Slightly Above Average Podcast
Slightly Above Average is a weekly Podcast built for all guys everywhere. Hosted by John Malecki, Sam Poola, and Joe Meinert, we bring you unfiltered takes on sports, viral culture, content creation, and everyday guy life.
Think of it as the loud banter you’d have with your buddies but filmed, funny, and unapologetically entertaining. Whether we’re diving into NFL hot takes, debating the latest memes, or sharing outrageous headlines, our goal is to build a community that feels like sitting in the garage or around a fire pit with your crew, beers in hand.
We aren’t experts; we’re just real dudes with strong takes on the topics that matter to the "slightly above average" guy.
New episodes drop every Friday on YouTube and all major podcast platforms
Slightly Above Average Podcast
We Ranked Every Shark Tank Tool
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Over the past three years, we've dropped thousands of dollars on Shark Tank tools, gadgets, and garage gear — the brilliant, the useless, and the stuff we genuinely can't believe we bought. Today we're pulling all of it onto the table, but first we're yanking the curtain back on the show itself: how the deals actually work, why half of them are fake, and how a guy giving up 20% of a sponge built a billion-dollar empire.
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Scrub Daddy Obsession And Setup
SPEAKER_08If it's a showdown of sponge to sponge, I'm going Scrub Daddy 100% of time. I have a Scrub Daddy costume Polo could put on right now. Look at that. That actually fits you very nice. Scrub Daddy changed your life. Ac scene on Shark Tank.
SPEAKER_07Over the past few years, the boys and I have spent thousands of dollars on Shark Tank products. And in this episode today, we're gonna be reflecting back on them. The good, the bad, the ugly, the useless, the valuable. Just kind of giving our thoughts on what we loved, what we're still using, what we hated, what we think could have been better, and why Sam to this day cannot say no to Scrub Daddy. This one should be fun. Now, when we got into this video bucket on the on unscrewed, like I don't think any of us saw how ridiculous and how successful these videos were gonna be. Like, am I right?
SPEAKER_05I thought it was gonna be a one and done. Like we do it once, move on. We've done it only only twice.
SPEAKER_08It feels like we've done it a thousand times. Let's ask you on TV, we've done a thousand times. Shark Tank would be the same thing if we could find the product readily available in our categories. I think they're in like season 15. Yeah, they are, dude. They still run that show on on cable.
SPEAKER_07Huh. We haven't got into a lot of the stuff that they do. We kind of just stuck to like tool-centric products and whatnot.
SPEAKER_08But like that and ice cream. What was that one place we went to? Crispy Coney.
SPEAKER_07We did go to Crispy and Crispy King got weird. Um, yeah, it did. But like I I I didn't like I don't ever buy anything like that. Like, I'm I don't look at something and go like, oh, it was on Shark Tank. Like, I should give it a shot. That show that show changed my my perspective. Like straight up. Like, oh excuse me. Our testing episodes changed my perspective. Like, there's some stuff from that that I'm still like finding myself grabbing all the time.
SPEAKER_05I feel like growing up during like the the advent of the internet too, like I feel like I don't know uh you I don't know if it's different for you. I feel like our generation's burnt out of like the sort of pitch model, too. So anytime someone's like, Oh, I've got like this crazy gad uh this crazy crazy gadget that does all these things, I'm like, I don't believe you, this is too good to be true, and I'm not even in the slightest bit intrigued.
SPEAKER_07Like you're not wrong, because you're you're looking like look at our our savior Billy Mays. And we're all like, what an excellent job he did of pitching us absolute and complete and utter garbage, and some good stuff. Except the OxyClean, the OxyClean. Yeah, there was like I said, there was some good stuff. But then you like look on Shark Tank and you're like, these are just Schmoes pitching stuff.
SPEAKER_08You know what's interesting though is like whenever we were doing those videos, researching the products, learning how Shark Tank actually operates, like their handshake they do means nothing. Nothing. Half the deals they say on a handshake don't actually go through. Yeah, I guess the part they don't show, right, is like after you come to an agreement on something, then they have to show them their books. They have to go through everything with the negotiation phase. And then even getting on the show is like a lottery ticket. Like 40,000 companies enter per episode or something like that. And they pick how many? 10. So it's like, holy shit, how do you get on that? And then half of them don't even sign a deal.
SPEAKER_05I saw a video about that. Supposedly, some people go on there and just like make up numbers and stuff strictly just to like advertise their product, or it's like I mean, you are getting like free advertising pretty much just on network TV.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, and they like they try really hard to vet that shit out because it happens way more often than you think.
SPEAKER_08Like, people just want to get on there and get like the publicity because I'm like, being on Shark Tank, you can put it out Shark Tank uh as seen on Shark Tank, people put on their website.
SPEAKER_07I've seen so many times. So, like, what I think is interesting is how difficult it is to get on the show, and then how many products have actually been like solid. Because I I I love the idea of this show. I think what it's done is it's like bridged the gap to like high-level entrepreneurship and then like more or less starter companies, right? Like, we have a couple products that we do on our own, and we're in like, you know, we got shop shades, we got our digital products, we got our merchandise stuff, and like like Shark Tank would be a super solid avenue for shopshades, right? But I would never go on that show because I look at the sharks and I'm like none of them really understand the Home Depot Lowe's ace hardware, like that kind of a buyer.
SPEAKER_08Unless they had a guest on the show. Unless they you so so like you don't know that that's what I mean if you get lucky, yeah.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, so you've got like the brilliance of like like the brilliance of like uh Robert Herzhavek, right? And like his expertise in in software and tech and all of the products he's invested in and all the services and stuff, and then you have like Lori and her QVC experience, and like I love I would just drug go in there trying to like be like yen's it up with Cuban, you know what I'm saying? It's like uh but I think the brilliance of the show is like these a lot of the tools and stuff that we've reviewed aren't necessarily like in the expert categories for the sharks that have invested in them, and some of them have been wildly successful. Like we'll like made the joke about Scrub Daddy, Sam Sam brings up Scrub Daddy almost every day.
SPEAKER_05I actually do really love the Scrub Daddy, and there's nothing phenomenal about that product, it's strictly just loyalty to the brand. Yeah, which is insane. I mean, it's it's a decent product, but it's not doing anything a sponge wouldn't do. The brand loyalty.
SPEAKER_07You know what? I'm actually with Sam on this one. I will buy if I if I'm if I'm going sponge to sponge, if it's a showdown of sponge to sponge, I'm going Scrub Daddy 100% of the time. Like, too, that's what I'm saying. But I think it's a good sponge, even though like as builders, like Scotchbrite has a place in our heart. Like, if you're sponges, give me the Scrub Daddy all day long, and it's because of this video we should we should we shot. So so we did a bunch of stuff that was like I think really cool, like a bunch of products that personally I would have never purchased.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, we also had a video in the works with Scrub Daddy. We never shot. We purchased one of every single skew that they sell. That video never saw the light of day. No, we still have every product.
SPEAKER_07Uh that's when we actually gave them away. Yeah, we purged a lot of it. If you've seen the back of our con, like in the background of our videos, there's an inflatable Scrub Daddy pool.
SPEAKER_08No one ever says anything about it.
SPEAKER_07They sell floaties. Yeah, they yeah, Sam blew that thing up months ago, and it's been sitting in the background in the shop forever. But I I was blown away by just like how good actually some of this stuff was. Now, I'm probably gonna get confused between because we've done Shark Tank and like probably four as seen on TV videos.
SPEAKER_08Should we do a surprise ringer for the for the episode today? I have a scrub daddy costume Polo could put on right now. Do you do you are you willing to commit to the code? Oh, yeah. Give me a minute, we gotta do this.
