T3’s solid-as-steel multi-tool unscrews more tech tighties

So screwdrivers can do better modern art than paintbrushes…

ILLUSTRATIONS: STEPHEN KELLY

Q What’s the best tech screwdriver?

CHRISTIAN SMITH, BOLTON

A Guru’s oldest and most Canadian enemy, Linus off of YouTube behemoth Linus Tech Tips, would have you believe it is his ratcheting LTT Screwdriver, with the bits hidden in a fancy pop-out compartment in the handle. Through gritted teeth GaGu will admit that it is a nice screwdriver – but at $105 (around £83) factoring in shipping, plus the emotional cost of a month’s wait for it to hit UK shores from the great white north, it’s probably not the wisest purchase if you’re watching the pennies.

You could also go for an iFixit toolkit, a smaller option with more bells and whistles, but that’s about the same price, again from North American stock. The idea of getting a single screwdriver imported from another continent feels like madness, however good it might be. Instead, Guru would go for a generic precision screwdriver kit from Amazon, which will cost about £15 and come from a six-letter Chinese non-brand like Yinsan. These were imported in bulk, which GaGu supposes makes it more okay.

The idea of getting a screwdriver imported from another continent feels like madness, however good it might be

Yes, it may be the sort of thing that confirms the Sam Vimes ‘Boots’ theory of socioeconomic unfairness. There’s every chance a tough screw will completely mash one of its tips up on the first turn, requiring you to buy numerous new screwdrivers over what would have been the lifetime of a high-end option. But, well, shut up. Guru has one. Guru uses it all the time. And somehow, Guru has not yet lost or destroyed any of the bits, which is more than he can say for the items he has unwisely disassembled with it.