Craftsman Ratcheting Screwdriver — World-Class Design For $25

Kevin Kelly featured this nonpareil tool in the December 2 edition of his (free) Cool Tools weekly e-newsletter.

As for me, I put this device in the pantheon of industrial design for the following reasons:

1) It's an absolutely gorgeous piece of no–nonsense brutalist form–follows–function eye candy. The signature Craftsman yellow–and black color scheme; the stenciled model number on the fat, grippy rubber barrel; the raised elliptical traction bumps running the length of the handle; the dense, heavy weight of the tool in your hand; it's just so right.

2) While the tool has 15 (!) different screwdriver bits, the 14 you're not using are safely and securely stored in a pull–out barrel insert (top) which has a snug holder for each, easily changed without teeth–gnashing or knuckle–bashing.

3) The ratcheting mechanism is superb, tight and bi–directional; even better is the fact that it's so beautifully incorporated into the tool that you can figure it out without any instructions whatsover. There's also the option of using it as a regular screwdriver without the ratchet function, and you can change modes with the hand doing the work without even looking — it's that nicely done.

4) They magnetized the barrel to hold your screw in place — lagniappe.

If this kind of quality design and attention to human factors and ergonomics were applied to our computers and cars, life would be so much better — and a lot more affordable.

$24.99 buys you one great tool here.

[via Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools]