the hype beast era.

SPEAKER_05

I don't even know what that means.

SPEAKER_03

I'm speaking. I'm sorry. I'm so cute. I know, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_05

All these I know what I'll say about Milwaukee is like it is they make great stuff, and it I think all tool brand loyalty typically starts with a great user experience in one way or another, and then just commitment. They're like, I bought this and now I'm completely committing my life to it. You know? Always the new shit, too. Like and they innovate. That's well, so that's one thing Milwaukee does so good is they innovate so fast.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, see, I'm talking about the people that own those tools are always buying the new shit. If they're really committed, you get that new Gentoo pack out, it just came out. You get it yet? Like, I have the old pack out. You need to get the new one. They do go hard on the new ones on the elevation.

SPEAKER_02

I will say Milwaukee too. They have the massive battery platform. I feel like Milwaukee and Ryobi are the only tool brands where if you are someone that chooses to commit to it, I don't fault you for that. Whether it's like you don't want to spend as much and you commit to Ryobi or you have the disposable income and you go Milwaukee, you won't be disappointed. It's some of these other brands, I feel like you shouldn't commit to the platform, but Milwaukee, Ryobi. There'll be two other brands on there.

SPEAKER_05

Three maybe three. Yeah. But like, yeah, no, I'm with you. When Milwaukee did a great job of having early recognition in regards to forwards and backwards battery compatibility. So you can use their old batteries, like four or five-year-old battery on a new tool, and vice versa. They've always had the best battery on the market. And I was literally just at an event talking to reps from both parties, and like there's an elitist mindset too, Milwaukee. Like, don't get me wrong, I love Milwaukee. Milwaukee doesn't pay me shit. They haven't sent me a tool in six plus years. Like, we buy all of our Milwaukee stuff, but they don't do that. They might pay an influencer here or there, but they never, they like, they really never are looking for uh any biased opinions on their shit. And they like know that they make really good stuff, and so they're like, we don't need to pay influencers, we don't need to do any of that shit. And I'm like, I get it, I it's cool, but that like trickles down, and I've had great experience with them, you know, in the 10 years I've been doing this, and that's one of the things I'll say sets them apart is that their battery, because their battery has just been far none the best one out there, yeah. Their platform, M18 and M12. Oh, like you can't you can't mess with it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I was about to say the M12. Uh there's no other brand on here that I think has as like a lead of like a 12 volt line, and they're so smart with that, where it's like, oh, we could have this whole like small grade of tools, whether it's for like light jobs or like stuff for like electricians, like the mini like drivers and stuff.

SPEAKER_03

You know, like Makita's 12-volt lines are any solid?

SPEAKER_02

It's not that I don't think they're solid, they're just not as popular and not as diverse, not as many tools. Uh and you could even use their batteries in like the clothes, they have clothes to the heated jackets.

SPEAKER_05

So, this is the shit that they get you on. And like, and like that heated jacket is incredible. It is amazing. And it was like kind of revolutionary. It was the first one to be like lit, I think they were the first lithium like tool brand to put it in a jacket. I think those existed in other places first, but it wasn't like you were putting like cells or like a rechargeable thing in your wall, proposed. You couldn't just like grab one off the wall. Yeah. So what I find is like the brand loyalists, and I would probably throw myself in that category. I'm not super back in the day, I'd have I'd have walked through gunfire to just to buy more Milwaukee tools. Like I was all in on Milwaukee and Festival. Yeah. That's the only thing I wanted. Their carpentry tools are still not up to this up to par with other brands out there, and I was still willing to do it just because I loved the branding, I love the messaging. They were good at everything else but carpentry tools, and that's still kind of the case. And uh, I don't know how, why and or how they grab you, but I mean their stuff is they're just really, really good across the board, and like very really elite good in a couple categories. Um, and that's how everyone that I think gets into them feels. You get into Milwaukee, like it's a it's a commitment for life.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_05

No, I'm telling you, like, that's the emotional commitment people make.

SPEAKER_03

I own a few Milwaukee tools, and I'll get them whenever I can. I just sometimes can't justify the price. The price for I'm the novelist compared to you guys. Like, I don't need to own Milwaukee, truthfully.

SPEAKER_02

They do a great job paving the way for like other tool brands with things that we didn't even know we needed. Like before the fastback, it was just all regular utility knives. Now you go to Home Depot, there's a million different brands with them. The cordless uh nailers, they had like they were considered those without having the pass load air cartridge. Yeah, they're kind of like Apple. It's not like they invented it. There were other companies that had it, but it was just so junky, and they're like, we're gonna make the best possible one, we're gonna take all the things people hate about these, fix it, release it. Well, think about the business model.

SPEAKER_05

Think about this. How brilliant is this? And this is why I love Milwaukee. They will RD in-house, so they move that into the United States instead of overseas. I was in that office like eight years ago. It's incredible. And this was before 3D printing was super accessible. They had like a plant of 3D printers and all these people like designing shit. It was wild. Seemed like that was in a sci-fi movie. They will take their RD and push it into Ryobi to get product market fit and proof of concept, right? And so remember Ryobi came out with the air nailer, yeah. The nailer way before Milwaukee. And they were gigantic. I mean, you could these things were the size of like cinder blocks, and they make this like big blew up all over the internet.

SPEAKER_03

Tucker, please cut that and put that in a short all over the internet.

SPEAKER_05

Once they realized how popular that nailer could be in the Ryobi lineup, they just threw the Milwaukee resources on top of it and created some really dang good first mover like nailers. Now, I don't think that they hold that standard across the board anymore. But like they were the when they when they first came out with them, they were they were super solid. And they just do that almost everywhere. Yeah, they just can't figure out carpentry for some reason. Nah. Like their mechanic stuff though, they it's probably because Snap on's doing the research for them.

SPEAKER_02

Maybe. Well, I mean, a lot of I I've I follow like a lot of mechanics on Instagram that are like choosing Milwaukee over Snap on for so many tools, it's so much cheaper, and they actually say like the quality of at least the battery-powered stuff is a lot better. But I will say this can you agree?

SPEAKER_05

If you meet someone that is a Milwaukee fanboy or girl, and you have a tool that is not Milwaukee, there's a 99.8% chance they're gonna try to convince you whatever Milwaukee makes for that tool is better.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Every time. You're almost justifying, not that it's unwarranted justification, but you're almost justifying the purchase to yourself. Like it was worth the money I spent on this. It's it's a lot better than that, or it could do this one little thing here, you know, right?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I feel like every person that's bought Milwaukee and is committed to it is a secret salesperson for Milwaukee. They need a they need like a um affiliate link. Like Jason needs an affiliate link. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05

So I think I think the reason it happens is because Milwaukee pretty much fills and elevates a lot of gaps in tools, yeah, like tool categories and whatever. And because they're doing that, you feel more okay with like the price you're paying on stuff, and it makes it like oh, but you can, you know, the I'll just go with like the pack out or the storage stuff. It's like, yeah, but you can they made a pack out accessory so you could store this belower grade kind of shit. I feel like you're getting into that all the time.

SPEAKER_03

I feel like even whenever they work really well together. We're buying stuff for a video, it's still we buy a bunch of Milwaukee and we're still like that hurts. Like that's expensive.

SPEAKER_05

Feel good.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know if anyone's going in and buying Milwaukee and like, oh, light day. That was easy. Never a light day, no. No, you're spending a lot.

SPEAKER_05

So I think yeah, for me, the stereotype is 100% like Milwaukee super fans. They're just gonna try to sell you on Milwaukee 24-7 100% of the time.

SPEAKER_03

TTI reps.

SPEAKER_05

He still does it to us. We'll go in there, Sam. We'll try selling me and Joe on a Milwaukee product over another brand.

SPEAKER_02

Only certain ones, certain ones they do. Like I said, they'll take something that exists and they'll do it better. Like your life is committed to the fastback. Well, the fastback's amazing. Their cabinet installation driver, it's way better than Feststools. It's like this is like no, it's not. It is. No, it's not even closed. It's smaller, it's more versatile, there's no weird proprietary bit. You could interlock the uh heads together, which you can't do on the fest tool. It's it's you need an affiliate link.

SPEAKER_05

I literally can't sit it straight up and down in the cabinet while you're working. Like that's a that that's a horrible thing. You can sit it up. What do you mean can't sit? No, it doesn't. The battery's at an angle, and all Milwaukee 12 volts are not at an angle. Excuse me, they're all at an angle. No, not too much. Do not stand up.

SPEAKER_02

If I if I don't have it here, that M12 in there, I could stand it right up. I'm telling you. That's the only festal of all the festal things we have here, they're all superior except that one. I was like, you know what?

SPEAKER_05

Sam's like anti-festal, which kind of probably is a good segue into the the festal stereo.

Festool Status Precision And Quiet Judgement

SPEAKER_03

But before we do that, if you guys want to purchase that driver, the link is on the screen currently.

SPEAKER_05

Really? Is it? Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_03

Sam's affiliate link. You're directly going to shut the Sam's Sam's trying to- I can literally I could pop that up.

SPEAKER_05

Sam's trying to upgrade the uh you know the Ranger out there. We just gotta get him more affiliates. Yeah, so what festival? It is a sweet tool. I gotta go. I'm gonna fight for this festival because it I'm I just don't think it compares.

SPEAKER_02

I gotta bring mine in. I'm gonna tell you even you agree. Well, it's actually like Jason.

SPEAKER_04

Our salesman, our local salesman at 4 Milwaukee agrees.

SPEAKER_02

The only thing cool about the festival was it goes beep boop beep whenever like you makes like robot noise.

SPEAKER_05

Our festival's probably it's also probably four or five years old, too. So you have a newer gen, I think, on that installation button.

SPEAKER_02

Well, it's newer than that festival, but it's still about four years old.

SPEAKER_05

We'll say we did this, we did the the the wall just sent us theirs, and that I like that. I like that tool. Install driver? The just like the interchangeable head, multi-head tool. I'm a fan of those. More the more the less like hardcore work I'm doing, and the more like just across different mediums and like the usage types, like the versatility, the more I'm into some of those like a little bit more gimmicky tools. But a cabin, I will say, as a as is building furniture for over 12 years, cabin installation driver is definitely a game changer. No matter what brand.

SPEAKER_03

Well, this festival description is pretty hilarious. Yeah.

Sponsor Break First Form

SPEAKER_05

All right, real quick, before we continue with this ridiculousness, I'm gonna take a second to thank this week's sponsor, First Form. I absolutely love literally every single product I've ever tried from them. Their ingredients are incredible, their testing processes and procedures and everything they're doing in-house are amazing. I know I'm getting quality ingredients and I'm putting good stuff in my body. Definitely check out First Form. You can't beat the macros on their Formula One, 110 calories, 23 grams of protein in this one here, the chocolate. I'm a huge fan. You should check it out. And if you do check it out, they're gonna give you five free protein sticks in your order. It just gets automatically added to your cart when you use our code here on screen or the link down in the description. Not to mention, if you don't like their products, it's a 110% money back guarantee, which let's be honest here, it's pretty awesome because first form is awesome. A lot of you guys have been commenting on my weight loss and kind of body transformation. If you're wondering how I'm kind of making that happen, with products like these. So check them out. Like I said, firstworm.com forward slash slightly above average. Get yourself some of their incredible products uh and start making a difference in your life. Thank you, first form. Let me get back to judging Sam.

SPEAKER_03

Has more money in Sanders than most people have in their truck, claims it's about precision, but everyone knows it's just because they like the sustainers clicking together.

SPEAKER_05

They are I love that click.

SPEAKER_03

That is you to a T almost. I love those sustainers.

SPEAKER_05

The festal fan base for me are way more intelligent, good looking, upscale, kind, sweet, loving individuals. They love their tools as much as they love their family. Their garages are probably impeccable, their their work standards are elite. If I'm hiring a contractor, I'm asking them if they're using Festal because I know they're showing up and their shit's gonna be tidy. It's just it's just a guarantee. If they're wearing a festal jacket and they've got festal clothing on, they're I know that that's my guy, and I know I'm paying three times as much for the job.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you're you're definitely paying three times as much.

SPEAKER_03

You're paying for those tools there. They have 0% interest on a $7 t-shirt.

SPEAKER_02

I feel like they kind of remind me of like Dolph Lundgren and like Rocky IV. Like, I feel like you know how like they had like the little training montage where like Rocky's like lifting logs, and then like Dolph Lundgren's like on like a robot machine, and then I give him more steroids.

SPEAKER_04

Like, that's like your first sports reference ever is his first sports movie reference. Let's give a round of applause for Sam. Look at this guy growing up in front of us. Wow.

SPEAKER_05

Oh no. You didn't reference some just dumbass movie you watched like on a Thursday night one time back in college when you were eating like cup of noodle. Come on, have you? At least reference something I've seen.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, well, that works.

SPEAKER_02

That's great. It's a great reference. Yeah, for sure. Who's the log though? I I guess the I'm picturing like DeWalt. Like DeWalt would be like the See.

SPEAKER_03

I think like Festival's like the supreme of tools. Pull it and relate to this comment. I don't know. Like it's cool. Do you really need it? Probably not, but like it'd be nice to have. I I will say for their like their proprietary.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, there's that's where they're the yeah, the domino. Yeah, I can do that. They make the best tracks off.

SPEAKER_03

Do you need uh do you need a uh what's their sander again? The sander. I the rotex? The rotex. Do you need the rotex? Yes. The rotex you need it. Like you couldn't do another project with another sander. You don't need any of these tools.

SPEAKER_05

You can do this shit with f two sticks. Look at our comments on the village channel. Sam and I are assholes because we have tools. Like we don't need any of it. That's not the point.

SPEAKER_02

I will say the sanders, that's like the only like festival thing uh my dad's like always had. And I grew up using festival sanders, and the first time I ever used like a like a normal Home Depot Palm Sander, I was like, what in the hell is going on here? Yeah, I think the only thing you don't want to get festival are like the drills, drivers, like the regular ones. Like I'm trying to think what else.

SPEAKER_05

Uh I will say, of all of their, I'm gonna agree with Sam here, of all of their tools, the drills are probably the last thing. The drills and drivers are the last things that I would be purchasing. Yeah. Now you you all you understand, and we've tested them too. No one's vacuums touch Vestal's vacuum. No, no one's.

SPEAKER_03

What do you mean? That Home Depot bucket's pretty solid.

SPEAKER_05

Come on, man. I I so what Festal is phenomenal at like reinventing a category, I would say, and then patenting it, owning that shit like a bunch of capitalist pigs for a considerable long period of time, and then revolutionizing how that work's done, and then not being able to afford to fight to keep the patent. That's literally just what happened with the domino. And that's also they they bought SawStop because of that.

SPEAKER_03

Is Festal does someone own them? I think they're owned by themselves. Do they own themselves?

SPEAKER_05

I don't know what the name of the ownership is, but I do think that that is the predominant brand.

SPEAKER_03

So they're not like touching like any other companies. So they own SawStop now. TTS. TTS. Or they got owned by SawStop, but systems holding So there's a holding group.

SPEAKER_05

As far as like stereotypes go, I just think that it's a uh a consummate professional is the one that's owning Festal. You can find either the well-off hobbyist or the consummate professional. You're not finding like some random kid just like starting their journey off, grabbing up a you know uh anything in the festal line.

SPEAKER_03

Do you think festal is bigger overseas?

SPEAKER_05

I mean, it's a few.

SPEAKER_03

I know it's pretty big in the US, but I'm just curious because it's a German company, are they bigger in Europe? Do you guys think? I would I would assume so, but I don't know.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, I've I've never been to Europe. Just cut the segment there.

SPEAKER_01

Next one.

SPEAKER_05

Speaking of screaming freedom. No, I've never been to Europe, so I can't say, but we do have a lot of European people that listen and watch all of our junk. Um, so please chime in. I I feel like that that is something though that like you don't know about Festal till you know about Festal in the tool world because you it's not like you walk into normal stores and see it. Well, let's go through some of these other ones. There's no way that like your fiance or your wife or my mom or like anyone but Sarah knows of Festal is just because she's like looked at how much money I've spent on it and gotten pissed at me.

SPEAKER_03

My parents were redoing their kitchen in but they had a festal miter saw for trim. That kick is sick. And so like I saw it and I was like, oh, you guys like they have a festal miter saw. Like you guys are good. My mom's like, I don't know what that is. And I'm thinking, my dad will do that. That's exactly what I said. I told my dad, and my dad was like, I don't know, I don't know what that is. And your dad's been in the trades for forty, fifty years. All right, man. I I don't know at this point, but it's gonna be good trim work. Exactly. And it was great trim work. It was great.

SPEAKER_05

You show up with festal tools. The expectation for the quality of work is already higher. And price. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03

They left that thing in their garage for a week and I was debating on Jack and I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01

I can't I was pulled the trigger on it a few times.

SPEAKER_05

And and Sam has um thoroughly abused our Makita, at least to this point. I think we need to upgrade that saw he's been begging. I don't know if the capex uh I mean the capex is a really nice saw. I think the thing that sets the capex, okay. So that's the last thing I'll say on the tool specifically, because we are supposed to be talking about the fan bases. But the tool, uh Festal does put a considerably more time in every single tool that has the ability uh of having dust collection at the source. They put considerably more time into thinking about it. And I feel like everything they make is better at that, that has that capacity. It could be literally the attachment on the jigsaw is better compared in like the the Sanders, um every the Capex, everything. And so that's the part that makes the K-Pex elite, is it does have a bunch of features. The footprint for forward and backwards is smaller. No, it only goes up to a 10, which is a downside. But the um dust collection on it's elite.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's got the rails too instead of the articulating arm. Like the Bosch.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I just thought the handle was so cool. It's like a you grip it.

SPEAKER_02

A lot of people don't like that. I wonder if they do that to minimize blade deflection because you're not when you're like twisting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

There's probably something smart there. We know how much you love your German engineering. I I do.

SPEAKER_03

I want to test those arms so bad. What arms? The the robot arms they make. Uh for like oh man, I've seen them a few times.

SPEAKER_05

I mean, I'm into a video of me trying to outman an exoskeleton on Sam. I feel like the problem is it doesn't actually help you lift, does it?

SPEAKER_03

It just helps help support your own. Yeah, it'll like lock, I believe. It's like good for people doing drywall for ceilings.

SPEAKER_02

I've seen like that's an underrated uh festival. Well, probably not underrated, but it's the drywall. The drywall standard. Yeah. It looks like a glowing orb that casts itself on the ceiling so you could see any imperfections. And the dust collection's elite.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. Once again. So yeah. What all right? So festal fan base, your thoughts. Because I'm the only one that's mentioned it.

SPEAKER_02

I would say the festal fan base, I would say they price it so high that you can't like. I feel like there are people out there that just have the money that will buy a lot of Milwaukee tools just to say, like, I got these nice tools. I feel like the festival price is so high, you have to be someone that is like a really skilled tradesman. You're doing it for a living. You probably if you have a lot of it, you probably have like a little bit of like an elitist mindset to it. I'm picturing like someone with a very cold calculated demeanor, very analytical, very like to the point, you know. It's German engineering tea, so everything about it's subtle. There's no fun names, it's not like the whole dozer mega drill bit, it's like it's just serial numbers, you know. So right there, no brain.

SPEAKER_05

You gotta be able to read if you're owning Festal, and that's that that washes out a bunch of people in this room specifically. Uh the I I I so funny story is I taught a class in Texas. Uh Woodcraft sent me down there back in the day, and um I was primarily using I I had to we were building um live edge coffee tables like in two days. So the only way to efficiently do it was using festival tools because you know, the the you have the Rotex and Tracksaw and all that, it's all the stuff I have in my shop. One guy uh he was in retirement and had had had considerable volume of money in the bank. Literally, as he he finished his project, it was glowing because he was so stoked about it, and just asked me what festival tools I'd buy. I walked through the store and pointed them out as like what I like, what I don't like, and blah blah blah. I didn't know why. And then he just walked up to the register and bought all of them. And the guy and the guys that ran the stores, these brothers, they're they're cool shit. They have a bunch of festivals, they have a bunch of woodcraft stores in Texas. They were like, Yeah, guy just spent $12,000. I was like, what does he do? They're like, he's retired. So that that's the other side of the spectrum, I feel like, with festivals. Like, if you either you have a bunch of money, you love your hobbies, you might not be a super pro. And uh you went so your fandom is either lying on like I got money and I like nice things and I want nice tools, or I'm a super pro who makes good money from my tools and I want literally the best. Because let's be honest here, besides that drill, I've never heard you say one bad thing about a festival tool.