SPEAKER_07Well, while he while he grabs that, um why don't we like so what was your thinking back? What's
Shark Tank Deal Reality Check
SPEAKER_07your besides the scrub daddy, like top shark tank?
unknownI can't.
SPEAKER_05To be honest, it's kind of hard to remember half the products. What was the let's let's see.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, let's see what we can find. Because uh uh Shark Tank tools. Yeah, fiber fix. So fiber fix was actually like pretty damn solid. Like that that stuff worked well. It was just like such a pain in the ass.
SPEAKER_05It's also kind of a weird product though, because it's like well, it's like a semi-permanent fix. Like you wouldn't you wouldn't want that on your pipe long term. I guess in a pinch it's not bad.
SPEAKER_07You're Sam's real anti the like the the band-aid on plumbing.
SPEAKER_05But I will say though, I've got the wildest band-aid on my pipes at home. I've got flex seal around that, I got a pinhole copper leak, it's just a piece of flex tape, two uh hose clamps. It's still holding, it's been like six months now.
SPEAKER_07We literally, when the pipes were bursting in my house, that's exactly how I fix it. It was flex seal and hose clamps. And it got us until we had a plumber come in with a shark bite.
SPEAKER_05It's definitely it's not a bad move.
SPEAKER_07But that's not that's not shark tank products. We can't we can't get distracted here. Sorry, sorry. Um so we have yeah, the grease monkey wipes, those are trash. The grip clean. That was like the mud. Um that stuff actually worked. That was the OG video that was like the dirt bike rider created that. Exactly. That that was actually solid. We used all of it. Yeah, it was in our shop for the entirety of the bottles that we purchased.
SPEAKER_08Well, I only think that's because we just refused to go buy more soap when we had that.
SPEAKER_07Correct, but it doesn't mean like so. It was actually a decent product. I think we just like things that smell like chemicals here. Like we're just like, nope, it doesn't smell like it's ripping the burning my skin off. So I I don't want anything to do with that.
SPEAKER_05Them chemicals.
SPEAKER_07The Mighty Carver was garbage.
SPEAKER_05Oh, that the Chomp saw. That one was probably my favorite. The Chomp Saw, that was genius. They I even before they were on Shark Tank, they raised so much money so quick for that. It's just like a genius product. It's basically a little safe saw for kids to cut cardboard with. Did you think of them?
SPEAKER_08I feel like your kids would you I don't know. It's it's over there on the shelf still. That thing was sick though.
SPEAKER_07Like I love, I think that product-wise, as far as being like a maker or creator, whatever you want to call us, idiots. But that was like I I have to agree. All in all, best packaging, best product, best like overall experience with a shark tank thing besides besides Scrub Daddy. Yeah. Remember the safety nailer?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it was awful. Like the one that grips the damn fingers. One that was a it was a good idea, but it was just so expensive was that silicone mat. The grip mat, we still have it. Yeah, it's cool, but it's just a silicone mat, and I feel like $50 is just far too much.
SPEAKER_07I'm not gonna lie, I don't even have an engine in my truck, but I've I busted that thing out for something stupid we were doing recently. Yeah. And I was like, this thing is so elite. You just have to, it's one of those tools though, that's like great idea. Gotta remember you have it. Yeah. Like you, you know what I mean? Like, you don't think like, let me grab my silicon mat when you have to take this, you know, tire off or whatever. Yeah, and you have to keep it so clean, too.
SPEAKER_05That's what's so hard because it's silicone, so every little bit of dust or like tiny, tiny rock, it just sticks to it. So I feel like you have to hose it off every time so you're not like marring your paint when you think. That was a good product, though.
SPEAKER_07I think it is still a good product. It's definitely good. Well Walmart. What ended up we've there Walmart has like a weird conglomeration of Shark Tank and AC on TV products, I feel like you can find a lot of them there, and I guess that's like the point, right? But as far as like the the manlier like dude products that we ended up testing, uh I thought that that that cooler was pretty badass that we did in the second video, where like ran it over with the truck. Oh, and the foam through a little escapade to the beer store and it wasn't bad. It's all in the ranger.
SPEAKER_08The foam something. We tried the dippers too. The dippers were actually genius if they worked a little better. Yeah, if you go on your vent.
SPEAKER_05I feel actually I don't know. I hate any device that puts an absurd amount of weight on your vents. Like, I feel like if I was a car engineer, I would hate the fact that these things exist.
SPEAKER_08Like, I don't know. They probably fit a lot better on a uh 2026 Ford Ranger Raptors vents. Giving it away right now.
SPEAKER_05Lincoln bio.
SPEAKER_08You didn't even look at the camera.
SPEAKER_07You were looking at the room. You're the worst. Well, we'll come back to that because he's not wrong. But uh another truck product that I think was immaculate that we just don't I don't need it a lot because I'm not short, is that step up, right?
SPEAKER_08So it's the most useless product. Unless you have a roof rack, no one's using it.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, no one's using it unless you have a roof rack. All right, so you guys were just talking before this episode, like we need to go get some 16-foot two-eyes from the store, and we gotta put them on the bigger truck that has the roof rack.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, if you have a roof, like I just said, you put them up. Well, you're not gonna buy it for like everyday use. Exactly. It's a very small use case. If you have a lot of things, the products are for everyday use except scrub daddy.
SPEAKER_06I mean, hey man, I feel like that's a truck airbed? Like you sleep in your truck every day, like any truck. Maybe you have to.
SPEAKER_05Any truck accessory will sell except a step. I feel so bad. I remember when they first put those steps in like the F-150s, and everyone just got so pissed off. I don't need a step. You think I you think I need a step to get my truck? It's like, please, sir, we're just trying to make this easier. There's older people that have these trucks.
SPEAKER_08That step, like no one uses them on their F-150. Have you ever used that on your F-250?
SPEAKER_07All day long. I use it. Dude, I I hated it when it came out, but I was a young man. Now I'm not, and I'm like, thank you for this step.
SPEAKER_08Wow, I can't believe that. I've never seen you use it.
SPEAKER_07I guess well, I don't go in truck beds anymore, and I don't drive that truck, but like the deck system, I guess. There's the deck system in my yeah, so that doesn't I'm not in love with it, but I I don't hate it though.
SPEAKER_05I don't know why there was so much hate surrounding.
SPEAKER_07All right, so why why is a step side truck accept acceptable, but a uh a step on your tailgate is not?
SPEAKER_05I think because like a stepside bed, it looks like an old timey truck.
Winners And Losers From Our Tests
SPEAKER_05Like old timey trucks were stepsides, and it's like, oh, they're paying homage to a forgotten generation of truck, but then you integrate the step on there, and then I if people want to look at it. They're in the bumpers on big trucks now, so they'll put a step on the corners.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, you need steps. If you have a bigger truck, like you need a step to get into like even me, yeah. Like the 250s truck bed comes up to like my tits. That's tall. Yeah, like that is five feet in the air.
SPEAKER_06You can't just vertically jump on the street.
SPEAKER_05No, I can't, Joe. Not all of us are blessed with hops. I remember my dad used to take my grandma to the doctor's in his truck, and he'd always have to have a stool in there that you'd have to take out every time. Like, okay, you gotta do it.
SPEAKER_08That's not even the truck bed. That's nuts.
SPEAKER_07I kid you not, swear to God. We were so we were on vacation last week. We're driving, we stopped at a rest stop so the kids could go pee. The truck that pulled up next to me was this just giant F 250. It was on 40s, it was as close to the sky as you could get. The compensator. This dude jumps out, he's not a big man, but then his girl gets out the other side and she literally opens the door, drew like flips a stool out of the truck, and climbed down. Right, and then climbed down. Sarah was like, Are you serious right now? And I'm just like jaw on the floor. Like, one, the athleticism of the flip. You're like, that woman has a ton of experience doing this. This is their daily driver. Like, she's doing this all the time. And then two, like the necessity of having that in there, right? This this truck was like it probably probably had at least a 10 to 12 inch lift on it. It was not, it would not be, it's not legal in most states.
