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The Best Gifts for At-Home Mechanics
Anything that makes life and work easier in the garage is a surefire holiday-gift win.
By
Bryan Campbell
At-home mechanics are essentially hyper-focused DIYers, so anything that makes garage life and work easier is a surefire holiday-gift win. A brand-new full socket set to replace and supplement their existing collection? You bet. A light bar with lumens that give sun a run for its money? Definitely. A magnetic telescoping pick up tool to get in the most unreachable places? You better believe it. These are just some of the best gifts for the at-home mechanic — you can’t go wrong with anything below.
Haynes Manual
Factory repair manuals can get pretty pricey and most likely have more information then you’ll ever need, which is why Haynes Manuals are a staple in any at-home mechanic’s garage. There’s still plenty of information to help you repair your car, but it comes at a veery reasonable $30.
The bane of all mechanics’ existence is dropping a socket, bolt or washer into the dark abyss of a full oil pan or down a narrow chasm in the engine bay. A telescoping magnet is incredibly simple but wildly helpful.
There are very few times in at-home mechanic’s career where the sound of a metal-on-metal impact is welcomed. When the job does call for a hammer, a little more finesse is usually required. A rubber mallet not only takes the sting out of the energy traveling through the handle, but it also is kinder on metal and painted surfaces.
Six leveles of brightness, a 5,000 lumen output and a chemical resistant body pretty much ensures the Big Ass Light Bar will replace any flashlight you currently have – and will be the last one you ever need.
When all the conventional methods of loosening a seized nut fail but defeat is not an option, a nut splitter will finish the job. Using a point splitter and focus pressure, the nut splitter does exactly what its name entails and cracks the nut of the bolt, allowing for easy removal.
If you look into the garage of any professional mechanic shop you’ll see fender covers up and down the maintenance bays. It’s important to protect the fenders from accidental scratches caused by tools and clothing while leaning and working under the hood.
When a job requires two-hands (spoiler: most of them do) and you need a light source a headlamp is the way to go. This one from Streamlight gives you bright LED light exactly where you need it.
Most batteries live in tight quarters, which means getting a grip on them when they need replacing isn’t so easy. A car battery carrier makes life less difficult and lets you get into tighter spaces on the sides of the battery. It also is a great way to handle older or damaged batteries without directly touching them.
Red shop towels are fairly iconic – every home mechanic knows they’re a must in every garage. They’re not tough on hands or skin but do an amazing job of scrubbing greasy surfaces and cleaning any spills. They’re also machine-washable, and so a pack of 100 Utopia Shop Towels can go a long way.
As much as the home mechanic likes to work under the hood of their car, it’s not the most friendly place for bare hands. Hard, sharp surfaces and edges are everywhere, and if you’ve ever slipped a wrench in a tight space in an engine bay, you’ll appreciate the protection of high abrasion gloves. Made with extra grip on the fingers and abrasion-resistant material, they’re an essential defensive weapon in an at-home mechanic’s arsenal.
Unless you’re one of the fortunate ones and have a full car lift in your garage, jack stands are a must. Each Pro-Lift Double Pin Jack Stand can hold up to six tons, so having one at each corner of the average car, truck or SUV is more than enough support.
Getting into tight spaces to clean and polish a surface or cut a bolt or shear an edge is a regular activity in thee garage. The Black+Decker Rotary Tool’s slim body and 27-piece set turns laborous, time consuming chores into simple, stress-free tasks.
For the longest time, the creeper wasn’t much more than a plank of wood with a few wheels bolted on the bottom. The Pro-Lift Foldable Mechanic’s Creeper not only has six three-inch polyurethane, oil resistant, full-bearing casters for a smooth ride across the shop floor, it also folds up and becomes a stool, eliminating crouching and hunching for jobs like tire changes.
A torque wrench is an essential tool for any mechanic looking even to do simple maintenance. When using a conventional torque wrench, you’re essentially eye-balling it – converting foot-pounds to inch pounds or Nm on the fly. The Craftsman Digital Torque Wrench takes the guesswork out of the equation by doing all the conversions at the touch of a button and displaying the exact force you need on an LED backlit screen.
There’s nothing worse than setting out to do a job only to find you don’t have the sockets you need. With a Dewalt 168-Piece Mechanics Tool Set, there’s a good chance you’ll have every size socket to take your entire car apart and put it back together.
