Inferior equipment

[seanandruby]

Has anyone found that the pipe testing kits, ie bungs, manometer etc; these days are s**te tried over 30 new bungs yesterday and managed in the end to get a test with 2 of them. the rubber tube is about a metre long and when its cut into three it doesnt extend out of the trench. the caps also leak like f**k. its so annoying having to spend more time testing a run than it takes to lay one.

[lutonlagerlout]

its like most tools these days sean,they are NOT built to last any more my first level was a solid steel stabila which 25 years ago cost £50 you now get 1200mm levels by stabila for £30ish but they are lightweight and only last 2 years tops .
i remember chippies sharpening their saws every friday,now they just throw them away once a week
LLL

[Stuarty]

wheelbarrows - need i say any more ? heh

[seanandruby]

...Yes but these were brand new never been used before.
tools are s**t today, when did you ever see a wrecking bar bend? now they end up like bananas on the first pull. even tapes, the paint peels off almost straight away.

[James.Q]

my new wrecking bar is bent my tape is fxxxxed and dont get me started on knee pads . And i go through floats like toffee. :p

[Edgecraft]

Hi

Your right, most modern tools are C**P !

I tend to rely on aging relatives for my best tools, generally require a bit of wire wool to spuce them up, but then their ready for another lifetime of work.
My old fella has passed on most of his tools to me now he's getting on, using the excuse "you keep hold of them, then I'll know where to find them if I need them".
The funny thing is a lot of the tools were left to him !

Darren

[lutonlagerlout]

what is it they do to tapes so that they self destruct after 14 days usage? i bought 15 brand names ones off a mate who works in the trade last summer ,i have 3 left
they just seem to give up the ghost for the slightest thing
LLL

[matt h]

Thats why i was gutted when my mobile workshop was cleaned out...literally.. not a nut, bolt , anything laeft. twenty odd years of tool gathering gone in an instant... Hanging would be too good iykwim

[yourgardenworks.co.uk]

Can anyone explain to me why tapes always fookin bend int middle, arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[mickavalon]

bought a so called stabila heavy duty brickies level with a hard plastic strip running along the top, supposed to be able to give it a little tap now and again, thought it would be handy on the old paving, bent after about 3 months, and i haven't given it any welly. A cynic might think it was to keep us spending, especially on feckin wheelbarrows

[Rich H]

How about spades? Invert at the first sign of trouble and then useless forevermore.

I have two reliable tools - one is a wooden-handled rubber mallet or maul and the other is a marshalltown brick trowel. Both I look after and seemed to have lasted for ages.