SPEAKER_08I'd be curious to find out, like a lot of these, a lot of these companies never even got deals off Shark Tank, but the ones that did, how profitable are they from actually taking a deal and giving up equity? I'd be curious to see some of the numbers. I know like JB Weld, like they got they got bought. I forget what they were called before. The fiber fix. They were fiber fixed. Yeah, they got bought by JB Well. JB Well, JB Well, they got bought for so much money.
SPEAKER_07I mean I remember we we went over it in the in the in the video. I think it was like I think it was like 30 million or something. Yeah, good amount. Like JB Weld's a big company. And and the that's the whole point of this, though. Is like what I uh what I understand about like how we're growing our businesses is like you go in a shark tank to get distribution, and that's where your partnership comes from. It's like distribution, processes, and obviously the capital. Like you hit a certain point in like growing your business where like you need money in order to grow to get more speed, bootstrapping it just takes a while. The the people on the show have the distribution, they have the capital, but the intention for everybody, for all parties, is an exit. Like they're not making their money on profit margin. Yeah, they're making their money on exits.
SPEAKER_08Well, how involved do you think like the Mark Cubans of the world that like buy like you know, get equity in one of these companies is actually involved until they just feel like the whole time.
SPEAKER_05That's what they say in the show. They're gonna be partners for life, Joe.
SPEAKER_08They're partners, but I'm sure, like, I wonder how involved they actually are with that, or if it's like how much of if he ever.
SPEAKER_07He's on one yearly meeting, maybe two.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, that's what I mean. Like, I'm sure that's nuts, though, right? It's just his network is what's valuable, right?
SPEAKER_07Exactly. You have to get on these like executive meetings and and like what this show's about, and and they have to go and they have to they have to report earnings, they have to report like you know, X, Y, and Z and projections and blah blah. Like, Cubes is on that meeting and it's for 15 minutes, it's not in person, right? And then he's like, All right, let me call these three people, and his assistant calls him anyway, and he goes back to like living on his yacht and like being filthy rich. But like that's the nature of like that's the nature of how how it works, is like it's so valuable for him to make that connection or that call that you're like willing to give up part of your business. And um, yeah, I I think it's I think it's quite interesting. And there was a bunch of the products that we reviewed that went through exits, like and and just so like if you want to go on Shark Tank and you have a product, like your intention is to exit. You're not trying to be the best friends with you know Robert Herkin.
SPEAKER_08Going back to it, I know it's like the OG, but Scrub Daddy, they have a new face of Scrub Daddy now.
SPEAKER_05You know who I feel like would be a great Scrub Daddy spokesman, or Roger Wakefield. I feel like he would have the chops.
SPEAKER_07I feel like Shane Gillis and Scrub Daddy would be a phenomenal partnership. Maybe he'd have the most incredible jokes. He's he he's painted as just like your normal ass dude. You know, he's probably still scrubbing his own dishes. He's so rich he doesn't understand that he can go hire help. Maybe I I uh I don't know. I think Scrub Daddy does a great job. A lot of these products nowadays are just doing like more and more obscene things in their marketing.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, you have to.
SPEAKER_05I feel like it's so like their marketing's so smart because I feel like that product would have died out just on like the quote unquote features alone. But I feel like it's become like this cultural staple where it's like I like anytime I'm in that that sponge aisle like be way cheaper to get like six of these scotch brights, but my loyalty lies with you. Give me the Grogu Scrub Daddy. This yes.
SPEAKER_07The scrub daddy holds up longer though. Like I really do think like my like if like a scrub daddy doesn't smell no, like it doesn't get that like funk like that you get on a sponge after like two days of using it.
SPEAKER_05No, but I I will say, even though I I'll buy it every time, I find it a little bit inconvenient to use because you get like a regular like sponge with a Scotch Bright side, you get like that real soft side, and then you need to do some scrub and you get the scotch bright, and they make very bold claims that aren't true, or it's like, oh, you got some some uh some like charred bits on your cast iron pan, just use the scrub daddy. That's not gonna work. It's not it does.
SPEAKER_08They make specific.
SPEAKER_05I've never got I mean it'll scrub some, but I most of the time I have to get like some copper steel wool out or something to really hell are you kicking?
Truck Accessories And The Step Debate
SPEAKER_07Yeah, what are you cooking over there? Sometimes you're throw a little water in there and throw it back on the stove.
SPEAKER_08Better question is what are you burning over there? Hey man, you're gonna cook that shit properly.
SPEAKER_07Breaking bad. Yeah, do my best. Breaking Sam. Breaking Sam's So all in all, there was like I think the concept of Shark Tank is brilliant. I I'd I'd love to figure out a way to do another video that would like we could do it again with products that they just have so many ridiculous things that come on.
SPEAKER_05We should recreate Shark Tank. Maybe fake product, pitch it to Shark Tank, cook the books, and just see if we can get on on TV. That'd be cool. People do that with TED Talks, they'll get like they'll get fake TED Talks bots. I don't even know what a TED Talk is anymore.
SPEAKER_08I feel like you could ever you can go to like Ted like anyone's TED Talk. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_07Like whatever when you had to be like legit.
SPEAKER_08You could go do a TED Talk if you would like.
SPEAKER_07Anybody can wear Scrub Daddy costumes.
SPEAKER_08Alright.
SPEAKER_07I will say though, overall, like there was a lot more gimmicky products than there was like good shit. Like, unfortunately, like there was a couple, like you look at the the truck airbed, like why would someone invest in that? Yeah. I guess I guess there's so much more accessibility now. Like we just finished filming that Timu video and like a truck airbed mattress just gimmicky as shit. You know, and like Timu's gonna have 30 of them. There's gonna be some manufacturing facility that is just dedicating their lives to truck bed mattress. Don't worry about packing laws or anything, just straight from the factory.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, put other people's logos on these bags that like the water absorption bags? Oh, the um what were they called? The storm bags. Yes, those were wild, they didn't even work. They like kind of filled up, but then they stopped.
SPEAKER_07They pitched them as like saving your life from like a like a like a tsunami sized like waves.
SPEAKER_08Half that segment got edited out. People couldn't even see it because you guys kept making grotesque comments.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, oh well, we're gonna we're all PG over here. We slapped the bag. It sounded exactly like an ass being slapped, and we may have gotten a little bit carried away, but I think that footage should resurface at some point.
SPEAKER_07That's why we have the builder bunker. Just Sam slapping the bag 30 minutes.
SPEAKER_08Um and this podcast.
SPEAKER_07So the grease monkey wipes. Like, cool concept. I hated those. They didn't even really work. They didn't work. No, they remember they had all like they looked dirty right out of the bag. They were like asphalt when you're pulling it out. Then we we like the we like the um the muckender, you know, wipes now, but we were using the gator or alligator, whatever those were. Yeah, crocodile wipes, whatever. For a while, like those are good products. So, like a lot of these, I think ideas, idea-wise, are like awesome. They have Hugo's Amazing Tape on there. Sam loves Hugo's Amazing Tape.
SPEAKER_08You use that quite a bit, don't you?
unknownI don't know.
SPEAKER_07You can tape it all. Yeah, you can tape anything you'd like with that.
SPEAKER_06But like the pitch for that was the most unhinged shit like ever.
SPEAKER_08Remember how disappointed we were in the Benji Lock? Because they discontinued it, so we couldn't actually think it was you.
SPEAKER_07You had a lot of heart invested in that Benji lock.
SPEAKER_08He, it was Hugh who pulled the video. He kept wanting to go back to it. No, it's gonna charge.