SPEAKER_02

No, like no, they are all I will say they are all remarkably solid and they they they think of little things that make. I'm sad they don't make a quarter inch though. I don't know why they don't do a palm router.

SPEAKER_05

So they did make a palm, they don't make a palm router technically. They I think they make a drywall router or they make a small router for something. But yeah, I mean in so super interesting. I thought, yeah, good segue into the festival side. It takes me to like what's the other end of the what's the there's one more tool brand I think that lives up with like elitist touches to it.

Snap-on Exclusivity And Financing Reality

SPEAKER_02

Craftsman. No. I don't know which one you're going for here. I'm I'm thinking you're no. No? Are you gonna say Makita?

SPEAKER_05

No.

SPEAKER_02

Healthy?

SPEAKER_05

We own like three of them. Three literal single things. Right, snap on.

SPEAKER_03

Oh.

SPEAKER_05

So it's not the owners that are elitist, it's the brand. The brand is extremely elite. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Is it though? You can't use it. I'm asking because I feel like over the years I've heard how overrated some of their things are.

SPEAKER_02

Like, think about it like this. If you want like an impact wrench or whatever, you go to Home Depot and get a Milwaukee one. If you want a Snap-on one, they're gonna say, well, it's very nice to meet you, Joe. We're we're gonna sign your soul away now to the Snap-on truck.

SPEAKER_03

What's elite about that though?

SPEAKER_02

You can't you have to be like a member of Snap.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I'm saying what's what's good about that?

SPEAKER_02

It's exclusive. For who cares? Because you're never gonna see just some average Joe with the tool. You're only gonna see a certified like automotive technician using that.

SPEAKER_03

I could go buy a snap-on truck and be licensed to sell tools if I buy that. Can't I? You don't want that life. But I'm asking, can't I?

SPEAKER_05

So like we can all buy, we can buy a snap-on truck.

SPEAKER_03

Anyone could buy a snap-on truck and then they could go sell them, right? So I could be your licensed professional selling you tools.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, yeah, we're also professionals.

SPEAKER_03

I know, but I'm just saying, like, uh, I take that with a grain of salt.

SPEAKER_05

I mean, like, it's that might just be a you thing. I gotta they do now the the snap snap-on brand corporate-wise, I definitely would say has some elitism to it. Oh, yeah. Like they want to be positioned differently. They they don't sell them in stores. Like, it's definitely like you gotta be in the in the big boys club.

SPEAKER_02

They've got those special gifts in the truck they'll give you. It's like, okay, Joe, you spent twenty thousand dollars. I guess we'll give you the cooler with the snap-on logo on it now. I mean, that's yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03

Snap-on's just like uh interesting. The tools are so good though. Like I've never used them, I would know.

SPEAKER_05

Now, granted, I don't know much about like the wrenches and stuff, but like the other shit that I've had the privilege of using over my lifetime was always like really super solid stuff. I feel like it is the festival for like power tools in mechanics tools. I feel like it is like like festival is the power tools, mechanics tools is a snap-on. Okay, I thought you were saying But you just can't go to a store and grab them. You gotta buy them online or have a rep come to the street. I heard their power tools suck.

SPEAKER_02

I was gonna say, I feel like over the past like five to seven years. That's like Milwaukee's play. Well, not even just with their power tools. There was a viral video going around for a while where people were comparing the icon wrenches to the snap on ones, and they're like, in a lot of ways, this is kind of better. Or Snap-on released this proprietary uh like it was like a low profile floor jack, but they didn't uh get the patent done in time, so Harbor Freight literally cloned that and they sell it. It's the same exact jack. Like, I don't know. I think there's a lot of like workarounds now to get like a snap-on quality tool without that price.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, the internet's definitely not been good to Snap-on, I don't think. But I but so community-wise, though, I feel like the people rocking Snap-on are like just genuinely like hardworking, like real laborers. And then you just have this like the best, it just happens to be like this really like goofy, difficult, weird situation to get the tools. Yeah. So they like love the tools, but they're just pissed about what they cost constantly.

SPEAKER_02

I was gonna say, I have a couple buddies that are like diesel techs, and like anytime you'll check out their toolbox and be like, oh, this is so sick, this looks awesome, and they're just depressed. They're like, Yeah, better be, and we'll be paying it off for like the next 10 years. Yeah, they like not happy at all.

SPEAKER_05

Not happy, but they have it. But like it's one of those things is like you get in the more binds if you don't have the good shit. Right? Yeah. And and it's why it's like a wild thing. And and I kind of understand, I kind of get it. Because you're like it think about it like the domino, right? It's like a proprietary conymore, but it's like a proprietary concept for a thing that makes your woodworking faster, better, you know, easier to execute, and all that shit. You like have to go and spend money on this like multi-thousand dollar thing. And there's not as many opportunities in woodworking, I feel like, for those tools. Yeah. When there's like infinite in mechanics and automotive, yeah. Where you're like, this one wrench can do this one job, but it does it so good that you can't live without it. And then you need a set, and then you need that set in in in what imperial and in metric, yeah, right? And you need it in two lengths and sizes, and you need it bent versus flat. Now all of a sudden you've got like a toolbox full of like what open-ended C wrenches with like a 15-degree like cant on it for whatever that one time you need it, you're like pissed you don't have it.

SPEAKER_02

You're running out of space in that toolbox, son.

SPEAKER_05

You ready to finance another one? Oh boy. Yeah, and then so that was the other thing, too, is I think the financing was intended to be pro-consumer because they could make high quality shit, and then you could finance it so you could pay it off over time and get the more expensive thing without going into like exponential credit card debt.

SPEAKER_02

See, I feel like it's completely flipped. I feel like it's predatory. I feel like they're like how it's totally predatory. You're only paying a hundred bucks a month on this tool bug. You could easily swing another couple hundred on this or that, and then before you know it, you're like, oh my god, we've got like a mortgage payment I'm giving to the snap on man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Well, so I fan-wise, I I think I get along really well. And I enjoy snap-on fans and people. They do make some like really gimmicky, cool kind of like gear and shit. I got some snap-on socks that my buddy left me in his will. He didn't, he just left them at my house and then died. So I kept them in his honor. Oh take these socks. Yeah. But he's got like his he was a he was a cash buyer though. He was a guy that went like I'm only buying them full price cash. He I remember him driving around the country, and by that I mean like the tri-state area to buy things to like f facilitate his snap-on um addiction and set, like the set completion was important to him. Yeah. And then on top of it, if he needed a tool, he was buying snap-ons first. Yeah. Like there wasn't like an it never considered the rest of it. Um and I don't know enough about automotive to get into it. But I've always been like, if you've got snap-on tools, I'm like, shake your hand, your hand's dirty, it's it's cowist, you're a real working individual. I enjoy you. I'd like to chug beers in a parking lot with you. Like, I love their fan base.

SPEAKER_03

They don't have time to chug beers in a parking lot with the way.

SPEAKER_02

But I think it is one of the hang offers.

SPEAKER_05

It's like an elitist brand.

SPEAKER_02

I wonder if there's a world where Harbor Freight ever gets real dangerous. They get a fleet of trucks, the icon trucks, and they just start rolling around direct competition with the snap-ons. Imagine that. Imagine a world.

SPEAKER_03

So this conversation.

SPEAKER_02

You think we'd go to jail if we did that in a video? You just get an old milk truck off marketplace, turn it on the room.

SPEAKER_05

Turn it into an icon truck. We buy it, we try to get icon at wholesale. Or it's cheap enough though. They paid for that.

SPEAKER_03

I think that's an interesting video, but we could try it.

SPEAKER_05

Get the truck. Get the truck, yeah. Whoa. Wow. I bought an icon tool truck? You don't think that's where we can do it?

SPEAKER_03

We didn't buy it though. We bought a truck and then made an icon tool truck.

SPEAKER_05

Basically, the same thing. It's the same thing. I bought, it doesn't say the time frame in order to become an icon. Wow, Debbie Downer over here. Okay.

SPEAKER_03

We need to get into some negativity. This has been way too positive. Who are the worst tool fan bases you guys know?

unknown

Fan base.

SPEAKER_03

Let's see. I mean, like, who are some people you've ran into that advocate for tools and you're just kind of like, man, I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_02

It's hard because some of these brands, I like some of these brands I want to say. I don't think I've ever met like a cobalt tool enthusiast.

SPEAKER_05

Like, I don't think I've ever I will say, like, when you get into like the heart or anyone that's advocating for the cheaper tool brands, minus Ryobi, is just typically wrong. Or they're not using them in volume, right? So, like, for instance, we just launched a deals page and like we're we're starting to publish like a lot of the deals that we find on tools and stuff and whatever. One of the comments on there I was reading this morning is like Chicago electric miter saw gets the job done for me. I was like, I wouldn't let that touch anything on a job site where I need any sort of precision. One, they don't make Chicago electric anymore, yeah, right. And two, it's just jank as shit. So, like, like I said, it's just like advocating for the cheaper tool brands. Like, that might that thing might be good for like a hundred saws, but on that hundred and first, you're 45's now 47, and you just effed an entire project kind of thing. And that's kind of like the my thoughts on a lot of unlike the craftsman or the heart or the cobalts or Bosch owners. They're it's just like weirdos like this, dude.

Bosch Defenders And Underrated German Tools

SPEAKER_05

Like now, let me say something about Bosch.

SPEAKER_02

You're like, we make three things well. No, they're really sell in the United States. No, they make everything well. They're Bosch is basically like Volkswagen, and then Festival's like Audi, where like you can get into that nice, subtle German engineering, things that make sense. They've got uh they have an excellent background carpentry tools. Elite 12-volt lineup. I might be wrong here. Google this and check me, but I think their 12-volt lineup came out before Milwaukee's that may be another example. But I'm just saying they knew there was a need in the market and they fulfilled that rate.

SPEAKER_03

I feel like you are the stereotype for Bosch tools right now.

SPEAKER_02

I think it's I I think it's underutilized. They are, they are, they genuinely are.

