I've always been of the mind that good things can come in small packages,
whether it's game consoles, laptops, keyboards,
phones, or even YouTubers, which got us thinking.
While our full-size screwdriver has been a smash hit,
selling over 100,000 units since we launched it last year,
what if we could take everything that was great about it and put it in a smaller package?
Introducing the LTT Screwdriver Stubby Edition.
I'm so excited about this. Same beautiful spot gloss packaging,
courtesy of the one and only Sarah Butt. Same card.
I guess there's no reason to change it if it's still true. And there it is.
The stubby version of the LTT screwdriver in one of the four color ways
that are going to be available at launch. The bits come packed separately in this little box,
so make sure you don't throw them away. And there are a couple of differences
that I do wanna run through compared to the full-size driver.
For comparison, I've got my Noctua edition of the full-size driver.
It's identical other than the color of the plastics, and you can sign up for a notification
for when this is coming on LTTstore.com. But the first one is obviously the total length.
One of the biggest complaints we got about the driver is that it's so great that people
wanna take it with them everywhere, and a handful of folks have had it confiscated by the TSA,
which doesn't allow tools over six inches long. This happens to be about seven inches.
So the stubby driver might only hold half as many bits,
but it shouldn't be confiscated by the airlines.
There's a couple of other differences. One is, of course, the bit loadout.
We heard your feedback that not many of you are using the square or Robertson bits,
and we also felt like if you wanna get one of these out
as a hex driver bit, then you're probably just gonna get the hex driver set
and decide which ones are most important to you. So what we went with was Phillips zero, one, and two,
which is about as big and about as small as you're probably gonna go with a tool like this,
alongside a size four and a size six flathead.
And of course, our customary super strong magnet bit,
which a great demo for is the fact that it can pick up
all the other bits combined. It's great for just like reaching in and grabbing stuff.
Though, should be noted, you won't be reaching quite as far with this one.
Speaking of which, let's talk about the stubby shaft because this was a huge point of contention internally.
We went back and forth endlessly on whether we want to make it just smooth
or whether we wanna bring back our knurled finish because unlike the full size driver
for which this is just a super comfortable
and ergonomic way to start screws before ratcheting them and finishing them.
On this one, it's a little bit tougher to get at,
but we ultimately settled on, yeah, let's have it
because that way at least people will have the option and then they can always not use it
if they don't wanna use it. One of the other big changes is actually under the hood
and that's in the mechanism for the bit loader. While our bit loader feels and sounds
like it must be some kind of magnetic mechanism, it's actually using something called a tanning pin
for this super satisfying action and that had to be significantly modified
for a bit loader that is only half of the length of the original one.
So that along with designing and creating the new shorter handle mold is the main R and D
that went into this smaller version of the screwdriver, which probably raises the question, well, G-Linus,
why is it only $10 cheaper? And the answer is that it just plain costs
just about the same amount as the original driver. The only difference in cost to us
is that it has six fewer bits, although the most expensive bit is still included
with the stubby and it uses slightly less plastic, right,
and slightly less metal. The actual machine time involved in creating this,
running the molding machine, the actual assembly, the logistics is pretty much the same.
So it's 10 bucks cheaper, but what that also means is it has exactly
the same great selection feel.
Oh, that clicked though. Almost like it was designed by keyboard and mouse enthusiasts, right?
Exact same feel, the same satisfying ratchet
with extremely low back force and the same quality that you've come to expect from us.
There's a lot of people that criticize the quality of our driver online,
and then there's a lot of people who actually bought it
and actually used it. Check out the reviews on the site. I think they tell the story a lot better than I ever could.
The stubby will be available in four different configurations,
black handle with black accent, black handle with orange accent,
black handle with orange accent and a black shaft.
That's right for what will probably be a limited edition.
No promises. I don't know what will happen in the future. If we ever find a better finish that lasts forever,
maybe we'll bring back black shafts on everything, but this is the same as the other ones
so that if you have a full-size black shaft, you can get a matching one,
but we've got also those same two color ways in a black shaft.
