Asked by JerseyTomatoWires · Sep 19
4th year in 164... cleaning out my tool bag this weekend and found a 'professional' 47-piece screwdriver set I bought my first month. Used two of them. Ever. My foreman laughed at me then and he's still laughing. What's the worst tool you bought when you were starting out... so the first-years reading this don't make the same mistake. Appreciate it
Honestly a $300 laser level my first year, to hang a few fixtures straight in Asbury. A $15 torpedo level did the same job. Learn on the cheap version first.
A cheap non-contact voltage tester. It told me a circuit was dead when it wasn't. I learned to test with a meter I trust, and to check the tester on a known live source before and after. That one isn't funny; buy the good meter.
A pipe threader I bought used from a guy in Lodi my second year. Weighed more than me, I used it twice, and it sat in my mother's garage for a decade. Kid, rent the big stuff.
First place goes to the students who buy the giant rolling toolbox before they've had one day on a job. Second place, anything with 'kit' in the name. Ask me how I know: I bought both.
A 'pro' drain snake from the big box store. Kinked the first day lol. Now I use the shop machine.
that's the one my foreman yells about too... test the tester first