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The guide board

Everything we’ve published, and everything currently on the bench. A guide goes live when the research stands up: certification checked, trade consensus gathered, prices compared and the payback maths run. Hands-on testing is added guide by guide as the test bench grows.

Published

// Live and linked
Published

Knees // Cornerstone guide

The best knee pads for real trade work

Eight pairs compared in depth: trouser inserts, strap-on shells and shin-mounted supports, from £12 to £89.

PAIRS COMPARED
08
PAYBACK
0.2 LOST DAYS
Read the full guide

On the bench

// In research now

These are mid-test. Sign up to Site Notes below and you’ll get each one the Friday it lands.

In research

Shoulders & wrists

Lightweight cordless drills, ranked by weight

Eleven 18V drills ranked by true weight with batteries fitted, specs verified against the small print. Due within the month.

In research

Hands // Vibration

Anti-vibration gloves that actually work

Six pairs, certification small print checked first. Only genuinely certified pairs make the table.

In research

Back // Lifting

Back support belts: what the evidence says

The honest one. What support belts can and can’t do, what the research shows, and the lifting setup that beats any belt.

In research

Knees // Workwear

Work trousers with knee pads, compared

Snickers, Blaklader, Scruffs and the budget options, with trousers and pad systems judged as a pair, not separately.

In research

The van

Van setup that saves your back

Racking heights, load order and the £30 changes that cut a day’s bending in half. No sponsored racking, ever.

Drafting

Cornerstone

The tradesperson’s body survival guide: 45 to 65

The big one. Trade by trade, joint by joint: what wears out, what protects it, and what it all costs against your day rate.

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Site Notes lands every Friday: one kit recommendation, one technique worth nicking, and the week’s best price drops. New guides go to the list before they go anywhere else.

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day cost you?
Run the maths