Last night, a brief exchange on Twitter got me thinking more about screwdrivers with hex bolsters.
In case you haven’t seen such a feature before, hex bolsters allow you to slide a wrench onto a heavy duty class of screwdriver, in order to provide more torque for tough applications.
Hex bolsters are typically found on heavy duty screwdrivers, often with other premium or heavy duty features.
These Wiha heavy duty SoftFinish screwdrivers, for example, have through steel striking caps at the ends of the handles, in case a stuck fastener needs a little motivation to loosen up.
These drivers also have full-tang shafts, which means the screwdriver blade is continuous from tip to end cap. It doesn’t end in the middle of the screwdriver handle as is the case with lesser screwdrivers.
But back to the point – hex bolsters.
I have a couple of screwdrivers that have hex bolsters, but not many. If I need extra torque to loosen or tighten a fastener, I wouldn’t take a wrench to a hex bolstered screwdriver, I would break out a bit socket and a breaker bar or ratchet.
If I needed a lot more torque, I would break out the a breaker bar, bit socket, and breaker bar. This isn’t often needed, and most of the time it’s with larger diameter hex fasteners, not Phillips or slotted ones.
Although I don’t think such a feature is very useful for my own use, I can absolutely see the benefit, or potential benefit of screwdrivers with hex bolsters.
If a screwdriver style I’m interested in comes with hex bolsters, so be it. But I won’t go out of my way to buy screwdrivers just for this feature.
What about you? Are hex bolsters on your “must-have” screwdriver features list, or do you feel differently?
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