While a screwdriver is probably not what you would expect under the Technology heading, the Linus-Tech-Tips Screwdriver was made by the famous YouTuber with the idea of PC Building in mind. Linus did a good job of hyping up the product and got me to buy one on the day it was released. And then another one, and another one, and another one. I don't have a problem, you do.
In this review I'll review my original model, as well as the others I've gotten - I've noticed some differences, but overall I love this thing.
One feature Linus stressed in his brainwashing marketing was the low amount of back-force for the ratcheting mechanism to activate. What that means is, when you turn the screwdriver the opposite direction you're driving, you'll hear a "click click click" as the rachet mechanism snaps. The problem with typical rachet mechanisms is that they are spring loaded an necessitate a minimum amount of force to overcome the spring the rachet mechanism. This is fine if the screw is already tightly in place, but if you're driving a loose screw, or one that has just begun to thread, the back force on the rachet will instead unscrew the screw, which is the exact opposite of what you want.
By having the most minimal back force possible to activate the rachet, the LTT Screwdriver allows you to drive screws that are just barely gripping their threads - this is fantastic. I can confirm with my model 1 LTT driver that this is the case, the back force is amazingly light.
Now the rachet mechanism can be set to forward (drives screws in) or backward (unscrews things). But another important innovation with this screw driver is the drive selection switch. Due to costs and probably convenience of engineering, for most ratcheting tools, the selector switch is opposite of the drive direction. That is - on competitor screw drivers or socket wrenches, if you want to drive righty-tightey, you need to turn the switch to the LEFT. If you want to unscrew lefty-loosey, you need to turn the switch to the RIGHT. It's often confusing in the heat of the moment to translate the switch-direction to the drive direction when they're opposites.
But not with the LTT driver - Linus worked with the manufacturer to make sure switch direction matches the drive direction. Turn the switch to the right and you're driving screws tighter. Turn the switch left, and you're loosening screws out. It's perfect.
The last critical feature is the handle that has storage for 12 bits that are neatly held in place via a pop-out rack. While I've had multi-bit drivers before, they either keep them on the outside which feels cumbersome, or they pile all the bits in the handle like jar. When you need to find a bit you gotta dump 'em all out.
With the LTT driver, you can organize your bits in the handle & grab only the one you need, safely tucking them away the rest of the time. I couldn't be happier.
While I was happy with the initial offering, I wasn't planning on picking up another. Linus released some other styles that looked cool, like brown and beige ones in the Noctua theme, or a purple one in the Super Nintendo theme. They appealed to me, but I was able to resist, until Christmas 24. I had recently visited by father and helped him install some security cameras. He and a positively ancient screw driver that was stripped to heck. I forgot how awful it is to use a plebian screw driver, so when Linus announced on the WAN Show that there was a buy-one-get-one deal for the holidays, I jumped on it.
I got a Nocuta Brown and the Purple Retro driver. I gave them Brown to my dad & kept the SNES themed one as a backup.
While these colored ones are also fantastic, I do feel like the back force is not as loose as my model one. It's not bad by any means, but it is a teeny tiny tad bit tighter than the OG. That said, I really like the colors and the quality overall is still superior.
Now, when I got the first one I wrote into the Nick Light - the head of product at LTT and said I'd really like to buy another if they used the clear-transparent fun-tastic colors like the N64 controllers. He said it was on their roadmap.
So when LTT announced their prismatic line (their take on fun-tastic) color schemed, I had to jump on it and pick up the clear-teal. My absolute favorite color combo of all time.
Unfortunately, mine arrived a bit broken. While it technically works, the rachet is misaligned or something, and can sometimes lock the shaft when it's in drive mode. If you turn the switch fully to the right it drives like normal, but if the switch is just at the edge of "forward" it locks the shaft instead. While it isn't a huge deal, it does get annoying, because sometimes setting the driver down on the table is enough to rock the switch into this sensitive position and lock the shaft unexpectedly.
Linus has had some controversies over his store's warranty policy, and coined what he calls his "Trust me bro, guarantee." The idea being, that he values his customers and will make it right, because reputation is worth more than screwing a few people. Well, I decided to test out the trust-me-bro-guarantee, and wrote into LTT Support.
The replied quickly & immediately offered a refund or a replacement. They were out of the clear teal, but sent me a clear-orange which also looks really cool. This one worked perfectly. It also seems to have more back force than the original, just like the SNES and Noctua ones, but it's still fantastic. I now love my OG and my clear Orange, both are great. I might give away my SNES one at some point because these drivers are multiplying, lol.
They also let me keep the glicthy Teal one.
Overall, at this point I probably have enough screw drivers to last a life time, but this is the definitive screw driver for me.
OH WAIT, I should also mention - they released a "stubby" version that only holds 6 bits and comes with an optional shaft extension. I also picked this up on discount (or free I think?) when buying something else. It's also great - just like the big bro, but more compact.
