The Perfect Toolset…

I’ve had plenty of tools over the years. I’ve owned and used about every specialized firearms tool you can buy. My workbench clutter has taken over the rest of my garage, and if you were to walk in, you might think that I’m a wholesale dealer of machine-shop equipment. All that to say, I’m pretty spoiled and selective when it comes to tools, and when I see a product that offers a compact, convenient, “do all” setup, my experience would have me be cautious and speculative. Every once in awhile though, a product comes along that delivers on its promises and frankly, blows me away. That has been my experience with the “Fix It Sticks” tool kits.

These little kits showed up on our shelves a little while ago, and they caught my eye immediately. I’d already seen them used on our own armorers bench and I’d been intrigued by the many uses they seemed to have. Two things immediately stood out: the quality and craftsmanship of the parts themselves, and how well designed the kits are. The tools themselves are solid, they bite where they’re supposed to, and even a heavy-handed troll like me hasn’t rounded any bits or snapped any pieces. They’re certainly not Amazon specials that would have to be replaced after a use or two, every piece fits together and locks up snugly, but still comes right apart to pack back up when you’re finished.

You can tell as soon as you open the packaging that they don’t lack anything in the design department either. The entire kit wastes no space, utilizing every surface and giving many of the parts and pieces multiple functions. It’s the reason these kits can pack down small enough to fit in your pocket, but retain a HUGE amount of function for how little space they take up. This is evident from the way the two different kits that we’re carrying are completely designed from the ground up, independently. The “AR Toolkit” features the Fix It Sticks pieces that can be built into multiple shape and size wrenches, depending on your needs, ALL the common bits you’d need to work on optics or to mount accessories, AR specific cleaning parts which include carbon scrapers and brushes, picks, and even a front sight tool!

The carrying bag closes flat, and features extra space and different secured pouches to be able to store your small parts and additional bits, and features MOLLE loops on one side, and velcro on the other to ensure you can attach it to a rifle-bag, backpack, or even plate carrier. It comes in smaller and more portable that most small cleaning kits, but retains enough functionality to where you could reposition every attachment on your rifle, completely service your rifle, or even confidently strip and rebuild your entire lower receiver in a pinch!

The “Rifle and Optics Toolkit” is a slightly different animal but with all the same merit. It ditches the AR specific attachments and cleaning supplies and instead offers more bits, a more refined T-handle wrench, a 1/2″ socket, and a 15-65 in-lb torque driver attachment, made by Sloky. From my own testing, the driver is extremely accurate, and has already allowed me on one occasion to remount a scope in the field (to spec!) when mounting hardware failed. That was a game changer for me, as having the tools available in my pocket to remedy what was essentially a catastrophic failure of my rifle kept me out in the woods instead of heading home for the day.

It was a pleasant surprise to suddenly own an entire workbench that I could pack into my pocket. It was even more pleasant to have it be a high quality set of tools! The next time you look at your small range-bag cleaning kit, keep in mind… it could be so much more! Come see us down at the shop and we’ll be happy to let you see for yourself!