SPEAKER_03

You know why they're underrated? Because you can't get them anywhere.

SPEAKER_02

No, they're because they suck at their job. They're underrated for the job. They literally can't sell. No, they're underrated for just your business. Your job is to sell tools. No, there's a few reasons why they're underrated. Number one, not as they're not as popular, not as many people are aware of that. Because they suck at marketing. No. Number two, if they sold the Bosch battery platform at Home Depot, I think this would be a whole nother game. The fact that they only have it at Lowe's and a very small segment of the tools at Lowe's, you're not getting as many like contractors that are going there. Because their batteries are not good. Their batteries are elite. Their batteries are so elite that they are interchangeably used with fine tools, and fine is a brand that's right on par with festivals. Fine also sucks at marketing. They make good stuff, but they suck at marketing. Well, but they wouldn't use an inferior battery with their products. Bosch answered.

SPEAKER_05

They like have like four battery tools on their entire tool line. And they also work with Bosch tools. You are an advocate. This is my point about Bosch owners. You are the stereotype. They'll solve problems.

SPEAKER_02

You're like, we make a cool radio and we have a 12-volt drill. No, no. They'll solve problems that you don't even know you need it. Like they came out with that little 12-volt mini hand plane that then Milwaukee comes in. And then stopped making tools. They still make tools. They just stopped innovating. A 12-volt name anyone else that makes a 12-volt offset quarter inch router. Nobody. Because it's stupid.

SPEAKER_05

No, there's a that tool shouldn't exist. It's dumb. Why do you need that?

SPEAKER_02

You get in tight spaces with it.

SPEAKER_05

You can do that with one that doesn't have an offset handle. You could say that actually has a larger footprint than a damn round one. That's why they don't make it. It's an inefficient tool for blood.

SPEAKER_02

Now you could say anything.

SPEAKER_05

Shut your mouth. You could say anything. I when the I was big on Bosch. When they were actually pushing the needle on innovation, I will say this is innovative. Yeah. The glider was innovative.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And that radio that they made back in the day was innovative in that in that kind of category. They were doing a bunch of shit. They came out with like uh their impact driver, uh, of their early one. The freak. The freak had some innovation in it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Dude, they just stopped doing all that. What are you talking about? What are they innovating? They just came out with battery nailers not too long ago.

SPEAKER_05

They're just a that's five years behind everyone else. Well, they stopped innovating. I don't know what happened to them, but like I was a fan because they were a little bit more affordable than Milwaukee, and they were just as innovative. And they had some like I loved my glider, and then when my glider started to like get a little bit of slop and play it, there was no fix in that.

SPEAKER_02

There was no service in that. Well, but that was the first gen. And they didn't upgrade anything. They fixed it in I think in the second gen, it's a lot better. Yeah, then they pulled it off the shelves. But you could say anything you want about Bosch tool. I I disagree with some of the things you said there, but I would I will say every single one of their tools, they may not be the best in their lineup, but they are always solid and dependable, like anything German engineered. It's not no one's claiming it's gonna be the best.

SPEAKER_05

This is where you are the stereotype for a Bosch tool owner.

SPEAKER_02

It's it's argue for it with literally no merit at all. It's all heart. I'm saying of all those brands there, if you're getting carpentry tools, you're either going Bosch, Festal, or Makita. I would say those are your top three carpentry brands in that list. No. Oh well, I forgot about DeWalt.

SPEAKER_05

Go to job site. Dewall's 90% of the time. Because it's popular and it's sold. But that's the that's what I'm saying here, dude, is like the part of the battle that you are just completely ignoring is the fact that these are consumer products. And Bosch does a terrible job of getting them in the hands of consumers.

SPEAKER_02

Just yeah, but uh just because they do a terrible job of marketing doesn't mean the tools themselves are terrible. There's way more Honda Civics on the road than there are most other cars that are. Because Honda can market. Yeah. Do you want a tool that markets or performs well? Both. Both. I don't even need the market. That's what DeWalt does.

SPEAKER_04

That's what Milwaukee does.

SPEAKER_03

It's like, yeah, the marketing's great, but you have a DeWalt tool on a job site, someone else does. Great. If you have a Bosch tool, what are the chances someone else has a Bosch tool?

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, do you want to It's like, oh, you gotta plug it in. You gotta drag like a charger around with you.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, come on, man. No. You show up to a job site with a Bosch tool, and people say, hmm, this guy thinks differently. No, but they think it's not full of things.

SPEAKER_03

They also think that I make the right decision.

SPEAKER_05

This guy bought his tools at a garage sale, or they were a hammy down from a family.

SPEAKER_02

Or he's like, I don't even know what these are. I haven't seen, I think maybe I saw one of these at Lowe's.

SPEAKER_05

Oh now, that's hilarious. Remember, so I believe Bosch was an early mover in regards to the double, the the dual-based router platform. You could you could get the plunge or you could get the solid. Remember that? Like it's a silver base with the wooden handles. Yeah, they still sell that same one. That's my point. They haven't done shit in a decade. Because it's so good. It's not that good, dude. It's already the best. Give me your honest opinion here. Okay. And I know. Oh, and they're multi-tool. The best part about this is, Joe, we have him on camera if he doesn't say the same thing now. What? You can't tell me that that Bosch plunge router is anywhere close to being in the same stratosphere as that DeWalt one that we just got in.

SPEAKER_02

It's not trying to be.

SPEAKER_04

Look at his excuse making. It's not trying to be. You are and they have We found him, Joe! Wait, no. You are DeWalt, you are a Bosch member.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and one other thing, their multi-tool Starlock system, even Milwaukee doesn't have that on there. So I don't think DeWalt does either. It is that is elite. That is elite, I will give you that.

SPEAKER_05

What I was gonna say about Bosch fans is that they're kind of annoying. They're like they cherry pick information. It's kind of like being a like like a New England Patriots fan. Right? I mean, I'll take the lot of super roles.

SPEAKER_03

You're gonna ride out your glory days. No, it's more like the Chiefs, just recency. Or that, too. Had a good couple years and then.

SPEAKER_05

But like you cherry pick statistics and you're just gonna ride out the Belichick era forever. We're still in it, man.

SPEAKER_03

Actually, I love Pittsburgh. Hold on. I love Pittsburgh to death, but this sounds awful lot like a Pittsburgh studio. Whoa, dude. No, no, Yenzers don't live in the bad at a good couple years. People still think we're gonna win the Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_05

You're not wrong. But Yenzers have no by the by no means do we bring up statistics. Yeah, but like we get up the stuper, but it's all aired wrong. Yins ever seen how hard a steel city works? Like, that's a completely different fan than a guy that's over here who's like, well, the Bosch, the bearings on the Bosch were revolutionary back in 1997. And if you would look at the plunger now, they're all modeled after it. Maybe it's a cow.

SPEAKER_03

That's it. Cowboys. They're also not statistical. Exactly. They think they're gonna win every year.

SPEAKER_05

Patriots fans are up there at MIT and those fancy skulls, and they're in the world just in the Super Bowl, though.

SPEAKER_03

They got smoked.

SPEAKER_05

But they're relevant. They are relevant. They definitely rebounded faster than the Steelers. But that's what I'm saying. It's like Bosch will have a good thing. It'll be like fall off. We'll see this year. By the way, what happened to their head coach? Who I love? Who? Let's Vabral? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

We didn't get fired, though. I thought that. Of course.

SPEAKER_05

They don't care at all about your sex life in New York.

SPEAKER_02

Was he actually having sex with that woman, or is that just a rumor?

SPEAKER_03

He was on a yacht with her buying.

SPEAKER_05

Pretty sure they have a photo of the motorboat and her. Vrabel, you motorboat and something.

SPEAKER_02

What are you thinking of all the Patriots coaches of Belichick and Vrabels are all dogs?

SPEAKER_05

Their ownership's a dog, too. Kraft Kraft can caught it like the massage parlor. What? This dude. You don't pay attention to anything important.

SPEAKER_02

See, if I was like, oh, did you see an episode of this show? He's like, I don't have time for that. I was too busy researching the head coach at the massage parlor. Research dude is global news. Glow that's global news. God bless America. The Patriots owner gets a handjob in massage parlor. He's a billionaire. He's one of the 32 people that own an NFL franchise. Can you imagine Dan Rooney down at the old massage parlor? No, I can't. Anyway.

SPEAKER_05

I do like Bosch tools. I like their products. I just really wish I'd get back to like being an early innovator. That's what I miss. Because that early stuff that they were innovating was. I think they invented the half-inch router category with the Colt. Like I think that they were the first. The quarter-inch, yeah. That quarter-inch router.

SPEAKER_03

What do you guys think about uh fans though?

SPEAKER_05

Just like you. Just 100% Sam's.

SPEAKER_03

What about we're missing one big brand here we haven't talked

DeWalt As The Jobsite Default

SPEAKER_03

about? The good old DeWalt.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, so I I I feel like for me, Dewalt owners are just real pros. They're humble. They're always like, no, I'm dead serious. Okay, so couple, couple. You guys don't know Kiefer. I know Kiefer. I do. Kiefer. I know Kiefer.

SPEAKER_01

He quit smoking that weed with Kiefer.

SPEAKER_05

So him and I met probably say 12 years ago. Me and him go way back. Yeah. And um uh let me see what his page is at now.

SPEAKER_03

I haven't been on it in a minute. Oh, it's big, man. He follows me. You can look it up. Yeah?

SPEAKER_05

Tool haul, like kefer lineback. Alright, so back in the day, him and I were at like all these trade shows together. That's where I got like into the tool world. Him and all the tool channels and stuff. And um he was like a big advocate for just festival and Canadian, you know, brands and stuff, and and uh but like a consummate professional. And then between him and like all the guys I would meet that were actual contractors and not just tool reviewers, all of them, and this was five, six, seven, eight years ago, were rocking primary DeWalt across the board, and then ancillary, you know, Bosch or Milwaukee or Festal. But their primary platforms and their primary tools were always DeWalt. And they're like, they just make good, high quality shit that works every time you need it, you can throw it in the truck, pull it out, it's gonna get the job done. And like him and I do believe Paul, the toll pig, was a big dew is a big DeWalt uh DeWalt guy. So like over my lifetime, DeWalt's always been the constant because Milwaukee wasn't crazy popular in anything but like I think plumbing and uh automotive un like un until maybe 15 years ago. Like I didn't see Milwaukee growing up.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I feel like they really kind of like lit a fire under DeWalt's ass to start like innovating stuff more.

