Seven years of Cool Tools Gift Guides | Cool Tools

General Purpose Tools

Seven years of Cool Tools Gift Guides

A compilation of our favorite gift suggestions

For the past seven years, we’ve released a series of holiday gift guides. The selections are, for the most part, timeless. Here they are:

2019 Gift Guide

2018 Gift Guide

2017 Gift Guide

2016 Gift Guide

2015 Gift Guide

2014 Gift Guide

2013 Gift Guide

-- Mark Frauenfelder 11/27/20

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Bison AirLighter 420 I have used this tool through three fire seasons and I think it has completely solved a 40-year problem: how do I get a fire started or restarted in my woodstove? I have used hand bellows, air pipes, cardboard fans, and torches. They all work, but my wife and I have begun to get sensitive to wood ash. The ashier the wood, the worse our respiratory issues. With the Bison AirLighter 420, I can keep the fire doors open a minimal time and along with some air filtration nearby, we are good to go. The reason this tool is so successful is that it is both a butane lighter (very efficient) and a battery-powered fan. Get the fire started with the lighter portion, then switch to the bellows. Too easy. I can go an entire season with one set of rechargeable batteries. The tool gets a battering but keeps carrying on.