A modern cordless drill is considered a staple tool for DIY enthusiasts and professionals alike. However, to really maximize its usability and safety, every cordless drill needs a proper drill holster for the tool belt. Here is what you should look for when choosing the ideal drill holster:
Security
Keeping your drill secure is the foremost task of any drill holster. Dense battery packs make cordless drills quite heavy, so a falling drill at a construction site could be highly dangerous and even lethal. Drills are also quite expensive and prone to damage if dropped from high above. These risks are further exacerbated by the need to keep the drill secure without restricting your range of movement. This means you need to know it’s always safe, at your waist, while you climb, squat or move around the construction site.
Security also includes the method by which the holster attaches to your tool belt. This is an area a surprisingly large number of holsters neglect—they resort to having a simple hook looped around the belt. For those types of holsters, even if the drill is secure, the holster itself can potentially come off during extreme movements.
Ease of Use
Most traditional drill holsters have compromise between keeping your drill secure and making it easy to extract and insert back into the holster. For example, traditional canvas holsters generally have a strap with a button or clip to keep the drill locked in place, requiring two hands to both extract and secure it. However, innovative holsters such as the Gorilla Hook feature a smarter, easy-to-use design that requires only one hand and fully keeps your drill secure.
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The Gorilla Hook accomplishes this feat with a latch that requires a simple thumb press to open and retrieve the drill. Similarly, securing your drill in the Gorilla Hook is equally easy, requiring just a simple drop of the drill into the holster. The one-handed operation can be an invaluable asset while working in precarious positions such as standing on a ladder or setting up scaffolding.
Durability
A drill holster might be easy to use and secure, but if it is prone to breaking apart after a few months, it's quite a poor investment. Most drill holsters use canvas as the primary construction material with plastic clasps to secure the drill. Poor quality canvas can fray over time and could cause a drill to come loose. More modern drill holsters, such as the Gorilla Hook, use both plastic and metal construction as well as a minimalist design that offers minimal points of failure.
Versatility
While keeping your drill in place is their primary function, some drill holsters go the extra mile by being able to support a much wider variety of tools. The traditional canvas holsters struggle in this aspect because of their fixed shape and clasps designed to keep just drills secure. Conversely, the Gorilla Hook provides an excellent example of a holster that has added versatility by securing multiple tools. In general, most cordless tools with a battery pack at the bottom, such as impact wrenches, impact drivers and even certain sanders, can be kept in the Gorilla Hook without any modification or compromise to the security of the device.
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