SPEAKER_05

So they they definitely move the needle there.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I feel like that my the only dilemma I feel like with DeWalt tools is they are so close in price points. We're talking about the fans. Oh the fans, I feel like they're all well in my experience, I feel like a lot of like 50 plus year old contractors, and they'll whip out like a bucket of the most clapped out Dewalt, and they're still running. They still nailed it, rip it out of the bucket, it begs for death, and it just won't die.

SPEAKER_05

Their lunch is warm and it's on the passenger seat of the truck.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Joe, Joe and along with a beer. When we were at Rogers, there was this clapped-out DeWalt drill, and I was like, oh, let's buy this. This will it was like 10 years old. I'm like, how much do you want for this? He's like, with the battery and charger. I'm like, no, just the tool. $30. Or it's like $25 or something. That's still too much, but I mean that's only three. I mean, they make solid shit.

SPEAKER_05

I think some of the most, I mean, I would say across the board, you if you get into a DeWalt tool, no matter what category, it's solid. They don't really I haven't really found much that's just that's like garbage that I don't like.

SPEAKER_02

I feel like it's just like the the half-ton pickup truck. It's like the F-150 of tools. It gets the job done. It's not necessarily going to be the absolute best at everything. Some things, yes. It's the best period, but not in every category.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. I think across the board, like I think DeWalt now in 2026 is a better tool brand than Milwaukee. I'll just put that up there. And it's only and it's only because, in my opinion, they pay us that they they pay for this podcast. This podcast is sponsored by DeWalt. No. No, I I think it's because Milwaukee has ignored carpentry too much in the last five years. Like they're and DeWalt has shined a light in automotive plumbing in those other veins. They're trying to catch up. Milwaukee still makes better tools than them in all those categories, but they're trying. They're trying in storage. They're they're putting out some good stuff in all those other categories. And I don't think Milwaukee's doing a service to some of the trades like Milwaukee, like DeWalt's trying to. That's why I think across the board they're a better brand. That's that's my thought.

SPEAKER_03

I think I own DeWalt tools, so I'm biased, but I think DeWalt's more approachable than Milwaukee. Yeah. You know, like it's a little like they're close to prices. DeWalt's in every store. Every, like I can go to Lowe's or Home Depot and get a get something for my tools if I need it. They're always running solid sales. You know what I mean? Here we go.

SPEAKER_05

And they have they do have tiered categories that the Milwaukee doesn't do.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you can get out of the XR, you get the atomic if you don't want something to break the bank. I mean, like, I gotta they're sustained.

SPEAKER_05

That's why I think packets are like that's why I I will go out on a limb and throw that quote out there for us to clip it and put on the internet and piss everyone off. Yeah. Is because they're they're trying to make their tools more approachable across category. Now everyone will argue they'll be like, Milwaukee has Ryobi. They don't need to do that. And it's like, yeah, but like sure.

SPEAKER_03

DeWalt makes a better plunge router than Milwaukee. I think their saws are better.

SPEAKER_05

That's what I'm saying. Everything in Carpentry DeWalt makes blows Milwaukee out of the out of the out of the park. I feel he gets a better carpentry tool. Or anything that's like general, like that you use in home building, it's not plumbing. A better brand.

SPEAKER_03

That makes better.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, what does Milwaukee make better than DeWalt for uh they have that 12 volt hand planer that they copied off of Bosch that DeWalt hasn't answered to that one yet? But other than that, I'll just go buy a rigid hand planer. DeWalt has a quarter. No, that one's too big. That's running off the big batteries. Okay.

SPEAKER_05

You know what that's specifically used for?

SPEAKER_02

Trimming doors. Trimming doors. Literally it. Okay. Well, I've seen I saw a guy make a real cool walnut unit out of that where he was shaping a nice, like any of the It's a cool tool. No, I do agree. I I do agree. They probably, uh especially with the carpentry stuff, they're definitely up there better than Milwaukee. I feel like a lot of their tools are honestly right on par with Milwaukee. I think it just comes down to the buyer being like, Am I a salt of the earth kind of guy, or do I like the finer things in life? And if they're more salt of the earth, they're going to Walt. I think they could easily buy either one. I almost think it's like a personality test.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know. I think Milwaukee, their batteries are better, but I think the Waltz batteries have been getting better. They are. Their power stacks are insane.

SPEAKER_02

I see, I feel like there's been endless issues with those power stacks.

SPEAKER_03

The new ones, I mean, like the past like year and a half, they've got it.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, got this cleared up at the show. So Gen 1 power stacks were having issues in manufacturing between the number of connectors inside the battery. Because I asked, I was like, why are you guys keep changing the name of the battery? And we've and I was like, we've actually cooked probably five or six 60 volts. And I'm more or less just trying to get some clarity there. And you know, it's just a complex aspect of making batteries, but it's the connectors, it's the amount of like materials in the connectors, the power stack. But what we're starting to see is that's what that's my point with DeWalt, is like at least they're trying. Like, I don't think Milwaukee's done much to change their M18 in a while. The Red Forge, they're the Red Forge are big, and then they are adding like AI capacity to the batteries or something or something, some tongue. They make better shit in some ways. Like, I'm not saying you like that AI shit for me across the board though, it's I just think DeWalt, if you're just a general contractor, you're better off getting into DeWalt because they're gonna generally have more tools available on platform that are solid compared to Milwaukee's just like I don't know, really, really good at certain things. And like I I'm not gonna lie, their their routers suck, their chop saws sucks, right? They're they're their their track saws sucks.

SPEAKER_02

I feel like they are not if I if I was just guessing, I would I don't think they even care that much about like a specialty carpenter, but I think they're very much in tune with like just like on-site construction guys. Like I think they they're all big with like the demo tools.

SPEAKER_05

Unless you're a carpenter.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, if you're like a finished carpenter, I don't think.

SPEAKER_05

If you're a finisher, or if you're just a general carpenter, they just don't give a shit about you. Which is fine. I mean they they crush it, and there's stuff outside of that's phenomenal. Yeah. I just think the DeWalt's done a great job of catching up and then servicing those other categories. Yeah. That's why I'm like, that's why I lean a little bit more, and then that's what everyone's always said over time. It's like you just you're not gonna go into Milwaukee if you're if you're like building the house. If you're installing shit in the house, you're doing the plumbing, electrical, you know, that stuff. Milwaukee all day. So who's more tolerable? A Milwaukee fanboy or a lot of people. Well, I don't think DeWalt has fanboys that are as loud and vocal as a thing, they're just normal salt of the earth people. Yeah, yeah, I would agree with that.

SPEAKER_03

Incredibly more tolerable. I'm pretty, I'm pretty biased towards them when I remember remember I used to, I I finally bought DeWalt tools like two years ago. I'll say this.

SPEAKER_05

I'm at so you guys need to get DeWalt. Us jackasses make a lot of tool content, right? Yeah. Whether we're building or we're buying or whatever's going on. And so I went to this show and uh it was awesome. Got to see some new stuff, some old stuff, whatever. Milwaukee had a couple new products. It was cool, a couple new demos. DeWalt had a couple new the Milwaukee team just like wanted like almost nothing to do with me. Like they just really they didn't want to like talk or hang out, and they were like kind of pretentious. The Ryobi team, those are some dudes. Like, I don't want to hang those guys wanted to hang out, maybe burn a dart or two and like go smoke, you know, play a little, play a little cornhole. Same with DeWalt. The DeWalt guys, though, were like fired up, they liked us a lot. Like, and so I do think that there's a little bit of elitism in the Milwaukee world these days.

SPEAKER_03

They want everything to do with us, though, whenever we're at Home Depot about to spend some money. So their sales reps do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And uh and they're still cool, they're just like, I think it's just a completely different like kind of mindset, right? They're not they're not trying to be like the the brand for the for the people. They want to be specialized, they want to be what they are. Great. Um and that's why I think they're a little less tolerable. I mean the fan, but I I will say, I mean, they make great shit. And their fanboys are educational. They definitely educate us on things we need to buy because we bought the wrong

TikTok Tool Gamble And Snack Break

SPEAKER_05

thing.

SPEAKER_03

Usually, should I show a sneak peek? I ordered some shit off TikTok shop for one of these videos we have coming up. I ordered them. I don't know if they're real or not. They're blacked out M12 drills and drivers. I hope they're real. That sounds awesome. I it I feel so weird. I I'll go grab them real quick. That'd be a cool little sneak peek.

SPEAKER_02

Is this a good time to take a break? Yeah, do you want to grab the sack of food? Yeah. Oh, we got a sack of food.

The Hot Dog Argument Nobody Needed

SPEAKER_02

I tried one of these last week. It's an exclusive, it's a Pittsburgh exclusive for a little bit. Okay. It's the uh the Paul Skeens big glizzy. Oh. There you go. There's one for you. One for Joe.

SPEAKER_03

Why are you whipping my dogs? We didn't even preface the segment. Why did you welcome back to my food segment? Welcome back to Sam's Sack.

SPEAKER_02

He just says gobble this glizzy. Welcome back. We got three big Paul Skeens glizzies. Hand me a glizzy, please, sir. Make sure you'd give him some relish. Take some relish with that glizzy. I don't like relish. Take it back. Put that relish on your glizzy.

SPEAKER_05

I don't think that there's a world that I wouldn't eat Paul Skeens Glizzy. That man is so good at pitching.

SPEAKER_02

I know.

SPEAKER_03

Is it just a longer glizzy with ketchup and mustard?

SPEAKER_02

It's a completely different Frank, Joe. I will say one of these for completely different.

SPEAKER_03

It looks like it's just ketchup and mustard and hot dogs.

SPEAKER_02

That's the all-American dog. Did you get to select the poppings? Yeah, you could have done either an all-American dog or a Coney dog. I I'm in favor of the Coney dogs. I didn't think you guys would be. What's the difference? The Coney dog has chili and cheese and onions. Yeah, I would a hundred percent rather have eaten that. Really?

SPEAKER_05

How many times do I have to tell you I hate condiments?

