Have you ever put something back together after “fixing” it only to discover you have a few parts left? Conversely, have you ever discovered that you’re missing a screw you need to secure a bracket or put the casing back on straight?
If you can honestly answer “no” to the above, you probably don’t own a set of screwdrivers anyway and can safely skip the rest of this review.
The Problem This Wristband Solves
In practice, most people use a lid or tray of some kind to corral all the washers, bolts, pins, and other fasteners that accumulate as you burrow deeper into some machine or appliance. The problem with this is that, even if you promise yourself you won’t, you’re likely to step on it as soon as you turn around, sending everything flying.
One solution to this is to use a container with a lid, but this makes it nearly impossible to find a particular part without pouring the whole lot into your palm. A better way is this magnetic wrist band that allows you to keep track of fasteners and small tools just by sticking them onto your arm; you can even organize them by type and locate each one at a glance.
Being magnetic, this obviously won’t work for parts made from most types of stainless steel, aluminum, brass, and so forth. Screwdriver bits stick to it just fine, though, and it can even hold heavier parts like valves and connectors from heaters, generators, or air compressors.
Having almost everything you need immediately accessible on your wrist is very convenient. Instead of having to look away to search for a part while holding something in place, you can keep your eyes on your work while retrieving another nail or changing the socket on a wrench. As every handyman knows, making things easy for yourself automatically leads to a cleaner, more precise result. This little accessory therefore not only makes working more pleasant, but also helps you do your best work.
How RAK Stacks Up
The strap is adjustable to fit various wrist sizes, while a mesh inner layer prevents it from soaking up sweat. Your wrist may end up briefly sticking to metal parts or catching on projections in tight spaces like ducts, but the velcro fastening is far from easy to snap off, and carrying what you need on your wrist is certainly better than your shirt pocket in this kind of situation.
This brings us to one major omission in the design: there’s no pouch in which to store non-magnetic parts, while the addition of a few elastic loops you could use to hold small tools would also have been appreciated.
Still, overall and compared to similar products, this magnetic wristband is very pleasant to work with. You’ll need to be aware of its limitations (particularly in terms of how magnets work), but once you’ve gotten used to it, you’ll be wondering how you used to get along without it.