SPEAKER_07I know it's gonna charge. He off screen was like, guys, the Benji lock's gonna be it. Like it's gonna be the thumbnail, it's gonna be the most commented thing. That's not true. We knew it was gonna be the But it was yeah, it was complete junk. Concept wise, like the idea of like a digital lock, though, like brilliant. I don't know, I'm sure someone on Amazon is crazy. Track that code or team of the floor.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, everyone has fingerprint. Even Harbor Freight sells fingerprint scanners, safes, and stuff. Really? Yes. They sell everything with fingerprint screen.
SPEAKER_07What does Horb Freight spend a day in there just like living in it?
SPEAKER_08Harbor Freight? Yeah. If you're Harbor Freight, if you're watching this book. I don't Harbor Freight loves enhances.
SPEAKER_07All these tool brands now, like they they just so much love hate. We gotta tell you a story about Harbor Freight.
SPEAKER_05We gotta be careful what we say about Harbor Freight.
SPEAKER_07So we were told at this DeWalt event. Hold on a second.
Marketing Hype And Gimmick Products
SPEAKER_07Should we snack on something before you hit me with this? Is this gonna make me sad? No, no, it's it might. It might make you kind of made me sad all the time. It kind of I should have spoken up. I should have said something. Well, before we get, yeah, all right. Give me give me something to bring me some joy before we come in here and you guys hit me with this hammer. Because um, if you didn't know, when this comes out uh a week or two ago, uh Sam and Joe got the uh ability to go to a private event that uh DeWalt threw um down in Baltimore. Uh had just happened to be the one week a year I go on vacation with my entire family and I couldn't make it. Um, but you boys had a blast. It was awesome. Got to meet a bunch of other creators.
SPEAKER_08Their facility, DeWalt's doing some really unreal stuff as far as pushing the limits on what they even were doing for years. It's cool to see them trying to adapt with the times and get involved with the creators and get eyeballs in every different walk of the trade.
SPEAKER_09Yeah.
SPEAKER_08Um it was super neat. Hopefully, we're working on some stuff. Hopefully, we can go back and uh film some videos there. I will say Sam shot glasses. Sam definitely turned into, we were laughing. They were walking us through all their tools, and I looked at Sam, he was kind of geeking out, and I'm like, what's going on? Are you turning into a DeWalt fanboy right now? What?
SPEAKER_05I mean, but I will say Oh my gosh! I was impressed by all of the all of the switched up.
SPEAKER_08I can't believe it.
SPEAKER_05I was genuinely impressed by all the RD and the like the care as to like how this actually would perform in the field and stuff. And I feel like I wasn't there like five years ago. I definitely feel like they're making I feel like I told Joe, I was like, my personal opinion, especially when I was contracting, was always like DeWalt makes like really, really solid tools. But if you want that extra, like, oh wow, this makes so much sense, you go Milwaukee. Like they like spend so much time on the job site, and like from everything they were talking to us about, I feel like they're now trying to do that.
SPEAKER_07And everyone is, but yeah, I think DeWalt's the only one with the bankroll to be able to compete.
SPEAKER_08Dude, they're putting in so much money to not only the RD side of it, but they're you know committing 60 million dollars this year to the trades because there's a deficit in people.
SPEAKER_07You guys remember when I over the next couple years, I don't know what it is specifically, but they they uh I love that, and I think that it's like really cool to see all the tool brands are trying to do something like that. Um, but yeah, so you guys had a good time. Remember, DeWalt had me doing I did a 12-hour radio show with DeWalt before, I think you guys had. I just sat on a Zoom meeting and kept getting put on different radio shows like across the country. That's kind of because they were it was like Trades Day or something.
SPEAKER_08So when you went to the last event you uh when you worked with them, was it in Nashville? Because like we kept getting asked that question. It was in Baltimore. Okay, was it? Yeah, they were asking when the last time you were at the because I told them you'd been to a facility before. They were like, Oh, it must have been Nashville. And I was like, I got it.
SPEAKER_07Pre-COVID was down there and uh I used the I actually have the Yeti cooler they gave me up at the other office because it's really the food in my house.
SPEAKER_08I think they give you Yeti coolers. We got these cool pit vipers. We won't ever wear them because they're not shop shades. No, you're not allowed, illegal.
SPEAKER_05They're also making a streetwear brand, which is pretty cool. Pretty cool. Of course you love that. No, we're not doing that. So good. Their slogan was what was it? If it looks like it's built, it's right. If it looks like it was manufactured, it's wrong. So, like they gave us like a vest and it oh man, it's reversible. It's got a name tag on it. That's cool. We didn't get our names on ours, though. No, but Kristen brought up a good point. She was like, 'cause I like put it on, she's like, Man, I feel like if it had your name on it, it looks like a police vest. And I was like, Us really does look, it looks like a like a flak jacket.
SPEAKER_07You guys just like welcome to the world, welcome to being uh real creators now. Like this is like how about hold on.
SPEAKER_08They um had this new hole saw you drill, it's spring loaded, and you can eject.
SPEAKER_07I saw the clips on social.
SPEAKER_08So hold on, they had a competition, they had this like skee ball thing.
SPEAKER_05It was my most athletic moment.
SPEAKER_08Sam, I wish he were there. Sam's kept jamming. The dude was just like, because it's a competition and they were writing down everybody's points. He's like, you could just throw it. So Sam took it-handed, left-handed, threw it, got it in the hundred-point thing. He marked it down to the hundred points, but Sam never went and claimed his uh hammer drill. He he won a hammer drill, one of the new ones. He never went.
SPEAKER_05I literally threw it. I said, I said, of course. The one time I do some shit like this, John's not here. I was like any other time I do. Sam never does anything athletic when I'm around.
SPEAKER_07It was so fluid.
SPEAKER_05In like, wow.
SPEAKER_07I can't believe they counted it too. Like he gave you the points. The rules. All right. Well,
DeWalt Event Highlights And Tool R And D
SPEAKER_07speaking of athletic, what do you got for us to drink today?
SPEAKER_05I thought we would run the gauntlet of one of my favorite uh Pittsburgh coffee brands, La Prima. These are just little pre-made guys, but we've got just regular black coffee.
SPEAKER_07We've got from your mocha cream. Some snack segments taking a this is way better than what he wanted.
SPEAKER_05Oh, dude, I had a snack and I left at my house. I was gonna drive and get it, and Joe's like, don't get that for him. I wanted uh I got a gallon of Brunton's chocolate milk for us. This stuff is so thick that the state of Pennsylvania for a brief period of time legally made them change the name to cream. They couldn't classify it as milk because it was so thick. Why? It's so good. In my hometown, this stuff is like crack. It's so good. Everybody loves it.
SPEAKER_07And we know how popular crack is where you come from. Oh wow. Vanilla and caramel. Wow, I hate all that. I thought you would love this. I hate flavor coffee. You know this for a fact.
SPEAKER_06I've been about it on this show so much. There's a difference though between La Prima flavored coffee. Shut up.
SPEAKER_07No, it's not that cool. Oh, there's no black rifle all day.
SPEAKER_06John.
SPEAKER_07This is like how pretentious can you be, Sam? La Prima's like the most like Might as well be Starbucks.
SPEAKER_05No, La Prima's OG Pittsburgh coffee. You got it.
SPEAKER_07LaPrima's black.
SPEAKER_05It's like one at a time, but coffees are fine.
SPEAKER_06Fine. It's like that's not that it's it's Joe Revoke John's Yinzer card.
SPEAKER_07This is not Yinzer. What do you mean this is like this is this is the byproduct of hipsters moving to Pittsburgh and then making coffee. This isn't coming from like your grandma Carol's.