SPEAKER_02

Oh, there are. It's the all-American dog, John. Like you wanted a raw Paulskins glizzy? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Oh my god. Like I would have eaten the chili, the cheese, the onions all day. Like, I hate condiments. What do you think in jail? Every time you buy me food, I tell you this. How ignorant is it? You cannot remember that. Oh, ma'am. It'd be like me not remembering that you only like bud heavies, and then every time I buy you one, it's a bud like.

SPEAKER_01

You got a new allergy every day. You came in last week, you're like, of course you get broccoli. You know I'm allergic to broccoli. But I know you're allergic to buddy. That was more of a joke. How am I supposed to know you're allergic to eggs at one point? Milk. Because I've told you for years.

SPEAKER_04

I don't believe you. Joe, have I not been saying it for years? Eat that glizzy.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you, Joe. Tastes nothing, there's nothing special about it. Yeah, look at these. They're a little hot dog.

SPEAKER_05

I'm actually on a limb here. That has a lot of Costco hot dog vibes going on. It does. It may be the same dog.

SPEAKER_03

It's a hot dog sheet sales, and they put ketchup and mustard in it.

SPEAKER_02

It's a different frame.

SPEAKER_05

It's large. I've never had a this is my first ever hot dog. They just paid Paul Skeens for advertising. My first ever hot dog from Sheets. Yeah, got Costco vibes. I mean, skeins go earn, bro. You deserve it. You're only going to be here for a couple years because the owners of the Pirates suck. They're going to let you walk. I'll do whatever you do.

SPEAKER_02

Just keep throwing that fastball, bro. Honestly, maybe if he keeps getting paid through these things, he'll stay with the pirates. We'll go to New York and I'll go to a bigger market.

SPEAKER_05

They'll make a billion dollars. Don't say that. Or Houston or the Dodgers. The Nuttings don't want Pittsburgh to win. Even though even though they did dump some money into this offseason to the baseball team. I mean, we got that kid that uh that first round pick, he's at the Griffin. Is that it? He's playing great, I guess. Or really well. He got hurt for a little bit there. There's that. The buckles aren't awful this year. They're actually fun to watch. You come to Pittsburgh, you go to your PNC Park area, go watch yourself again, get yourself a dog. Um yeah, call skins, go get after it. I uh I'm just wondering when Sheets is gonna come and try to get a like a pula pouch. Just like a pouch of pre-made food and a put your name on it. You've been a model for them. I know, I have now an advocate for their glizsies.

SPEAKER_02

Did I tell you I had a uh there's someone with a uh a pizza shop up in like I think it's Central PA, they reached out and they want to do a John, Sam, and Joe pizza. Yeah, yeah, I've been meaning to email them.

SPEAKER_05

They emailed us. Yeah. It's not that like American cheese pizza, is it?

SPEAKER_02

No, no. I forget where are they at, Joe? It's not um it's not Central PA, it's somewhere they can deliver across the world.

SPEAKER_03

No, but they'd probably sell the pizza exclusive for a little bit there.

SPEAKER_02

It'd be an unscrewed video. We make our own pizza.

SPEAKER_05

Shop. Anyway, solid glizzy. I like I like my see, I like my glizzies to have a I like my I don't even like saying glizzy. I like my hot dog to have a little bit more like character to it, right? Just tastes as uh a little little little bland, a little boiled vibe there, you know.

SPEAKER_02

Didn't have much to ask for the hot dog, but I feel like our roller dogs have more flavor. The roller dogs are nice. I will say I I prefer a dog either rolled or boiled. There's nothing more I hate than like a grilled dad dog where it's got like burned. You are a terrorist. What are you talking about? Everyone prefers that. What? Joe, how do you prefer your dog?

SPEAKER_05

Only that is the most bullish shit I've ever heard.

SPEAKER_03

What did you say he liked?

SPEAKER_05

He only wants to eat a boiled hot dog. Or a rolled dog. Or a rolled dog. Bro, get out of here. Get me a grill. Good snap casing on it.

SPEAKER_02

No, the fine folks at the hot dog factory worked tirelessly to perfect the innards of that frank, and you're gonna ruin the burn marks on the encapsulated them.

SPEAKER_05

Every hot dog brand markets them on a grill for a reason. That doesn't matter. It's the superior cooking method. Stop boiling meat and serving gray mush with it. Back in the 1910s, everyone was boiling.

SPEAKER_03

You gotta knock that shit off, man. You're gonna say, oh, what's for dinner tonight?

SPEAKER_02

Boil meat disservice to your nationality. Come on now. Why would you do that, Joe? You like a boy. I've seen you eat a boil. Or roll. I said roll. I'll just roll.

SPEAKER_03

This is the first hot dog you've ever seen me eat in like eight months of down bad dog. I was I haven't eaten, I'd even ate today.

SPEAKER_05

My uncle Stush loves a boiled hot dog. He used to boil hot dogs for us as kids. That's great. We didn't know any better, so we ate them in order to stay alive. But like once you realize that there's better methods, you don't need to go back. Yeah. What do you mean, no?

SPEAKER_02

You willingly like having a boiled dog is like having a nice glass of bourbon meat, and when you grill it, that's like put some Coca-Cola in here. Not anywhere close to the case.

SPEAKER_03

So you're telling me you're home alone, it's a Friday evening, Kristen's out of town. You you have some dogs just sitting in the fridge. You have that nice ass Traeger outside.

SPEAKER_02

You have a I wouldn't boil it or grill it. What I would do, then you're gonna think this is even more than nuke it. 30 seconds done. Okay. I got things to do. What happens when you when you got a schedule to keep and a hot dog to make? You microwave the shit.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you for tuning in to the Slot Ebu Average Podcast. Come on now. Um there will not be an episode next week.

SPEAKER_02

You haven't done it.

SPEAKER_03

You haven't had a I've never done it. You've never you maybe just throw up a little bit in my mouth.

SPEAKER_02

It tastes identical to a boiled or rolled dog. It's not the point. You want the skin. No. It does.

SPEAKER_05

You, you, I, I would like to physically harm you.

SPEAKER_02

Come on, let's let's light this candle. Take the cameras outside, Joe. Why? Why do you ruin dogs? I don't want to have like a burnt charred skin to the hot dog. On a burger, that's different. I could take a burn on a burger. It ruins the fly. Why are you burnt?

SPEAKER_05

You don't have to burn it, you're not.

SPEAKER_02

You don't have to burn it. There's no one that's that good that they're on the grill with that thing, rolling it, keeping it moving, that it doesn't achieve it.

SPEAKER_03

If you're cooking three dogs, you're telling me you burn them? Just because you suck at cooking on a grill.

SPEAKER_05

I mean, I'm I assume that the rest of us over here that take their grilling very seriously suck as much as.

SPEAKER_02

You know, I thought you'd appreciate this from a time trade-off perspective, too. Think about it.

SPEAKER_05

If I'm doing a time trade-off, I'm not eating a hot dog. I'm only looking at it and be like, you know what, I gotta save some time and get a meal, and let me nuke a few. Give me a protein shake or a protein bar. Like those are time setting.

SPEAKER_02

You grill a dog, you've got time setting up the grill, grilling it, you've got to do it. Thousand percent, yeah.

SPEAKER_05

You're intentional with what you're putting in.

SPEAKER_02

Boil your dog, that means it takes 20 minutes. You cook it faster. Okay, if you microwave it, you cook it faster, you eat it faster, that means you have more time in your day, more places to go, more things to see, more to do. That's just not true. Why would you just go get a dog from somewhere else? Where are you gonna go get a dog from? She's not in the cow we just had.

SPEAKER_03

Pick it up on the way to the bottom. What do you think they're doing? You think they're grilling these things? I don't care how they're making them, but if you're gonna add the water, they're boiling. It probably is boiled, but my whole point is. So you've enjoyed that boiled dog. You've got a drink. But we got it from somewhere else. You have a dog maker brings you a boiled dog, you'll make it. Go get it at sheets. Go get a sheets and have sheets. But you're too good to boil your own dog. No, but if I'm gonna make a dog, I'm gonna grill it. Joe admitted you are, and I am too. There's no room for boiled hot dogs in a kitchen.

SPEAKER_02

But no, at the same time. A couple of frank elitists over here.

SPEAKER_05

That's a low blow, man. You ruined this episode with your ridiculous statement. That's a low blow. Hold yourself to a higher standard.

SPEAKER_02

I spoke the truth, and obviously you two weren't ready to hear it, but I did so nonetheless. So what do you want it that this tastes like?

SPEAKER_03

Like what's the truth you're looking for here? Like, what are you looking for? Mush? I want to taste tar. You want it warm. You just want it warm. Tar? Yeah. You want a warmed piece of meat in your mouth. No, no, no. It's not meat, go. It's meat byproduct.

SPEAKER_02

You want so it's not a steak. Like, you want like a crust on a steak. You don't want a crust on the hot dog.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, you do. You want some bite on the outside. A hot dog is a bastardized sausage. Okay, we do. And sausage was originally created in intestine from the animal that it was made from the bottom. How do you cook your sausage?

SPEAKER_02

How do you cook your sausage? That's different. Like a kibasi here. Not gonna boil a piece of kibasi. You might, at this rate, I don't know. No, no, I wouldn't.

SPEAKER_05

Actually, I would have guessed your number one cooking method for kibasi would have been boiling. Number two being.

SPEAKER_02

No, no, no. I'll actually cook that on like a pan. That that one's worth a crisp. You won't even go. To a pan for a place where are the best places you get hot dogs from? Ballparks, little vendors on the street, or any of them grilling them? No. All of them have grills. They probably have rolled. All of them. I've been to hot dogs so many times at BNC Park, they're all boiled. I've never had a char on anything.

SPEAKER_03

You gotta quit going to the back alley before you get into this dating room. You weren't buying a hot dog. You were buying crap. That's the point.

SPEAKER_00

Good hot dog.

SPEAKER_03

We got on such a tangent over this.

Harbor Freight Then Versus Now

SPEAKER_05

Oh, Harbor Freight is the last category I want to talk about here because McKee, none of these other tool brands actually have fan base except Ryobi, and we know what Ryobi's fan base looks like. Beautiful people.

SPEAKER_03

Harbor Freight owner. They're a gambler, knows exactly which tools are actually pretty good, which ones might explode. Proudly says, for the price, you can't beat it.

