{"id":46239,"date":"2026-06-08T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=46239"},"modified":"2026-06-05T09:04:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T16:04:48","slug":"handy-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/handy-stuff\/","title":{"rendered":"Handy Stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Maximize contents held in tube containers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tube Wringer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My new favorite tool is the Tube Wringer, from Gill Mechanical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From their website: \u201cThe Tube-Wringer efficiently squeezes the contents from tubes of caulk, glue, medical compounds, adhesives, and toothpaste. Nearly indestructible, the Tube-Wringer will last a lifetime under normal use and pay for itself in short order.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to sqeezing every little bit out of just about any tube, the squeezed part is left with a zig-zag texture so future usage doesn\u2019t undo the squeezing. Tubes are left efficiently squeezed, and cool looking. My only problem is that I wish I had more partially-used tubes available because it\u2019s so satisfying to squeeze every last bit out of them. \u2014 Sally Rosenthal<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stabilizing plastic shim<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wobble Wedge<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a grad student, I spend a lot of time working on a laptop in coffee shops and living in old houses. What that means: sitting at notoriously-wobbly cafe tables and shimming furniture on uneven old wood floors. Wobble Wedges are small, clear plastic shims with a ridged surface that are invaluable in both instances. Since they weigh just an ounce or two, I always keep a couple in my computer bag (better than jamming newspaper under a coffee shop table). I usually go to a coffee shop twice a week, sometimes more, and find myself having to use them about 30 percent of the time. Sometimes I forget and leave them behind, but they\u2019re cheap enough it\u2019s no big deal. At home, these also work great because they are clear enough to be almost invisible. They are plenty strong enough for a fully-loaded bookshelf and, in the five years I\u2019ve been using them, I\u2019ve never had one break down or crack. Losing them is another story: I once used some to shim a pedestal sink and never saw them again. But the sink never wobbled either! \u2014 Donovan Finn<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Better door closer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Touch n\u2019 Hold<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have a storm door or screen door, you probably have a pneumatic device that closes it. And the device has a little washer thing that will hold the door open if you put down your bags, and the baby, and let the dog go free while you fiddle it down the bar, so it can jam against the piston. It\u2019s a hassle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Touch n\u2019 Hold is a device that makes this a happier moment. The Touch n\u2019 Hold door closer lets you set the door open with a simple tap of your toe or elbow. Then once you\u2019ve got all your stuff inside, just nudge the door (not the thing) open a little more and it will go back into closing mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I use it every day, and it always makes me think of Cool Tools. \u2014 Thomas T. Ballantine<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stick-ons, boosts visibility<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

SOLAS Marine Reflective Tape<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve been using 3M\u2019s SOLAS reflective tape for several years. It was designed for the Coast Guard to use on life jackets, so you know it has to be tough and withstand time, bad weather and wet conditions (SOLAS = safety of life at sea). It is a bit expensive, but it is the brightest and most durable stuff I\u2019ve ever found. We use it everywhere and have put in on just about everything: garbage cans, walking sticks, jackets, kayaks, a bicycle, a stroller, a trailer, traffic cones, automobile door jams (so oncoming traffic sees me right away), the trunk of my car (an instant safety device if I get stuck on the side of the road) and the car\u2019s mudguards. The strips on our mudguards \u2014 which take a lot of abuse! \u2014 are still sticking after more than seven years. Now that I\u2019ve seen how effective it is, I really think it should be a law that all cars come stocked with reflective stripping on door jams. \u2014 Jeff Ellis<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Best Rat Trap<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Snap-E Rat Trap<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are certain less-than-glamorous homesteading chores that I am really good at. Shoveling, doing dishes, and trapping rats. Sigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rats around here are not the loathsome Norwegian variety, but rather wood rats, or pack rats, which look like a big mouse \u2014 kinda cute. In the woods, rats build pyramids of twigs 3 feet or so high \u2014 rat architecture \u2014 always in secluded spots, so you have to be bushwacking to come upon them. In semi-rural areas like mine they cruise human habitations for easy pickins. One year I trapped over 40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years I used the standard wooden Victor traps and would put peanut butter in a little piece of plastic (with punched holes), tied to the trigger with baggie ties. Then I started sheet-metal-screwing a 1\/2\u2033 copper pipe cap to the trigger, which I filled with peanut butter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went through maybe 4 types of other traps until I discovered these. They have a bait cup so the rat has to tug at it, thereby releasing spring\u2014plenty strong enough to ensure fatality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m writing this after getting one last night that had been eluding me for a week. Outwitted by a rat night after night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Method: I washed 3 traps (getting rid of scent), smooshed some bacon in the cups, surrounded by smears of Skippy peanut butter \u2014 mwah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And whack! Mighty hunter. \u2014Lloyd Kahn<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once a week we\u2019ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because\u00a0the possibilities they inspire are new.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 193<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47588,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2387],"tags":[2388],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46239"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47588"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46239"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46246,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46239\/revisions\/46246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}