SPEAKER_05Look at how long Balunka's.
SPEAKER_07This isn't Pen Mac. This isn't any. No. This is come on. It's good. It's good coffee. Is this a cold brew or is this just an iced?
SPEAKER_05I think it's a cold brew. Yeah, it's a cold brew. It's like a beer aftertaste. It probably I wonder if they recommend you cutting it with a little water. Is it alcoholic? Very strong. Very strong. I definitely think if you cut it with a little water, it's like super concentrated.
SPEAKER_08Well it's getting us drunk this morning. You know, I guess John Assist, but would love if he just brought in an alcohol for us to rip on a 9 a.m. Yeah, might as well. Monday. Tested every flavor.
SPEAKER_07I gotta go fist fight after this.
SPEAKER_08I was at a wedding this weekend and they had Hennessy.
SPEAKER_05No one drank. Have you ever had uh Hennessy tea or Henny tea as they say? Dude, I remember getting to college hearing about Incredible Hulks. Yeah.
SPEAKER_07I used to drink Incredible Hulks and like Henny and I'm gonna be awesome and like I was so stoked to try one because you you weren't drinking that where I'm from. So I mean they look good. They have like that blue liqueur or whatever goes into it. What's it? Cure sal? What's the blue? Hypnotic. Hypnotic hypnotic.
SPEAKER_08Honey and hypnotic is what hit the incredible hulk. What is hypnotic? Hypnotic is I don't even know what it is I just drank it.
SPEAKER_07Bro, I drank that and was like, Yeah, I'm good forever. Like I don't ever need to drink this again. I was 18, I was willing to drink it. I was drinking like out of like ice luges with a thousand diseases on it. I'd prefer that. This is an incredible hulk. This is dangerous.
SPEAKER_05This is tastes like a cookie. Yeah, it really does arguably a little too sweet.
SPEAKER_07There's so much going on there. It's delicious. Don't get me wrong. Like, there's 340 calories in this bottle. Wow. Just tastes like chocolate milk. It does. And there's three grams of protein. Like, whatever's in that should not be in the human body.
SPEAKER_05What a jump. You go from like super, super bitter no calories to just as sweet as could be.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, it tastes like you're drinking a caramel cake. Is that caramel? That one's the mocha. We have a I don't even know what the hell mocha is. I remember back in the day when Starbucks, you guys are probably a little too young for this, but the Frappuccino, like the Starbucks bottled Frappuccino, big deal when I was a kid. My mom started drinking them. And so those are obviously it's yummy. It's just really bad for you. Like, I really don't like drinking my calories. Um and I remember just like stealing my mom's Frappuccinos out of the bulk Sam's Club buys that she would get. Wish I never did that. Just like wired on caffeine and getting fat as hell as a kid, thinking you're doing like, oh, it's adult drink. You're like, no, it's this isn't terrible for you. So which one's this?
SPEAKER_08This is the vanilla cream. So it's not coffee, it's just vanilla cream. Not anywhere close to as sweet as mocha. Whoa, wait a minute. That's definitely not as sweet. That's actually really good. This is manufactured by Schneiders.
SPEAKER_07What the Gottium.
SPEAKER_05What the fuck? What have you done, La Prima?
SPEAKER_07Schneider's not the pretzel company, the other Schneiders.
SPEAKER_05The ones that are in competition with turners with turnals.
SPEAKER_07Have you heard of Marburgers? It's another Yenser. So Marburgers is local. It's Mars. We know he probably my neighbor loves Marburgers. She will buy only Marburgers. It's it's a turn, it's a Marburgers dairy.
SPEAKER_08They're a dairy farm, so they're dairy farm. They supply when I was growing up, my grade school, we got all of our cartons of milk and tea and everything from Marburger Dairy. There's little cartons.
SPEAKER_07My loyalty lies in Turner's for life. Yeah, Turner's. I won't. If if I go in to a store, like if uh if you buy pizza, a lot of local pizza joints around Pittsburgh, they'll have cooler tea. It's usually Turner's. So if I go in with the expectation of getting a diet turner's because you know, calories.
SPEAKER_03They have that.
SPEAKER_07Yeah. It's not as good, but you know, you still get your fix. And if it's not Turner's, I I will 100% complain and not buy it. I'll be like, where's the Turner's?
SPEAKER_08See, I'm in the I'm in the camp of just like, I don't care anymore. I just need something. What has the last least amount of sugar? Just give me whatever brand.
SPEAKER_07I'm with you there, but I'm saying, like, if I if you're buying a pizza and you're already riding the train fat and stupid, like give me a turner's tea to go with it from a local shop.
SPEAKER_08I can agree with that, but I'm saying nowadays, I'm just like, what has the least amount of people?
SPEAKER_07And if you haven't been to Pittsburgh, like if you've been to Pittsburgh and you want to like enjoy Pittsburgh things, like a lot of people, you know, talk about permani's, and Permanes is fine. Um But I would say, like I would say going to get a pepperoni rolled out of Pen Mac and drinking a Turner's tea is way more yinzer than a than a Permanente sandwich these days. Permanent's is gone. Cheers to you two.
SPEAKER_05I don't expect the Turner's to actually taste like tea. It's a full chemical flavor, but it's so good. It's so good.
SPEAKER_08I'm not a fan of that one. It's like caramel.
SPEAKER_05Oh, yeah. Oh wow. That's that's the sweetest one. That one's a little too sweet. They just all taste fake as hell.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm. Yeah, let me wash my mouth out with some some good stuff.
SPEAKER_07Get a cold one. Are you ready for this story?
Coffee Taste Test And Pittsburgh Tangents
SPEAKER_07Let me get a hot one. Hot ones. Hot ones. That's like a Rachel Ray mouth teeny. What you know about that? The mouth teeny. You never heard this name. Oh, dude, this was before like clipping and stuff. So Rachel Ray would put D V O O in her mouth and call it like a mouth teeny. Like she would mix it at 30-minute meals. That woman was unhinged, and she is hilarious, and I'd like to be best friends to her.
SPEAKER_06No, she didn't. What? I've had one of her pots for like a pot's like not like 10 years ago.
SPEAKER_05When you talk about excellent cookware, I mean I'm not saying it's the best, but I mean for the price. A pot's not something that gets abused enough to be thrown in a category of excellent oven.
SPEAKER_07To boil water? It makes sense.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, some sauces and you have a sauce going in there. Have you done sauce on a Dutch oven yet? Uh do you own a Dutch oven? I own two Dutch ovens. It was going on the Christmas list. Yeah, no, I make your Dutch ovens. Uh I have one Lodge and one Le Cruso.
SPEAKER_07La Crusette? Yeah, whatever. Okay.
SPEAKER_08It's a nice Dutch oven.
SPEAKER_07Both are solid. The Lodge is obviously all cast iron. La Crusette is uh lined. Made-in makes some good shit. We have a made in stuff.
SPEAKER_08I have a made-in Dutch oven. Yeah, they're good. Super nice.
SPEAKER_05Anyway, you should be making your sauce in the Dutch oven. He said the Lay Cruise. How do you say that? La Crusade. I thought that was the more expensive one.
SPEAKER_07No, it had, but it has like a non-stick like cutting on the inside. Yeah. All that shit. I was I got married at 30, which you're getting close to 30. And marriage. What are we on our fifth year of engagement here? I've only been engaged for one year, I think.
SPEAKER_08Congrats on that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_07Anyway, uh, when you get married and you're older, yeah, those are the kind of gifts you get. So I have like nine lock like locker set like of different size, Dutch ovens. I'm like, what am I supposed to cook with all these? Yeah. A lot of the same thing in bulk. They just sit in cabinets in our house. I was gonna break people's arms when they try to take them out. Yeah, they're unless it's me.