Again, unless you’re one of the fortunate souls to have a full lift or drive over bay, you’re going to need a floor jack. The Arcan Aluminum Floor Jack has a three-ton capacity and is relatively light at 65 pounds, so it’s not a complete workout moving it across the garage floor.
The V10 used to be Dyson's top-tier stick vacuum, but it was eventually replaced by the slightly more powerful (and much more expensive) V11. This makes the V10 a great value, as it's usually $150 less than the V11. Thanks to this sale, it's even a better value than the V11 right now.
The CPO jacket is a classic silhouette that never goes out of style. Todd Snyder upgraded this one with premium a cotton-linen Herringbone that will break in and only get better over time.
All-Clad's big factory seconds sale is on, which means there's no better time to buy factory seconds from the superior cookware brand. Like this Copper Core 10-inch Fry Pan, which is a big-time upgrade for your kitchen that you can score for just a Benjamin.
Is anything left to be said about the Eames chair? This is one of the most iconic pieces of furniture to come out of the 20th century and is a must-have for any furniture aficionados (if you can afford it).
These are loaded with some of Nike's best features, including React outsoles for ultimate efficiency on the road and Flyknit uppers for a lightweight, sock-like feel.
Colorblocking is in and we love the color combo on this half-zip fleece. Plus you get pockets to keep your hands warm, which isn't a common feature on a fleece like this.
Using half bison fiber and half wool, the Bison Ultralight weighs less than a pound and offers extremely well insulation. It also sports a recycled ripstop shell with a PFC-free DWR coating and compactly folds into its own pocket. At half off, this is a steal. READ OUR DOWN JACKETS GUIDE
Four-way stretch, seamless construction, and extreme breathability make this our pick for the best premium workout shirt. It is simple, and simply good.
This collab between Outdoor Voices and Hoka One One pairs an award-winning running shoe with OV's sharp eye for design to make a shoe that looks as good as it feels.
Not only is this one of the most versatile packs around, it eschews some of the "ugly" features on a standard outdoor pack for a look that is actually super stylish. We welcome an outdoor pack that values both style and function.
Perfect for winter, these boots are made with fully waterproof leather and vulcanized rubber, keeping you dry whether you're sloshing through snow on the way to work, doing work in the yard, or going out for a hunt.
Everlane does basics extremely well — it's kind of Everlane's thing. The brand's 18-wale corduroy fabric shirt is a great option for the winter months and at half off you truly cannot beat it. READ OUR GUIDE TO CORDUROY SHIRTS
Hydro Flask really needs no introduction at this point, so when you can get a 32-ounce wide mouth with its Temp-Shield insulation at 25 percent off, you do it.
The complete package, this sound bar connects via Bluetooth, has its own subwoofer and passive radiators, is wall-mountable, and can connect via HDMI, optical or AUX connections.
Carhartt is everywhere right now, with good reason. The brand's hardy garments are the epitome of workwear, this shirt jacket included. Flannel speaks for itself, but additional hand pockets and fleece lining round out this wardrobe staple.
This chronograph re-issue of Timex's original military-style watch has an aluminum 40mm case that provides strength without the weight. If you're looking for a daily knock around with chronograph features, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better deal.
If you're a student, there's never been a better time to get a Hulu subscription. The discount also doesn't expire — it lasts as long as you're enrolled as a student.
If you are working out a lot, you're going to need more than one mask. Under Armour has created one of the best sports-specific masks and right now if you buy two you get a great deal.
Todd Snyder's collaborations with Timex always hit. Paired with a vintage military-inspired band, this bullseye design is straight from the Timex archives.
Whether you want to move some of your most frequently used herbs indoors or don't have space outside for a garden, the AeroGarden Harvest is a perfect solution, with clearance for up to a foot of growth and room for 6 plants that grow five times faster than soil.
Adidas used sustainable Parley Primeblue material to make its Primeknit upper even better, then combined it with Boost midsoles to make the ultimate earth-conscious workout shoe.
The Jabra Elite Active 65t are sports-focused headphones (IP56) with great sound quality for listening to music and taking calls. Also compatible with Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant, this is one of our top picks for sports-focused earbuds.
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