Best Tools 2022

Oct 03, 2023

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They won't all fit in your toolbox, but these are the essential tools you need for all sorts of repair jobs, DIY projects, and general upkeep.

Half the fun of embarking on a DIY project or maintaining your home is choosing the best tools for the job. As the years go by and your projects get more ambitious, you’ll likely accumulate hundreds of tools like we have. But these are the essential tools we simply could not live without, and we turn to them time and again for general upkeep and specialized jobs. We guarantee that each will earn its forever spot in your toolbox, shed, and workshop, too.

Bobbi Dempsey has been immersed in a broad range of construction, maintenance, and home renovation environments for more than 30 years, from both a personal and professional standpoint. She and her husband owned a maintenance and construction business for approximately 20 years. A passionate DIYer, Bobbi has spent more than two decades actively involved in the seemingly endless renovation of her home, a fixer-upper built in the 1800s. She has written about home repair and renovation for a variety of outlets and is the author of The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Home Inspections. She firmly believes that everyone—whether a trade professional or layperson performing basic routine home repairs—should have a core collection of reliable, high-quality tools. In addition to relying on her own intimate familiarity with tools, Bobbi consulted with Popular Mechanics’ test editors to develop these recommendations.

Save room in your toolkit or junk drawer without sacrificing performance with a multi-bit screwdriver. Our favorite is Channellock's 13-in-1 Ratcheting Screwdriver. Choose from slotted, Phillips head, star-shaped, square, and nut-driving tips, and store whichever bits you aren't using in the handle. The ratcheting design delivers 225 inch-pounds of torque while decreasing the likelihood that you’ll strip screws.

Cordless drills are efficient, powerful, and portable. Not to mention, they can be just plain fun to use. This DeWalt model comes with two rechargeable batteries, a charger, and storage case. The compact design can squeeze into tight spaces, and we particularly like its three-way adjustable LED work light, which is incredibly bright.

Between the high-quality standards DeWalt products are known for and the titanium coating that makes this set extra durable, you can expect these drill bits to last a long time. Most of the bits in this set have a "Pilot Point" tip design, which saves time and helps you get cleaner, more accurate results.

If you’re hanging anything, especially something heavy, you’ll need a stud finder to ensure that your item stays securely in place. The Bosch GMS120 is the best stud finder we’ve tested and was able to locate stud centers within an eighth of an inch. It can also detect live AC wiring, metal objects, plastic plumbing pipes, and rebar in concrete.

There are nearly two dozen types of hammers out there, but none are as important as your basic curved-claw hammer that drives and removes nails. The 13-inch Curved Claw Solid Steel Hammer from Estwing is made in America and forged in one piece for increased durability. The 16-ounce head weight offers power, and the handle features Estwing's patented shock-reducing grip.

A demolition hammer is typically a non-glamourous, no-frills type of tool, and this one proves that you don't need to be flashy or fancy to get the job done and deliver results. The fiberglass handle is comfortable and not too heavy but surprisingly tough. It boasts a forged steel head that can power through your toughest jobs without sustaining wear or damage.

Another helpful demolition tool is a pry bar. DeWalt designed this heavy-duty model with three nail pullers in addition to the curved end for removing trim and paneling. For more routine prying and scraping jobs, choose the Stanley 12-Inch Wonder Bar.

An Allen wrench, sometimes known as a hex key, performs more like a screwdriver: It fits into a fastener head instead of around it, like most wrenches. The tool is handy for set screws and ready-to-assemble furniture. This 26-piece set from Husky includes a range of SAE and metric sizes. Each key is stamped with its size and has a long and short arm so you can use it in tight spots.

An adjustable wrench saves you space and money because it can tackle various tasks, unlike the fixed jaw of a combination wrench. The Channellock 8WCB has a maximum jaw capacity of 1.5 inches with a ruler on the head that takes the guesswork out of setting precise widths. Remember: Apply force to the broad edge instead of the movable one to protect your wrench.