SPEAKER_08Trying to grab some. I have to get up there with one.
SPEAKER_07I'm like, come on! Sarah's like, I need a ladder and another person to get this. Give me this story now that we got a little caffeine buzz going.
SPEAKER_08Whenever we were at this event, we met a gentleman, I won't use his name, has a YouTube channel, and he knows someone that's high up in Harbor Freight. I I forget what position. He's in the C-suite of some sort or on their board. I don't know. Apparently, a couple months ago, this is uh I I don't we can't really believe it. I don't I don't believe this story, but he said that I'd like to believe it. We did a power toll rankings video, and we ranked every uh toll brand, it's our most viewed video on this channel, and you shit on the Hercules toll brand in a pair of C tier. They called meetings the next day company wide and we're like, Why is why is Hercules here? They may have watched the video over and over again.
SPEAKER_06Why is that a C tier? Why is that a C tier? We explained it.
SPEAKER_08Did we cut it from the clip? No, we explained it, but they were trying to battery. Well, their thing is apparently they're trying to put so much money into the Hercules line. Yeah, they want to compete with Milwaukee.
SPEAKER_05That that's a stop trying to work. Come on, man, you've seen Iraqi, it's possible.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, so our only knock on Hercules is the battery is not proven because it's uh the battery's never gonna be there.
SPEAKER_05We don't need it to be there. Just make the batteries cheaper. Go back to the lead nickel batteries. We we don't care.
SPEAKER_08We just we just went told it work, but people almost got almost, they didn't, but people almost got fired over it, apparently.
SPEAKER_07Am I sorry? I'm what we do, I feel like we are nothing but proponents and advocates for Harbor Freighter. We love Harbor Freight.
SPEAKER_05That's what we were saying. We're like, we're like the least qualified people. Like we're just doing this for fun. Like, it's not like we're acting we actually have like a legitimate tool review channel or anything like that.
SPEAKER_07It's just funny that we're there's no science, there's nothing with dudes like playing with themselves and tools. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Well, I guess I'm well harboring. Make Hercules better. Like, you'll love you.
SPEAKER_08You're doing great. Send us every Hercules tool for free and we'll bump it up to a B tier. We bought every Hercules tool in the store.
SPEAKER_07Like we're gonna do it. Give us every Bauer tool. That's probably what it is. Can we just three are the only human beings on the planet that have purchased every skew of Hercules tool makes it?
SPEAKER_08I don't know any. No one else has done it. Well, no, big time did it after us. They went Us six are the only human beings on the planet that are that's stupid. No, like I
Harbor Freight Heard Our Tier List
SPEAKER_08we gotta do another one. We gotta go do Bauer or something else, make it up to him. There's the dude quit, by the way, in my DMs.
SPEAKER_07He gave up. Really? I think it was day 40.
SPEAKER_08We gotta finally do it, and the whole video is around finding this guy and giving him every bauer tool.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I get like a thousand DMs a day. I'm sure we could throw it into AI, I could find it. Because we could just keep saying day one Bauer or day four. I saw this video of this guy that's gonna be. We're gonna just pummeled with him now.
SPEAKER_05I saw this video of this guy where he was like, I'm gonna work out every day until Sabrina Carpenter goes out on a date with me, and he did it for like a year and a half straight, and they're like, he stopped posting what's going on, and he had to do an update. He's like, guys, I'm sorry, I'm in the best shape of my entire life. I just met a girl. He's like, I think I'm done doing this now. So it's almost like his quest to do that led him to like an even better moral.
SPEAKER_07It's never gonna hurt you to get in better shape, take better care of yourself. Yeah. It might hurt you to bother me and Sam every day about Hercules tools. You might have some better power tools. I was pumped for that. Well, here's the thing with Bauer is there's not enough SKUs in the Bauer lineup for us to do a good video. No, we'd have another 20-minute video. We'd all do up something. No, you have to go, I'm telling John.
SPEAKER_08We have so many. I don't know.
SPEAKER_07I was just harbor freight. I think we need to break our own rule and build something with only Harbor Freight.
SPEAKER_08We have to build a trailer, it has to be like a vehicle. It has to have an engine and let's go build away.
SPEAKER_05We can do the workbench that drives, I'm telling you. It would be great. I'm in. We have the go-kart engine already.
SPEAKER_08Go-karts and unscrewed and Mario Kart it. Everybody gets $1,500. Build a go-kart.
SPEAKER_07We can barely find time to film this podcast, and you're like, let's build go-kart from scratch.
SPEAKER_05You know something we should check out in Unscrewed? Did you guys see the go-kart track they put in at the science center? It's an indoor go-kart.
SPEAKER_08No, it's open.
SPEAKER_07So let's just get a moment here for our editor to pull up the last clip of Sam go-karting. Am I gonna fit? See me in a go-kart? I think they're for adults. Did I ever tell you this story? Okay, so it's Steelers training camp right now as we're filming this, right? There's a go-kart track up by training camp. Ben took us there when I was on the team. And um we didn't know it, but like you gamble on everything when you're in the NFL, like literally, whether it's a dollar or five dollars or you know, more than that. But we get on the track and we start like racing these cars around, and we bet on it, and Ben goes and juices the guy to take his governor off, right? So we don't know. Ben gets on the track and just is like cooking us on this thing. And we're like, my god, this dude is like and and Ben's like I'm talking about like Ben Rothesperger, like big Ben. Ben is good at literally everything, like he's one of those guys. Like, like I'm good at cornhole, Ben like what mop the floor with me in cornhole. Like he played him in pool, like he mopped the floor. Like ping pong, he's like mop the floor. Like he's just one of those guys, and you're like, Oh, of course he's good at go-karting. Like, you know, we just showed his is fast. I mean, it turned out that yeah, he took the governor off.
SPEAKER_08Like I've heard something similar to someone taking the governor off in a race. Hey man, sometimes you gotta do it.
SPEAKER_07He still lost it, didn't he?
SPEAKER_08Uh no, he won't be able to get it.
SPEAKER_05The race was the race. Uh I think it didn't matter who uh who was faster. Yeah, I wish we actually had like some asphalt, like a track, like somewhere to ship it around.
SPEAKER_08We could do one, we just gotta move some logs. We could do one all around there. We could do a whole whole course.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_08Do more of a dirt.
SPEAKER_07What if we bought only Shark Tank products for go-karting?
SPEAKER_05I don't know if they even make one go-kart product, do they?
SPEAKER_07I don't even know if they do either. We're gonna have to get our research agent on it.
SPEAKER_08I you know what they did have they on Shark Tank, I believe they had that suitcase that's like you can ride through the airport. Yeah, that was a weird one. I know like sits like a scooter. How does that make it through?
SPEAKER_07Not only because of your event, but I've sent it to you guys a few times is like the motorized coolers. I have seen that the core has to be a little bit of a cooler.
SPEAKER_08That's another one, yeah. They have the they had well, that was the only one I didn't really love. They had like an AC, you just put ice in it and it blows cold air.
SPEAKER_07Oh, those are pretty popular.
SPEAKER_08I've seen everyone has them though.
SPEAKER_07I mean, well, you gotta think the only other option is to blow wet air through a fan that's gold, and then you get all your they had those too. Yeah, like the portical is a company. Yeah, don't want that. You just come in our entire shops rusted. Like, no. Humidity control in here. Um no, I but I think like
Go Kart Dreams And Shark Tank Ideas
SPEAKER_07we've gotten completely derailed from what we started out with here. Yeah, um, but I think like innovative product-wise, though, like I love the concept of Shark Tank for that. There's a lot of like consumables that we haven't even begun to sniff and touch in that world that could get some legs. And so my request to you, the viewer, with a hundred thousand views, I'm I'm calling my shot right now, a hundred thousand views on this video. Are there Shark Tank products or new services? Is there stuff on Shark Tank that you've personally used that you loved that you want us to test in an unscrewed video? Or even like maybe we'll hit some shorts with them. Please either call our call the hotline and tell us about it, or leave it in the comments because I think that that might be untapped for us, boys.
