USE CODE “Speedyshark10” to get 10% off your next Rack-A-Tiers order!

To celebrate Father’s Day, we talked with dad-to-be @Speedyshark.electrician. Bryan is a master electrician with a huge tool collection, so we got him to give a rundown of his favourite Rack-A-Tiers tools. If you’re interested in any of the tools mentioned, make sure to use code “Speedyshark10” for 10% off. Enjoy!

Rack-A-Tiers: Before we get into the tools, tell us a bit about yourself and the electrical work you do.

Bryan: Sure, absolutely. I started non-union doing a lot of residential and then I ended up getting a position in the union, which branched off a lot to commercial and industrial. I’ve been a Sparky for about seven years and had my hands on a ton of different stuff from solar to a mill setting to hospital setting. It’s been nice and well-rounded.

Rack-A-Tiers: That’s great. Let’s go over some of your favourite tools for electricians.

Bryan: Sure, yeah. It’s going to be hard to dwindle it down though.

Croc’s Needle Nose Wire Strippers

 

Rack-A-Tiers: You’ve made a couple of videos about the Croc’s Needle Nose Wire Strippers, what sets those apart for you?

Bryan: I like the Rack-A-Tiers Croc’s, both the regular and the Jr.’s with the V-Cutter. I got them almost two years ago, so they’ve held up really well. I have a couple of different work kits, but those seem to follow whatever my main kit is. I like the V-Cutter attachment that goes onto it for stripping Romex. I just find that the handles are really nice. And they’re not so monstrous like some of the other strippers out there, so they don’t take up a ton of room. And they’re crisp when they cut.

Rack-A-Tiers: Crisp when they cut. We’ll have to add that to the product page!

Check Out the Croc's Wire Strippers

 

The Bulldog Bender Wire Bender

 

Bryan: Next I say let’s talk about the Bulldog Bender.

Rack-A-Tiers: Your fave, your child’s fave.

Bryan: Oh my God, I know it’s right in the womb there with the child. That was such a funny post, right?

Rack-A-Tiers: The best.

Bryan: My wife didn’t know I was making it and I showed it to her. She just thinks I’m goofy as all hell.

So the Bulldog Bender, I love it. And it’s nice because it comes with knurled dowels or smooth dowels. It works wonders because it doesn’t mar the conductor insulation or anything, which is really nice.

But obviously, the joy in it is saving the wrist a little bit and bending the thicker cable. I mean, most people can bend all the cable we deal with by hand and stuff, but it’s nice to kind of give them a break from every now and then.

Rack-A-Tiers: Do you have a recent example of a time when you were glad to have the Bulldog Bender?

Bryan: Yeah, I was doing a service upgrade, and I used the Bulldog Bender to get the service cables into the panel through an LB. I want to try that LB Wire Guide that you guys have one of these days but using the Bender to make that 90 was really nice and getting it into the panel.

Rack-A-Tiers: Beautiful. Glad to hear it. All right next tool, buddy.

Bend 500 MCM with the Bulldog Bender

 

Dirt Bag Magnetic Shaving Catcher Bag

 

Bryan: Next tool?

Rack-A-Tiers: You have so many.

Bryan: Yeah, I know. We could do this all night. The next one, another one of my favourites is the Dirt Bag. I use it constantly. Any time you’re doing work in a panel or trying to cut a hole in a transformer or something. I love using it on equipment that’s not live because it’s important to make sure that metal shavings aren’t getting into your equipment.

Not only can that cause an issue with electrical components, but it also makes work look like garbage if you open up a panel after it’s been terminated and turned on and there are metal shavings everywhere.

So many people use cardboard – that is such a pet peeve of mine. It drives me just up the wall.

Rack-A-Tiers: I know a lot of guys will have their vacuum and go in there and they vacuum whatever’s left over. Is that what you were doing before you had the Dirt Bag?

Bryan: To be quite honest, before I had the Dirt Bag, this is going to sound like a plug, but I was using a Stud Ball with plastic wrap around it just because the magnet is so strong. Generally, you don’t always have the luxury of sticking a vacuum nozzle into a panel, especially if it’s really busy. So having something like that, really nice and small, that can get into the corners a lot better than a vacuum. I guess it depends on the attachments you’re using, but more often than not, I would use a Stud Ball or a magnet that was near me if I didn’t have the Stud Ball with me.