SPEAKER_05

I will agree a hundred percent with almost all of that, except Ryobi, excuse me, except Harbor Freights. Elevated the quality of the tools in the last three or four years so much that like that that might not it's like kind of not true in some categories. Like those Hercules tools are on par with a bunch of other stuff.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, but like we know that though. That's what my point is.

SPEAKER_05

That's gonna go away. Like the Harbor Freight fanboy from five, eight, seven, ten years ago, it's not the same person. Yeah. Sam Pula, as he was conditioned and brought up on Harbor Freight, it's not the same guy as he is now.

SPEAKER_03

You know, I equate my father to an old Harbor Freight fanboy. He'd go in there, he needed something, he'd always tell you, you can't beat the price, I just got it. Nowadays, I'm telling him, Dad, we just bought these Hercules tools, we tested it. Batteries suck, but like the tool's solid. The tool's pretty solid. You should look into buying it. He's looking for an impact wrench for his big trucks. Hey, I Sam knows one. He he recommended it. It's great. Put your name on it. Uh no, didn't buy it yet. He's debating it. Put your name on it. Put my name on anything from the Harbor Freight. What's that? What's the big wrench called that we have? They're just fancy names. Big blue. What? We got a big wrench? The big when we took the lugs off the forklift with it in all the vehicles. Oh, that half-inch uh impact rate? Yeah, but what's it has some special name? They do the cool names at Harbor Freight. P51 Mustang. No.

SPEAKER_05

I uh so I'll say this. Harbor Freight fans are gonna fall into two categories for me. You got the old generation, which is like a one and done, and then surprised. So they like bought a tool for a job, were expecting it to just get the job done and throw it away, and then they kept it and it surprised them for probably for years. Ultra torque. Come on, their names are so cool. And that's the Harbor Freight that I like kind of grew up on. Like, that's what I knew is like you only went there if you wanted to get some throwaway stuff. My grandfather, bless his heart, off the boat Italian, right? Invested in zero tools, has millions of tools. Why? The Harbor Freight, he would go buy whatever he needed for whenever he needed it and run that thing till it exploded, or you gotta go to the hospital to fix something and almost cut off of you. And then go get it. Same thing at Harbor Freight again. Like that's all of his tools. I mean, he when he when he uh gave me all the stuff in his uh garage, I'm telling you, there was like they were all Tupperware containers, and they were all just filled with like little trinket junk you could get at Harbor Freight. Yeah, because he would never throw it away, but it wouldn't he wouldn't use it anymore. And so that I think I feel like that that's like the old school Harbor Freight fan, but the new school Harbor Freight fan is just getting a better quality product. They don't have that like junkiness to them, especially as they've like gotten rid of more or less Chicago Electric.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05

I don't know. What is their lowest here now?

SPEAKER_02

Is it just the Bauer?

SPEAKER_03

No, they they Is it Pittsburgh? Oh no, it's Warrior. Warrior, Warrior, Warrior, Warrior. You can get a miter saw for $40. Don't miter with that saw. No, do not.

SPEAKER_05

But I yeah, you're so you could probably still equate that stuff to being just like grip it and rip it, pray, and toss it when you're done. Some of their stuff's nice. But people aren't advocating for that. The people on the Harbor Freight fans are talking Hercules, they're talking icon, they're talking Pittsburgh, they're talking, those are I feel like they're more fandom in their like accessory lines, like the Apache stuff. That like uh those like blow-molded kind of like military cases as like we just we just got. For the drone, yeah. Like that they're they're a louder, more vocalized fan base.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I feel like they have like a lot. I feel like they honestly like stretch across like a lot of different industries too. Like, I feel like there's people like in the automotive world that love certain things, uh, people in like uh like the woodworking space, but even like I feel like DIYs or like people that are into like crafting or whatever, they could find things at the harbor framework.

SPEAKER_03

Everything, dude. Yeah, like it's actually kind of nuts.

SPEAKER_05

I've always believed in their pneumatic tools, just because like pneumatic tools are hard to break, and like they always made them good enough that if you didn't like abuse the living piss out of them, they were solid. Oh, they're like they're paint sprayers too. They're phenomenal. I mean, for the price. That's a tool that feel like we've invested in, like probably what, eight of them? Yeah, because they're worth using until you throw it away and get the next one instead of getting the four hundred dollar gun. Yeah, we're still not even close to that price point over three and a half years.

SPEAKER_02

Well, especially for wood especially for woodworking. Like, I've never painted like a car or anything. I I could assume that like you'd start to run into issues doing like more high-end paint jobs with like a cheaper gun.

SPEAKER_05

High quality paint, too.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, but like throwing like lacquer in there for like furniture. You can't beat that. You can't beat that like 60 bucks for a gravity gun. It's it's not.

SPEAKER_03

Well, that leads us into our final segment. We are going to rank toll fans from S tier to D tier.

SPEAKER_05

You know what?

Makita Takes And Japan Dreaming

SPEAKER_05

We should shine a light before we do this, real quick, on the Makita fan base. I feel like it's similar to the Bosch. I'm gonna that's all I wanted to say. That's all I wanted to say. They'll argue for like some stupid freaking innovative tool that they made. I loved Makita. I wanted Makita when Makita launched the subcompact line back in like 2015 or whenever that was, I was like, I'm buying into this brand. And then they did jack shit for 10 years. Like they haven't innovated if maybe the vacuum that's like $2,000 for the shop. But like I where are you at, Makita? Huh? You make good stuff and then you just like, hey, Americans, right there. Like, we don't want you to have any of it. You can't get it in a store. Gotta buy it online. They still And you're paying for something you can't even touch before you touch it. Yeah, but I don't like that.

SPEAKER_02

There's a couple that perform as good as the other saws. No, that's not true. They make one of the best affordable uh circular saws on the market. I would take theirs over, DeWalt's overlock their rear-handled uh 36 volt circular saw, or you get the four. Yeah, it's solid. It's yeah, it's a phenomenal saw. It's solid. Two tools, I heard. That's it. Oh.

SPEAKER_03

They also have a starting. Their stuff's good. They just like stop pushing it. I think that their coolest shit is the stuff that isn't even tools.

SPEAKER_05

Maybe we take a kettle. Yeah, the gimmicky shit.

SPEAKER_03

That's the coolest stuff. We just got a kettle for one of our next videos. Kettle. They make a kettle. Like a like a tea kettle? A tea kettle. They're for the job site off a battery. It was British shit ever.

SPEAKER_02

Coffee maker, tea kettle. Maybe we take a little excursion to Japan and try out some sweet Makita.

SPEAKER_05

I'm in.

SPEAKER_02

Just like where you've been?

SPEAKER_03

Can we go there? Can we do that? Can we go to Japan? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Like 11 people listen to this show, Joe.

SPEAKER_03

No, I think it's a good idea. If we get to 12, we'll go to Japan. Yeah, okay, deal.

SPEAKER_05

Some people. If 12 people sign up for the bunker on this episode, we'll go to Japan.

SPEAKER_03

That'd be so cool going over for an unscrewed video.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Testing in Japan.

SPEAKER_05

Then we come back and we can live stream my wife killing me. She's getting real good right now. John doesn't have much fight left in him. I'm like, honey, um, I'm gonna go across the world to uh just shop at a tool store. I'll do them better. Someone's paying you? Nope. Someone invited you?

SPEAKER_03

Nope. No, but listen, Sam and I will go for our next pawn shop video, except we'll like script it to make it seem like we just went to the airport, booked a flight at the terminal, going to Japan. I don't know.

SPEAKER_05

Can we get a direct right back to the 70s where you could just like walk in and be like, I want to go to Florida today. They're like, no problem, sir. That'd be a great video.

SPEAKER_04

Can I borrow a cigarette?

SPEAKER_03

You're just FaceTime us. Where are you guys at? Uh Japan.

SPEAKER_05

I mean, it would be amazing. I heard everyone that's gone there for like literally anything almost has had a phenomenal time.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. But that leads us to our final segment.

Tier List Rankings And Final Verdicts

SPEAKER_03

We're gonna rank the toll brand fans from S tier to D tier. D tier being insufferable. S tier being okay, like they're pretty great. Is that fine? Sure. That's the scale we're gonna go off of. Insufferable. Some of these are hard because I feel like they're nope. You gotta commit. You gotta commit to a tier today, Paul.

SPEAKER_02

The people is insufferable.

SPEAKER_03

Well, that's what we're doing. We're putting these people on a tier list. All right. Let's start with good old Bosch.

SPEAKER_02

B tier. No, no. You can't put Bosch on D, J. You are insufferable. It's the definition. C tier.

SPEAKER_04

I will override. We're gonna go C too.

SPEAKER_05

Your love for Bosch is insufferable.

SPEAKER_02

It's a great tool. They got the best colors.

SPEAKER_05

I don't give a shit about the tools. We're talking about the people, and you are insufferable in your love for Bosch.

SPEAKER_03

I would say they. Yeah. We're gonna leave you at C pool. We got Craftsman. Probably B.

SPEAKER_05

They're probably for me, it'd be like old school. That's who they're fighting for. If it was that back in the day, they'd be higher. And the new school brings them down because they they're fighting for dog shit.

SPEAKER_02

I would say C or D. I feel like their fan base is just getting smaller and smaller each day. C, I think.

SPEAKER_03

Like the fans are fine. Just the ones that pull out tools from like the 60s we still use.

SPEAKER_05

You know why he's struggling with the fan concept? Because he's not a true fan of anything. Fan of these fine bosh tools.

SPEAKER_04

It's not your thing. We're gonna put them at C tier. Are you fine with it?

SPEAKER_05

I can live with that. I feel like old school craftsman fans are are legit humans. Okay. Like new school ones are just on, they just got the shit pulled over their face. Okay, DeWalt. S. They're just elite people. They're just normal, everyday run-in-the-mill, salt to the earth, good quality people. If you ask me.

SPEAKER_03

I think it's hard to I feel like I'd be fine with either S or A. I don't know if I would I'm biased towards just the Dewalt, the brand, so we're gonna leave them on S tier.

SPEAKER_05

I I don't think people that buy DeWalt tools are going around telling everyone they buy DeWalt tools like they are for some other brands.

SPEAKER_03

That is very true.

