When I lived in Canada, I had the basic power tools required by the unwritten laws that men live by. There were already big box stores in my neck of the woods when I moved out on my own, so I was able to pick up some pretty affordable tools. They had plastic bodies and plastic handles. Some of them came with plastic carrying cases.

The affordability of the power tools marketed to the average homeowner is reflected in their quality. I can remember having my Makita drill break when I was foolishly trying to put screws through a piece of Larch without drilling any pilot holes. I kept the non-functioning drill for a few years because the company provides free labor on repairs once a year at its factory outlet. I never got around to taking it. I don’t know if I would have been able to find Makita in the giant industrial park anyway.

I love the idea of tool libraries for a number of reasons. I like anything that reduces the consumption of cheap consumer items that will not last and that will head to a landfill. I like the idea of homeowners having access to good tools.

If you have a handyman on your Christmas shopping list, think twice before you buy them a tool that is not built to last a lifetime. Also, check to see if there is a tool library or even a tool rental shop in your area. I just realized that gift certificates from an equipment rental business would make a great gift for DIY people.

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I discourage people from giving me gifts. You may or may not be surprised to read that this behavior is almost 100% effective. Father’s Day is one of the occasions where I know that I will not receive any tangible expressions of appreciation for all the French toast and strawberries that I feed my kids and all the dangerous creatures that I remove from under the beds.

For those of you who are into gift giving (and receiving), a safety razor like the one sold by RetroRazor would make a great gift for Dad. Sharp things in general have a certain appeal as gifts.

Solar cooking is getting trendy enough that there are convenient case suitcase shaped ones for sale at various online boutiques. It looks like some are made at least partly from plastic. Taking a design from SolarCooking.org to a local sheet metal fabricator for construction is a better idea. The language barrier is holding me back from doing that for myself. If my cardboard and tinfoil version doesn’t hold up, I think my second cooker will be sourced in this way. My waste baskets appear to be locally made from metal scraps from a local cannery.

A home cooked meal made from local food is another great gift for Dad. The thing that bothers me about gifts in general is that they are far too often things that the recipient doesn’t really want or need. Good food is an infinitely better gift than an ugly tie.

If you have a father like me who is adamant about not wanting anything, give that a try. If he wasn’t serious, there is always next year.

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