A pipe wrench is one of those tools that can't pull double duty, but when you need to hold a pipe and fittings, it's the only thing that will work. (And using them the right way ensures your investment will last.) This Milwaukee model is more convertible than most. You can adjust the handle length for a 10-, 18-, or 24-inch tool. The longer options provide more leverage and reach but can be limiting in tight areas.

For fastening or loosening nuts and bolts, you need a socket wrench set. This 45-piece Tekton kit includes ¼-inch and ⅜-inch drives. Use the former for appliance and electronics repair and the latter for light-duty automotive work and appliance maintenance. The set also has 36 hexagonal sockets in imperial and metric sizes, a ratchet-compatible spinner handle, and an adapter that lets you use the sockets with a power driver.

Unlike an impact driver that works much like a cordless drill, an impact wrench is designed to tighten and loosen hex-hed bolts, nuts, and lag screws. But the Bosch Freak is half–impact wrench, half–impact driver. It has a quarter-inch hex-shank holder compatible with impact sockets or hex driver bits. Thanks to an impressively fast 3,400 rpm, the Freak easily removed lug nuts on an F-250 with minimal vibration and noise.

Patented in 1924, locking pliers might be more familiar to some people under the brand name Vise-Grip. Decades later, a Vise-Grip is still a reliable choice when you need a powerful grip. Irwin's 10-inch model has a maximum jaw capacity of 1⅞ inches and can be used as a wrench or a welding clamp. It also includes a wire-cutter, just like the early models.

Tongue-and-groove pliers were first invented in 1933. Similar to an adjustable wrench, users can set the jaw capacity for their given need, traditionally by moving a pin along a series of grooves. The Irwin Vise-Grip 10-Inch GrooveLock Pliers improves on that design with a press-and-slide button and 16 groove positions. The pliers spread to a maximum of 2¼ inches and hold pipe up to 1½ inches in diameter.

Needle-nose pliers have long, slender jaws that are ideal for fishing dropped screws out of tight spaces and performing exacting tasks like fastening wire to an outlet receptacle. This pair from Klein is 8 inches long, features a smooth-moving joint, and has comfortable handle pads. The tool also has sharpened edges for snipping wires.

For more serious wire or cable cutting, choose a heavy-duty linesman pliers, which are also called side cutters and electrician's pliers. This 9½-inch Knipex model cuts soft and hard wire, comes with a built-in crimper, and has a long cutting surface for chopping large bundles. The serrated jaws of Lineman's pliers also provide a secure grip for pulling or holding things in place.

Most electrical jobs are made easier with a wire stripper, which deftly removes insulated tubing from wires. Klein's Multi-Purpose Electricians Tool does that and more. It has front, mid, and rear shears; a crimper; and bright, easy-to-read markings. The mid shear is long enough to cut a standard 12-2 NM-B building wire, and you can adjust the tension on the pivot for the smoothest cutting.

A multimeter combines a voltage tester—a critical safety tool for electrical work—with the ability to measure current, resistance, and more. As soon as you learn how to use one, it becomes a powerful part of your setup. We regularly turn to the highly accurate Fluke 115, which also measures continuity, frequency, and capacitance and can display the minimum, maximum, and average readings on its large screen.

If you’re hanging pictures or building almost anything, you need a level. Empire designed this I-beam with durable aircraft aluminum and impact-resistant vials, which the company says are accurate to 0.0005-inches per inch in all working positions. A straight line is all but guaranteed.

Bobbi Dempsey is the former owner of a construction and property maintenance business and a die-hard DIYer whose main project these days is her 100-plus-year-old home that's a never-ending series of home improvement challenges and adventures; she has written reviews, product roundups, and shopping guides about drain snakes, all manner of saws, nostalgic toys, and more. She's an economic justice fellow at Community Change and a reporting fellow at Economic Hardship Reporting Project. In addition to Popular Mechanics, she has written for a range of publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Muscle & Fitness, and Parade.

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