That $20 caulk gun I bought 15 years ago still works better than any new one I've tried

Picked up a heavy-duty aluminum caulk gun at a yard sale for $20 back in 2009, and it just keeps going. My buddy spent $15 on a plastic one from the home store last spring and it snapped on the second job. Anyone else have old tools that refuse to die?

3 comments

3 Comments

abby_black26d ago

Honestly, that's the thing about "new and improved" tools - they just mean cheaper plastic. Your buddy learned the hard way that spending a little extra upfront saves you from buying a replacement every season. Ngl, sometimes the old stuff was just built with actual metal and not hopes and dreams.

margaret_jackson7325d agoMost Upvoted

@abby_black you hit the nail on the head there. My own track record with "new and improved" tools is honestly laughable lmao. I bought one of those fancy self-adjusting wire strippers a few months back and the thing stripped the insulation with about as much precision as a blind squirrel, lol. Ended up back with my old pair from the 1990s that has more electrical tape holding it together than actual handle, but at least it works every time. The whole "buy cheap, buy twice" thing is just a hard lesson we all gotta learn eventually I guess. Still cracks me up that a tool from before I was born can outwork half the stuff on the shelf today.

hugo_bennett26d ago

Yo for real! I got my dad's old metal caulk gun from the 80s and it still handles like a dream, no jams or drips. I tried one of those new "easy clean" plastic ones last year and the plunger bent on the first tube of silicone. The old stuff is just built different, man.