Wendell picks: pro cordless tool kits
Meet the crew · The timber yard · pileated woodpecker
Wendell’s story
Wendell frames barns for a living. He could do it with his beak, and sometimes does, but he says a beak is for finding the rot and a saw is for everything else.
- Has never taken his safety glasses off. Nobody has seen his eyes.
- Measures twice, cuts once, then measures the cut.
- Thinks Barnaby is a fine weekend builder and says so, which Barnaby takes as a compliment and Wendell does not.
🎯 Wendell’s hobby, and his surprise pick
Hobby: Drumming. Obviously. The whole forest knows when Wendell is practising, and so does the next forest.
Surprise pick: 3M WorkTunes Connect hearing protector. Earmuffs that cut the noise and play music over Bluetooth at the same time. They protect Wendell’s ears from his own drumming, from his own saw, and from Gerzsi asking questions. The rest of the forest has asked whether it can order them in bulk.
Affiliate link. Not a kitchen tool, and that is the point: one thing Wendell would buy for himself. Check today’s price on Amazon.
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Wendell’s pick: pro combo kits
“You’re not buying a drill. You’re buying the battery every tool for the next ten years will have to fit,” says Wendell.
| Combo kit | What the testers said | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| DeWalt DCK695P2 20V MAX XR 6-Tool · Check price on Amazon | Bob Vila’s Best Brushless: the hammer drill opened more holes faster than any other drill they tested. Pro Tool Reviews’ pick for contractors. | Heavy drill and saw; blade-right circular saw |
| Milwaukee M18 FUEL 5-Tool (3697-25) · Check price on Amazon | Pro Tool Reviews’ Best Overall: newest-generation tools, five-year warranty. | Costs the most |
Wendell’s pick: DeWalt DCK695P2. Two separate test teams put it at or near the top, and DeWalt sells nearly every tool bare, so the kit grows cheaply.
Not a pro? Skil PWRCore 20 Brushless 6-Tool, Pro Tool Reviews’ pick for DIYers, at about a quarter of the price. Wendell says this to his friends more often than they’d like.
Wendell came down the river the year the old mill lost its roof. He rebuilt it in nine days, mostly alone, and when Mo the muskrat asked what he charged, Wendell said the flour was enough. He has been framing barns, sheds and one very ambitious chicken coop up and down the river ever since.
Gear in this story: jump to the picks →
He met Gerzsi at the timber yard. Gerzsi was chewing through a 2×4 and making decent progress. Wendell watched for a while, then set the same board on the sawhorse and cut it in four seconds. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.
Gerzsi asked why the kit cost so much. Wendell said it was because it works every day, all day, for years, and a cheap one works until the first real job. Then he handed Gerzsi the drill. Gerzsi has held a lot of things in his life. He says nothing has ever felt quite like that.
Wendell still won’t let him use the saw.
Wendell’s guide: Best pro cordless tool combo kits, with five kits two test teams put through real work.
Wendell is made up, like everyone on the river except Chef Tamás. The gear and the test results are real.
🦫 The Lodge Letter. Black Friday is November 27. We’ll email you when a tested pick actually drops, plus one story a week. No spam, he’s a beaver.
🛒 Shop the story
Pro combo kits
Wendell never works without
Affiliate links. Kits rated by Pro Tool Reviews and Bob Vila.