Save Your Panels with Dirt Bag

 

Stud Ball Magnetic Stud Finder

 

Rack-A-Tiers: Speaking of the Stud Ball, it sounds like you were able to use it in place of the Dirt Bag, but what else do you find yourself using it for?

Bryan: Well, doing a lot of commercial work, which is a big focus at my job right now, it’s really great for finding steel studs. It’s actually quite impressive how much drywall it can go through to find the steel studs or even find screws and nails for wood frame stuff as well.

Rack-A-Tiers: Yeah, and I saw a recent video you did that showed how you can use the stud ball to lift pots, pans, mason jars, and all kinds of things really.

Bryan: Well, I just wanted to show how diverse it could be. I mean, it can lift up anything. I felt taking it around my kitchen would show how strong the magnet is.

View the Stud Ball Magnetic Stud Finder

 

Allen Head Driver Bit Kit

 

Rack-A-Tiers: Another good one I wanted to talk about is the Allen Head Bit Kit.

Bryan: Yes, I actually use that a lot. I have a video on my Instagram page. It’s really good. I try not to use them on panel lugs. You could strip them out really easily.

Rack-A-Tiers: Disclaimer.

Bryan: Yeah, exactly. I put mine in my multibit screwdriver a lot, which is a good use for it. That way, if you are in a panel, you can use the Allen Head Bits in your screwdriver. That way you’re not using your impact to wrongfully torque your lugs.

Rack-A-Tiers: Never wrongfully torque lugs.

Bryan: Don’t strip out those lug bolts because they’re hard to find.

Check Out the Allen Head Driver Bit Kit

 

Stingray Wire Pulling Guide

 

Rack-A-Tiers: What else have you posted recently that stood out as an awesome tool people are interested in?

Bryan: I really enjoy the StingRay. It attaches easily on a T-bar ceiling. My favourite part about it is I don’t get all of the eye rolls when I’m working in an office and you’re pulling BX through a ceiling while everyone’s trying to sit on their phone and do their work. Because before the StingRay, I would use cardboard, surprise, surprise, and tape it to whatever part of the ceiling I was pulling over. I’m sure there are better ways to do it, but it’s very hard to keep armoured cables silent in a T-bar ceiling.

Rack-A-Tiers: Yes, a lot of noise.

Bryan: Oh yes, it’s so noisy. Most of us are not working after hours, so we have to be at least cognizant of the noise that we’re making and the mess that we’re making. So, something like that that offers a bit of peace in areas that you’re working with. At least people can smile when you’re working around them instead of glaring at you. I’ve caught a couple of evil eyes from working without something nice like the StingRay.

Rack-A-Tiers: And with cardboard, you probably find that the wires get a bit stuck on it if it’s ripped or falls off because it didn’t get taped down well.

Bryan: It basically always rips, yeah.

Get the StingRay Wire Pulling Guide

 

Double-Ended Impact Bits

 

Rack-A-Tiers: You’re a big fan of the good ol’ double-ended impact bits, right?

Bryan: Oh, yeah. I have so many of those right now, which is just beautiful. I love the double-ended impact bits. My favourite is definitely the two Robbies, but I do like the Robbie and the Phillips.

Even though I’m definitely a fan of Robertson Screws, there are a lot of Phillips out there and the bit fits really nicely, but it’s nice that you can flip it on an impact. It really cuts down having to look for bits. You just need one and have it sitting there. Throw it in your holds-a-bit.

Rack-A-Tiers: It’s a good time saver in that way, having both the bits right there, ready to go, when you’re working with both.

Bryan: Yeah, especially if you’re doing residential. Although, when you’re putting on devices, I wouldn’t exactly recommend using your impact, at least not with your terminal screws, but for those 632s and 832s machine screws for the device straps, it’s really nice to have both ends on your impact.

View Our Impact Bit Collection

 

Reemer Bit – Pipe Reaming Bit

Rack-A-Tiers: I know you’d mentioned in the past you were quite a fan of the Reemer Bit.