SPEAKER_08Can I just make a note that for everyone at home? We don't have a number you call. It's a link in the description, and you can just leave it with it. It's a number.
SPEAKER_05Of a link. It's not a number. It's just a link. You have to get in touch with the operator and have them connect you with my app.
SPEAKER_07I was told it was a person on a phone and it was an answer to the phone.
SPEAKER_08Sam's personal cell phone number, 412. Do we have more voicemails? I actually think. Yeah, I was gonna pull some up.
SPEAKER_07Oh, Sam is a 724 guy.
SPEAKER_08724-452. What is it? Um He still got it wrong. You said it yesterday. I'd be so concerned if you knew my phone number by heart. I've heard you recite it ten times to like a hundred times over the years to people. I shouldn't know it.
SPEAKER_07What?
SPEAKER_08I think J. He always like will repeat his phone number to people whenever they call for deliveries for other stuff out loud. So I've heard him two, four, five, three is your last four. Not even close. No?
SPEAKER_07He's like, it's I got a three.
SPEAKER_08What was I looking up? Sorry. Voicemails? Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_07So I'd love, but I think I think we could delve into some of the consumable stuff. Some of the weird shit that like you know isn't necessarily a product, but you can eat it or you can use it.
SPEAKER_05That actually great unscrewed video. Just nothing but un uh nothing but consumables.
SPEAKER_07I don't know if we can handle that. Wait till the I mean these guys will see on Sunday the video that drops because it doesn't come out Friday. Oh, it's horrible. It was the worst eating challenge. It made me want to tire from like life. Yeah, I you'd you'd think we were all equipped to handle that challenge. It was a sneaky one. It didn't sound that bad. It snuck so hard.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, it did. Oh, look, look at this. It came six days ago. Harbor Freight Bower products. We'll go through, let's listen to some of these. Our fine folks leading messages. Matt Macaulay.
SPEAKER_01What's up, Sam? Joe, and my new Ford Ranger Raptor Bro. What's up, John? I just wanted to give you a shout-out and a congratulations on being part of a very elite and exclusive club member. And I do realize it's a giveaway trap. But what I'm thinking is maybe we just little money at the winner and then just keep the trap. Or option two, maybe just get another one. Just have a replacement for it. And somebody. I realize that the winter time isn't too far away. Okay. And I don't know how some of the mechanics are up there, but we might need to get a step on it. We really don't want to lose you as a club member.
SPEAKER_05This man sounds like a much more sly, well-seasoned Matthew McConaughey. He does. He seems like Matthew.
SPEAKER_07He's seen the shit that Matthew McConaughey claims to be. It's like a real life Matthew McConaughey. All right.
Voicemails And The Ranger Raptor Giveaway
SPEAKER_07So one, we did not, we did we had no preface to that happening at all. But if you guys aren't aware, uh the right now you can win a Ford Ranger Raptor uh that the boys and I here uh modified, and that is available on Johnlecky.com. And because you're listening to the show right now, you can actually save an extra 15% with code SAA15. Just go to the site, you can grab some shop shades, you've got some awesome new merch. We are not selling Sam's socks yet, but plenty of uh new cool products, uh bonus entries and all kinds of cool stuff there. So if you want to support me and the boys, that's one of the best ways to do it. And you can get yourself entered to win a Ranger Raptor customized by us three idiots. Jake here has a What do we got, Jake? What do we got?
SPEAKER_08Jake has a show suggestion.
SPEAKER_07Hopefully, it doesn't involve consuming windy.
SPEAKER_02Hey guys, name is Jake. I'd like to suggest a podcast about the best of the worst tools you guys have reviewed over the years.
SPEAKER_05That's not bad.
SPEAKER_02Like the Timu tools or the Amazon random stuff that you guys have found.
SPEAKER_08Best of the worst.
SPEAKER_07I actually like that idea a lot. Yeah. I think uh I think what ends up happening with like the best of the worst is you don't even understand that it was terrible because it just came out and you're like, oh, this is pretty cool, right? Like like like like the drill bit extractor, right? Like dual kind of sucks until you need it, and you're like, this thing rules. Yeah. I'm glad I have it. The lizard cam came in clutch before, too.
SPEAKER_05That was another one. Yes.
SPEAKER_08Like, you know what I mean? We just happen to have that lizard cam language.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, but it's at a fraction of the cost of the good ones that remember the exception.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, off eBay. We oh I you know how hard it was for me to find that actually.
SPEAKER_07You're pitching like it was like, oh, we just oh, we could go buy it. Life's hard. You've got to accept that the lizard cam is gonna take you down rabbit holes you never knew could be. I was just saying you can't just go buy the lizard cam casually. There was a time where you could he's talking more like like Ryobi Bluetooth or like Amazon basic. You know, where you're where you're going back to something that your old tried and true, like your uh what's an old like your old craftsman multi-head drill driver that you happened to grab on discount in 2012. Just won't die. I have that in a box somewhere in the world.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, actually.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_08Here's our friend Tom. Oh, we have it. Tom says Harbor Freight Bauer product.
SPEAKER_07Yeah. If this is the Tom Reber, I think it is. I know Tom. I was on Tom's podcast.
SPEAKER_03If you had to choose between the Harbor Freight Bauer planer or the Harbor Freight Bauer joiner, which would you pick? You can't say neither one because they're both hot garbage. You have to pick one. Which one would it be?
SPEAKER_05Different tools.
SPEAKER_07Alright, so you can do a planer is going to be more valuable to a woodworker than a joiner is. If it's your first buy. Let me explain. You can straight edge a lot of things in a lot of different ways with a lot of different tools, but you can't flatten and surface them pretty much with anything else except a planer. The problem is you still have to figure out a way to flatten one side. So they do work well together. But I'd probably say, I mean, we tested that planer. I think I tested that planer before you even worked here. Probably. Like way back in the day.
SPEAKER_08We tested it whenever our good friend Scott Markwood came up. No, that was the when planer. No, we went out and bought it because we were comparing the shops to what you can just go buy for the same price. We bought the Ryobi bandsaw, we bought that. Yeah. I remember that. First introduction here.
SPEAKER_07But like I feel like a joiner is something that like I don't know. I I'd almost I bought a planer first.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, because I mean you could even make a sled and still get a flat side with the planer. Straight side, yeah. Yeah. I would I'd argue too that I feel like a joiner is one of it's one of the rare occasions where I feel like it's almost a little bit less dangerous to use the floor model than it is those bench top ones. Like there's not much you could do with it. You have such a small in-feed and out feed, and yeah, they're always so aggressive too.
SPEAKER_07So we're uh I th we're we're we're probably team anti-benchtop joiner, I would say. Yeah. We do build bigger shit though. Like if you're building tiny stuff, like it it would work. But like we're pretty much like tables, cabinets, yeah, you know, like home stuff.
SPEAKER_05I feel like, but even like you can spend like an extra couple hundred bucks and get, I think Bauer makes one that's like a little bit bigger, and then rigid makes one where it's not like a full floor model, but it's not rigid got for a while, yeah.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, Tom, to answer your question, go with the planer. Uh you can skip plane and get pretty darn good results. You're gonna lose a lot of meat on the material. Um, and you can get S4 with a planer and a table saw. You can't get S4 with a joiner and a table saw. Um, and you can build, you need S4 to build a lot of stuff.