SPEAKER_05

That's why I think they're S.

SPEAKER_03

That's fair. They just happen to own them and they're fans. Hey man, you should get this DeWalt tool. Anyways, Festal. I'm gonna say you don't like them? I feel like I'm biased. They're my people. I know they're your people. I just think anyone that owns a festal tells you you need to own a festal. That is annoying too.

SPEAKER_02

I don't think that I think that's a Milwaukee fan. I think a festal fan, they're not gonna say anything to you, but they are gonna silently judge you for like it's like uh I have more money than you kind of uh thing.

SPEAKER_03

I can afford festival.

SPEAKER_05

So you just dislike people who drive like no, no, not at all, but it's power tools.

SPEAKER_03

Like you're like it's it's it's not like you're an Aston Martin to like uh I think I think it kind of is.

SPEAKER_02

No, it's I think the difference is with tool brands versus car brands. Like if you have like a Ferrari, obviously you're smoking like someone with like a cheaper car. You could be someone with a bunch of festival tools that couldn't build as well as someone without them. You know what I mean? That's I agree. There's a reality.

SPEAKER_05

You're also the same guy that would say you could outdrive a Ferrari in your golf. You make no sense.

SPEAKER_02

I never I never would say that, but I would say a faster car could lose on not a Ferrari, but a faster car could lose on a track with corners than uh uh you know, I mean a slower car to the handle. But do you get what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03

At least it's tools here. We don't need to act like we're better than just well, actually. Yeah, yeah, okay. We'll put them in it B tier. I was gonna say it's got B or C. Don't put it, don't, don't hurt my P. B's fine. Harbor Freight, S tier.

SPEAKER_02

I I like everyone. It's everybody. It's everybody.

SPEAKER_05

I would drop them to A only because I do feel like people constantly that are fans of the Harbor Freight will tell you you can get as good of a product at Harbor Freight more often than not if you're talking about anything Milwaukee, anything of the brands that make better tools. They'll be like, But you can get that at Harbor Freight. That person that that part of the fan brings them down from S tier. I guess. S tier is like that's your homie. That's the guy you want to go kick it with. We made people at the Harbor Freight. Remember, I bought that. That's what I'm saying, though, but they have that other side of the spectrum that brings them down. Who knows? I mean, there's there's like you're a Bears fan for whatever reason.

SPEAKER_02

That's good. We made the Madden cover this year.

SPEAKER_03

We made the Madden cover. He has no idea what that means. What position do you play?

SPEAKER_02

It's not a curse. Actually, I saw a meme debunk that that was a curse. Tom Brady's been on it, Patrick Mahomes, they won Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_03

A B was on it, then look what happened to him. What's going on with A B? What's happening with A B. He's fine. He's a rapper now. Up next, Hart. Do they have any fans? That's what I don't even know if they have a fan of the game. They're in my DMs and they're insufferable. I mean, maybe B tier just.

SPEAKER_05

Heart people are just like, they just don't know. Heart, heart hasn't done enough. They're not really going for heart tools, they just walk out with it.

SPEAKER_03

Hilti. Did add in here. You get out of here. Annoying as shit.

SPEAKER_05

There's nothing Hilti does that's worth being Hilty. This is why we would. They make great tools, but their fandom is awful. It's like the backladder people. Get out of here.

SPEAKER_02

I would argue that they don't even that their fandom isn't as bad because the people using it is strictly commercial construction. Where festival, you do have a a sect of people that are just hobbyists doing it. Like I feel like I don't know. I wouldn't put them high, but I don't think they're not.

SPEAKER_03

Hilti's biggest thing is their fandom is telling people that like John thinks Hilti's tools f suck. And their fans are like, no, they don't fing suck. No, I don't think they suck. I think they're incredibly overpriced. We'll pop up the episode.

SPEAKER_05

The tools are fine.

SPEAKER_02

I'm the only one here that's bought them, okay? I once went over this. Hilty corded SDS hammer drill. You drive one? Yeah, it still runs.

SPEAKER_05

Still runs. I bought it used for a pack of smokes, two bottles of bourbon, night shift that you don't want to hear about.

SPEAKER_03

Just a different area of the I'm saying like they're specialized in some things. And other things they don't make as well. Yes, the tools, yes, the people. Yeah, but the people are direct formation of the tools.

SPEAKER_05

I'll give you B. Whatever. I'm not fighting it.

SPEAKER_02

Cobalt, a dying breeze. It shouldn't even be on there. No one cares. They used to. I think, well, I would argue this. I think there's a small group of people still left that remember cobalt from the years before craftsmen became as big as they are at Lowe's, where you could go get like a nice quality tool at an affordable price. Like I think they're out there and they're they're they're yearning for those uh those yesterday years. Put them at C, Joe. I put them at C. I think they're on par, probably craftsmen. It's a dime tool brand. No, they're not, but what do you mean by that? Elaborate. You need to elaborate.

SPEAKER_04

Why are you fighting so hard for COVID?

SPEAKER_02

Have you used any of their tools? Even the ones they still sell, they're honestly fairly weird.

SPEAKER_05

Last time I were I think it was a subscriber tool, or it was like a I don't know. It was it was solid.

SPEAKER_02

They make a great miter saw, and it's like the cheapest one you could get at Lowe's, and it's like I'd take the cobalt one over the Craftsman one any day.

SPEAKER_05

Oh, 100%. We're talking about the fans. But if you knew what a fan was, you'd understand what we're wrecked with.

SPEAKER_02

But the fans are still out there. God Sam!

SPEAKER_04

They're still the Cobalt noise. What do you say? Remove the art from the artist?

SPEAKER_03

Well, no, not when it comes to tools. Okay, up next. Makita.

SPEAKER_05

I mean, they're it's a solid fan base, solid, solid people. I don't get Makita people shoving Makita tools out of my throat. They're usually pretty mean though if you try to fight them. On like a tool. Basically, like he was saying, he's like, they make the best very small category, subcom thing, blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_02

A circular saw, the basis of all construction, and they make it a lot of things. It's a rear handled battery-powered B, I think, is fair.

SPEAKER_03

B is fair. B is fair. Oh, R1, the only R S tier. I agree with that. You agree with S tier or no? What is Sean? What are you talking about? What do you mean?

SPEAKER_05

Ryobi's another brand that there's a corner of their fandom that are insufferable.

SPEAKER_02

I've never seen that.

SPEAKER_03

Here's the problem. You don't look hard enough. I love DeWalt, but I would probably argue that if we're gonna like nitpick it that much, they probably have a corner of fandom that is horrific. No, never heard of them.

SPEAKER_05

I've been doing this for 13 years, Joe. Ryo, there's a there's a 10% of the Ryobi fan base that like I don't ever want to associate with. Describe them. Like what are they what are they like? Oh, it doesn't matter. So you're a terrible person if you're not buying Ryobi because uh consumerism and there's no need for blah blah blah. Like that corner of the Ryobi talking to. Right? It's all over the internet. Wait, internet read my comments. I love Ryobi. I think they're awesome, especially nowadays, back in the day, you know. But all right. Uh Snap on. I'm putting them at S. The fan base S tier. They're good people, they're hardworking people. The brand itself, kind of f up. Joe, why did why did you just?

SPEAKER_03

I thought you said Ryobi was A. I did. Uh Joe S tier. Yeah, we'll leave it at S.

SPEAKER_05

I mean, if you guys want an S, that's how voting works. It's with three of us. So Snap-on's A tier, we said super delicate. It's good. I like Snap-on fan. I think I like those people.

SPEAKER_03

Are they S tier? Do you think?

SPEAKER_05

I would say yeah. For me, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Well, you would not go across you two on this one.

SPEAKER_05

I want to hang out with those guys and girls. Uh yeah, I think he can't separate the art from the artists. He's over here still thinking about the brands.

SPEAKER_02

I think all the other brands, I could think of so many different people. The Snap-on, I'm just thinking of like a handful of people that I even. And you like all of them.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. That's what I'm saying. Most part. All right. The one, the only Milwaukee. We're talking about the fans here. You can't do like zoom on that face.

SPEAKER_05

There's what's going on in there right now. Let's do A tier. I'll give them A. They're loud, they're vocal, they're annoying.

SPEAKER_02

They're usually not wrong. But they're right.

SPEAKER_05

I guess you're right. They're right. I mean, they make better shit. They're just expensive, and it's a lot. It's like I'll go back to it. Maybe I was wrong with the Bosch being the Patriots fan, but when Tom Brady was just ripping through everyone in the NFL, you couldn't argue with a Patriots fan. Because they just freaking won. That's what a Milwaukee. They're riding the curtails of a friggin' dynasty. I think Craig tools are they're just like they just don't deserve to be on the list because they have like three power tools.

SPEAKER_03

What about their fans though? They're fans of Craig tools. They're annoying. Big lovers of plastic.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

A lot of plastic jigs. You have any other opinions on Craig too? I love Craig and what it does for the market, but I'm like, I just they're just not a tool brand.

SPEAKER_03

Pula was having a lot of opinions on Craig Power Tools in their fans before this. Were you? Is that all available in the bunker?

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, it can be.

SPEAKER_03

We could talk about it. No, it wasn't available in the bunker. I just wanted to see if he wanted to open up on the phone. I feel like I think that is that a wrap on the episode. It's about to be. You don't want to hear his Craig Craig fans of the channel. Oh, you're gonna put it out there for the people?

SPEAKER_05

I feel like potentially one way or the other. Are you gonna have an opinion?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I used the one line you used. I feel like Craig tools are like the tools you you use while you're uh while your wife's hanging out with her boyfriend. You know, it's like sorry. Sorry about that one.

SPEAKER_03

He said that the other day. That was the funniest shit. Oh.

Voicemails Listener Topics And Wrap

SPEAKER_05

Well, now that that's out there in the ether, we would also love to hear your opinion on whatever. A lot of you guys have been calling in to our hotline and leaving voicemails, and I'm gonna be blatantly honest with you. They're rarely questions or things we can talk about. So let's um lift the level of those up a bit and we can start answering them on the show here. Ask any question. Just ask a question instead of calling and telling Sam how good he smells this week. You know, we love that too, but after the question, if you could. Um, and then let us know what other topics or brands we missed, whatever your thoughts are, and uh, we will see you on the next episode,