Of course, as the keen item on you might have noticed,
that is not the only thing that I am showing off today.
What are those?
You see, at LTX, we did a cool little booth
that was called the Build Your Own Screwdriver booth and people could assemble a screwdriver
in any color way that they wanted, but in order to accommodate people building
in whatever color way they wanted, we had to have excess inventory of every single color
more than people could possibly hope to use over the course of the two-day event,
which got us thinking, why would we allow all these extra plastic parts
in all these fun colors to go to waste?
Well, we wouldn't. So we created, for a limited time only,
for now, what we're calling solid color screwdriver.
We really do have some work to do on our branding, but I guess it gets the point across well enough.
It's the screwdriver, but in a solid color. We've got orange, purple, red, green, blue, yellow, pink,
and we're gonna have these available on the site for a $20 upcharge because the process of creating them
was quite manual and the cost of doing short runs
of different colors is a touch higher for a limited time, basically while quantities last for now.
And head to lttstore.com to get a lollipop.
Or wait, no, I mean, I mean, screwdriver. But wait, there's more.
Because the origin of these multicolored parts was the build your own screwdriver booth at LTX,
we don't exactly have the same number
of all the different parts in all the different colors. And because we're very waste not want not around here,
we came up with the idea, thank you Colin. Oh wow, that's a lot heavier than it looks.
Sorry I had you holding that for so long of creating what we're calling the mystery driver.
How fun is this, right? I mean, the possibilities are basically endless.
And look, I know what you're thinking. Obviously you would rather pick the colors if you could,
but the problem is that for the number of these that we have,
we can't justify the website development to create a screwdriver builder.
Maybe someday, but not today. So for now, might I suggest that you reframe it
as a feature, not a bug, you know,
life's like a box of screwdrivers.
You never know what you're gonna get. So for the adventurous, mystery drivers will be available
alongside our solid color drivers as part of this drop.
What do you think, Sebastian? I get to pick or random blindfolded driver?
I think random blindfolded driver. Andrew, I get to pick?
I don't know, I'm out of hope. Random? Okay. All right, okay, I'm gonna dig deep.
I'm digging deep here.
Don't give me, hey, hey, hey, you can't laugh, you can't laugh, this is a serious matter.
So it'll be something like that, now I need an end cap. Well, that's unfortunate.
Let's show you guys how we're making these. At least I didn't get all red and yellow.
A couple people built McDonald's drivers at LTX and I was like, really?
Step number one is to apply lube to the inside of our bit holder here.
That's where the taining pin, which is what gives the driver its satisfying pop sound,
gets inserted. And it goes in a little something like so.
Now we take our bit holder and our end cap, right?
Like so. And, oh.
Fun fact, by the way, we had a lot of concerns when we were working on these colorful drivers
that the plastics might not shrink as much
or add a different rate, and that could hurt the finished assembly of the product.
But in practice, not only were our molds able to handle all these different colors,
as it turns out the hot press assembly that we've been doing,
where we take the freshly injected parts and press them together and then let them contract around,
you can actually see these little metal fins here.
Turns out it's not actually necessary. We did all the same testing on the cold press drivers
and found that the durability is identical. So we were worried that with the colorful,
limited run drivers, we were gonna have to have warranty caveats or something.
But as it turns out, it's all good. Oh, it goes in from this side.
Look at that. Helpful instructions.
Oops. And that's it.
My very own mystery driver. Now, half for fun and half to show you guys
some of the absolutely wild color combinations that might show up.
I'm gonna build four more drivers, sign the five that I built today
and mix them in with the rest of the inventory. You don't get anything special.
If you get one, you just have a signed driver, but maybe you care about that.
Or maybe you don't, in which case, hey, isopropyl alcohol will remove Sharpie.
It's amazing how fast the family is growing. You got the parents, you got the kids,
you got the kind of colorful, extended family.
If yours is anything like mine, you know what I'm saying? It's the Splendid 7,
available in seven different colors.
That would be a better brand name than what we call it, solid color screwdriver.
That doesn't matter anyway. The point is, you can get them all at LTTstore.com.
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