Tools in Gear

Only Tools: the latest headlines first, then BRO’s own Tools stories and video. All of Gear →

The Asbestos You Can Live With and the Kind That Stops Work

Nine-inch tiles, popcorn ceilings, gray pipe wrap and attic vermiculite. What to leave alone, what to test, and the moment you put the tools down.

GuideCountry BroCal Brennan23 Sept 20266 min

The lift that wrecks your back is the last one of the day

Eighty-pound bags, feed sacks and awkward loads will find the weak link eventually. Fix your technique, then buy the machine that does it for you.

Ask BRO

Give me something to do with my kids this weekend

Ask it

GuideBRO for HerNina Castellan23 Sept 20265 min

Turn the iron down and stop taking the same pass twice

Most heat damage isn't the tool, it's the temperature you never changed and the third pass you take because the first two didn't hold.

Names.com — The name is the first thing you sell

PartnerNames.com

BRO Seniors6 min read

How to hand down tools, land and heirlooms without a fight

The estate fight almost never starts over money. It starts over a hand plane worth sixty dollars and a promise nobody wrote down.

Poll

When did you last ask for a raise?

GuideCountry BroCal Brennan23 Sept 20265 min

The concrete dust you can't see is the part that gets you

Cutting block, pavers or a slab on your own place? The rules are simple, the gear is cheap, and the damage doesn't heal.

GuideFoodWes Dunbar23 Sept 20265 min

Dice an onion right and the rest of the board gets easy

Three cuts, two hands, one sharp knife. Get the onion right and carrots, garlic and chicken all stop being a fight.

CancerDefying.com — The research, protocols and reading in one place

PartnerCancerDefying.com

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

Replace a broken window pane without butchering the sash

The glass is the easy part. Skip one step and your fresh putty cracks out by next winter.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

Six questions. No email required, no sales pitch at the end.

GuideOld SchoolDean Shaw23 Sept 20266 min

Grandpa Kept Ten Tools in That Box and Never Needed More

A gray metal box, ten tools, fifty years of fixing things. What was in it, why, and how to actually use each one this weekend.

GuideStartupsRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20265 min

Buy the tool before you hire the person

A second set of hands costs a lot more than the paycheck. Run the payback math on the machine first, and be honest about what it can't do.

Ask BRO

Pressure-test my business idea

Ask it

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

Hang a ceiling fan that doesn't wobble, hum or fall

The whole job hangs on a part you can't see from the floor, and most failed fan installs fail right there.

Coconut.com — Tell us when. We find where the sun is.

PartnerCoconut.com

GuideBusinessRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20265 min

Where AI Saves Your Small Business Time and Where It Doesn't

A simple test for every tool you're being sold, plus the jobs it genuinely handles and the ones it'll quietly cost you money on.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

GuideBRO for HerNina Castellan23 Sept 20266 min

Nine tools, one Saturday, and the repairs you stop paying for

A running toilet is an eight-dollar part and twenty minutes of your time. Start there, and keep going until the house stops winning.

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

The Axe Work That Drops a Small Tree Where You Want It

Read the lean, cut the notch wide, leave the hinge alone, and be twenty feet away before it lands. Then limb it without burying the bit in your boot.

GermProof.com — An invisible germ barrier on your skin for hours

PartnerGermProof.com

GuideHomeWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

Mow High, Water Deep, Skip the Chemical Program

The cheapest weed control you own is your mower deck height, and most lawns are cut two inches too short.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

Five questions, honestly answered, and a plan for the next fortnight.

News5 min

Beat the Policy Without Borrowing Their Playbook

Skills7 min

Unclog a toilet the right way, plunger first

Ask BRO

Rehearse the raise conversation with me

Ask it

GuidePreparednessWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

Rice, Beans and a Mylar Bag That Actually Seals

Two weeks of food first, then the buckets. What really keeps thirty years, what quietly goes rancid, and the five-dollar tool that seals it.

Dude.com — 16 advisers who listen, talk and pray with you

PartnerDude.com

Survival & Self-Defense6 min read

The Five Bushcraft Tools You Actually Need First

Skip the gear rabbit hole. A $20 knife, a folding saw and eight hours of practice will get you further than a truckload of kit.

Poll

How many days a week are you actually training?

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