SPEAKER_05So this is a side note, but there's that uh Bob Lazard documentary where he's talking about like area 51. They call it S4. I couldn't focus the whole time because I was like, he's talking about lumber. He's like, the S4 facility. Who the hell is Bob Lazard? Joe knows Bob Lazard. No, I don't. He worked at S4, man. The the weird propulsion. He was come on now.
SPEAKER_08All right, next one's from Dallas West. We're pretty good. This isn't vetted. Dallas didn't leave a message explaining what this was, and it's only 14 seconds. So I have some worries, but I'm worried. We were awesome. This might get
Content Versus Client Work Reality
SPEAKER_08cut out.
unknownOh boy.
SPEAKER_00I was wondering how you balance all the woodworking you do in your videos with all of the woodworking I assume you do for outside clients and contracted work. Does it make a difference how much you have for outside clients, what you do on a YouTube video? Easy answer.
SPEAKER_07Well, Dallas, excellent question. We don't do any of that. We don't even I don't even know the last time I would say we woodwork. Uh for Mr.
SPEAKER_05Kelsey. Yeah, from time to time. Little things, yeah.
SPEAKER_07Uh but straight up, uh, a couple years ago I made the decision that like uh the woodworking business is not as profitable or as enjoyable for us as the content business. And so that's why we actually started unscrewed and like moved more towards that vertical. Um, and we haven't done any client work, more or less, except for that one thing in probably over a year. Uh literally, in our last YouTube video where I said this was our last piece of client work, that was the last time we did a client's job. Um, we'll do like little things here and there for people we've done work for in the past. I'm talking like like a resurface or spray something, but they have to be able to do it. Engraving some letters and put the C and C or shit. We take no new clients on. Um because it just doesn't facilitate content. And that's the sad part of the world we live in, is like you want to make good videos typically for most people, except for like two on the internet. Whatever you're making for that specific client isn't interesting enough to appeal to the masses to to perform well as a piece of content.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and there are like those unicorns out there that exist, but I feel like in general it's pretty much the Cam and Chris, actually.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, yeah. Or you can get some super goofy projects from time to time for clients that would do well in content, but like you've got to be hunting for those hard. Because yeah, the internet wants to see the wild shit, they want to see the the crazy builds, they want to see the hot tub carved out of a log. Like finding that client would have probably taken longer than building that, and that took a while. Yeah.
SPEAKER_08Um next one's from E Dollarsign. E Dollarsign. E Money. Eye Come on. Well, Atlas versus Ego. Yes. What?
SPEAKER_05Uh Atlas is Harbor Freight battery-powered brand. But when he said I know he means ego, the brand, but he spelled like ego, or I'm like, is he telling what are we about to get into? About to get into Greek mythology.
SPEAKER_04Hey, John, uh Melecky, and the rest of the slightly above average crew. They've been really enjoying listening to you guys, um, getting back, getting into tools and uh doing work on stuff. It's been great. Oh, a question for you guys. You know, you guys have done a lot of reviews on different tools and whatnot, and it's uh made me start thinking I need to get some tools now, specifically some electric lawn care tools. Now, I I was thinking of I need to get into a platform. I need to decide which one I should use. So uh I want a little help with that. I'm thinking either the Atlas line or should I go with something else like Ego? I haven't committed to either one. I have like odds and ends, random electric uh, you know, uh gizmos I got from Aldi or you know, ones that are plug, you know, so nothing, nothing good, no commitments yet. So let me know what you think. Uh I'd love to hear your opinion.
SPEAKER_07Well, one, I didn't know Aldi sells tools. Aldi are you shopping at? Can we come? A lawnmower from the Aldi. I've only been in Aldi like twice. They turned me, they turned me off because I never wanted to pay for the damn cart. Oh, I 3D printed my own thingy stick in the cart. They had one, they put one in homestead when I was down there a decade ago, and I went in and I was like, oh, this is cool. Like, what? I need a like I need a quarter, I need to like keep a quarter on me.
SPEAKER_05I trust Aldi for everything except ground meat because they had that weird moment like a few years ago where they found some horse meat.
SPEAKER_07I feel like they just get like four days before expiration, like bulk shipments of from like home like Costco and see, I think it's like weird overstock. Yeah, so I'm saying like Costco and Samsung. Because you get like I remember going in and buying those Brookside like berries covered in sugar or chocolate. I was like, oh, this is awesome. But I like hated the needing a quarter. Next time I went, I needed a quarter. I had to ask a stranger, it was done. Done for life. It's great for the cheeses, man. The cheeses is okay. Big okay. I'll maybe I'll have to give another shot for the cheese. Yeah, but they turned me off at the quarter. Anyway, never touched an Atlas tool, didn't even know that Harbor Freight had an outdoor line um for anything. Uh big fan of Ego. We have a couple ego products. We've reviewed a couple. We use the tractor to cut the grass here. I've got the leaf blower, I've had that forever. Love the um the push mower was super solid when we did that. Um, you know, the batteries
Atlas Versus Ego And Our Recommendations
SPEAKER_07are are tried and true at this point. They've been around for a while. You get a lot of life out of them. Uh, charge efficiently, they hold charge, they hold life. You're just not gonna be able to use them on other things. I would highly suggest, to be honest with you, to go check out Ryobi's outdoor tool line. Uh, because everything is like really legit, and you can use those batteries on your regular power tools. And we were like blown away when we did that video. Like, I'm honestly, consistently, like, holy, like, holy shit, Ryobi. Like, you're doing awesome.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. That's what I was gonna say too. I definitely go Ryobi. Even if you're getting into that 40 volt line, like there's still I feel like they just have such a large array of tools. But I feel like if you didn't go with like a name brand, we've never tested it. We bought an Atlas lawn mower, but I think the only pro of that challenge. Yeah, or a challenge, yeah. I think the only pro of it would just be that sweet, sweet Harbor Freight warranty. And we thank you every day, Harbor Freight, for that warranty. I looked it up, it says only 30 days. But no, you get the extended one, it's a couple of years, and you could literally do anything you want to. I think you have to sign up for life. You have to give them blood, you're out.
SPEAKER_08Oh yeah. Cut your hand at the store, shake whoever's hand.
SPEAKER_05Anything could happen to a mortar shell, just blow the thing up, they'll replace it, no questions asked. All you gotta do is bring it one color match apart.
SPEAKER_08They get angry when you anytime you take something back.
SPEAKER_05Depending on who Harbor Freight are you going to?
SPEAKER_08Uh they're like happy. Hercules tools back. Like, dude, you would have thought you just ruined this dude's day.
SPEAKER_05I anytime I buy anything and you get that warranty, they're always like almost kind of giddy that hopefully it will break. They're like, please bring it, but we don't care. Bring it, bring us one part of it back. We'll replace the whole thing.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, see, my limited time returning stuff at Harbor Freight. Um, I have a pocket now.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, or customer turn tool.
SPEAKER_08Like, we love you.
SPEAKER_07Obviously kidding. Spam actually went and returned all of the icon tools that we gave him in that video.
SPEAKER_05Um spending that gift card. I haven't bought one dick in a year. What the hell is that uh some other icon stuff I have?
SPEAKER_08Pam Sola tell him the icon. Pam Sola. Dude, you gotta make a burner and go comment on videos like with Pam Sola. Pam Sola. Just to see if people pick up on it. I feel like someone's probably gonna do that now. So if you don't pick it up before this episode comes out, you're screwed. Yeah, until Friday. All right.
SPEAKER_07Someone will go do that shit. Deadline. The heat is on. Well, thank you, Harbor Freight, for just existing. And then thank you all for listening to this week's shenanigans. Um, don't forget, comment down below what is your favorite uh shark tank product or consumable. And if we get enough of them, maybe you'll see another video on Unscrewed.
Favorite Products Request And Sign Off
SPEAKER_07Until next time.