Bryan: Yes, I still favour that because I actually find it’s a little more robust than the double impact bit. It’s definitely cool in a commercial setting when you’re dealing with a lot of pipe, because a lot of times if you’re running big long runs of conduit, instead of hopping on and off your lift all the time, you do a quick cut and hop on your lift. You don’t want to go back down because you forgot to ream it proper, it’s just nice having it in your impact.

Rack-A-Tiers: Nice, yeah. And because of the metal shaft, it does make it a bit stronger in a way.

Bryan: Yeah, it just seems a little more heavy-duty. And I’ve actually used it to shave off some wood that I needed to cut before and it worked pretty well.

I was cutting out a box and I cut it a little too small and I had the Reemer Bit on my impact, so I just turned my impact on and went around the hole and it reamed out the hole a little bit bigger.

Add the Reemer Bit to Your Kit

 

Shim My Box

Rack-A-Tiers: I know you made a video about the Shim My Box, why do you think people should use it?

Bryan: Yes, definitely. And that came with some DMs telling me to use cut-up Marrettes and to use pens and all this other stupid stuff. But like when you come down to it, the whole point of everything is professionalism.

I’d rather use a tool that is actually meant for it, even if it costs marginally more. When you’re using marrettes, it’s still costing you money, but it’s a lot more time-consuming if you have a bunch of different plugs in a row, you have to do it for.

The one thing that you got to pay attention to is if you are shimming out your box, if it is surrounded by combustible material, you have to use a proper sleeve. You can’t just use the Shim My Box anywhere because you don’t want to use it with wood or whatever.

Check Out Shim My Box

 

Rack-A-Tiers Hoodie

Rack-A-Tiers: I see that you are also the proud owner of a Rack-A-Tiers hoodie.

Bryan: Yes! One of my favourite hoodies. I don’t know how it works, but definitely an awesome all-weather hoodie. Except, I wouldn’t wear it in Kamloops in the summer because it gets pretty damn hot here.

It definitely looks cool though. I’ve had some comments on it. Every time I get something from Rack-A-Tiers, everybody around me seems to think that they deserve it. And they’re like, “Why didn’t you get me one?”

No hoodie this time for you, sir. Maybe next time.

Rep Rack-A-Tiers with this Hoodie

 

Jet Level

Rack-A-Tiers: I think we can do a couple more tools, maybe the Jet Level next?

Bryan: Yeah, yeah, definitely. That’s actually in my current everyday bag right now. I like it for bending conduit because it’s got several different vials with their angles.

And it’s nice because it’s got a magnet on the backside, which back to the magnet stuff helps you clean up metal shavings. It also sticks to equipment when you need to free up a hand or stick to the conduit when you’re trying to bend it to a proper degree.

Rack-A-Tiers: Yeah, perfect. And it looks pretty cool too, eh?

Bryan: Yes, it looks menacing.

Buy the Jet Level. It's 'Menacing'

 

Rack-A-Tiers Electrician’s Combo Tool Belt & Bag

Rack-A-Tiers: I know you’ve been using the Rack-A-Tiers tool belt for a while too, how’s that been treating you?

Bryan: Yeah, I have the electrician’s combo tool belt and bag. That’s what I use when I go to residential sites. The pockets are really nice and big. There’s tons of storage. It’s definitely the best belt that I’ve found that I’ve used. I tried a lot of different tool belts. Since I started, I went through a phase where I had a different one every like six months, just trying it out. And then I’d sell it, move to something else. And the Rack-A-Tiers combo has been the last one I’ve owned.

Rack-A-Tiers: Wow, what a review!

Bryan: Yes. Yes. I quite enjoy it, but I do have to get a pair of those suspenders because I’m getting older.

Get Comfy - Get the Electrician's Combo Belt

 

The 12 Must-Have Tools for Electricians

Well there you have it, 12 tools for electricians that will make you say “How did I ever live without these?!” Use the coupon code below for a discount on your next Rack-A-Tiers order. Shoutout to Bryan for giving his expert opinion and some helpful tips, make sure you follow him on Instagram: @Speedyshark.electrician

USE CODE “Speedyshark10” to get 10% off your next Rack-A-Tiers order!